James Cameron Teases Involvement In 'Aliens' Franchise & Possibly Neill Blomkamp's 'Alien 5'

In his promotion of “Alita: Battle Angel,” a movie he produced for Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron has been dropping lots of little nuggets about new franchises he’s cooking up. First up, the easiest one with the fewest details is word that Cameron could be trying to work his way back into the Aliens franchise. How will that work?

Well, for one, Ridley Scott had his shot with his two “Prometheus” films and while he promised three, maybe four films, but after the dismal performance of “Alien Covenant,” and Scott moving on to other projects (he’s shot one since and has since moved on to a “Gladiator” sequel), it appears his new ‘Alien’ world is dead. Moreover, there’s Disney about to acquire 20^th Century Fox and the rights to the “Aliens” franchise which makes it ripe for a reboot.

Something we’ve been speculating lately: Disney is about to take over, and company loves its legacy-sequels, so perhaps Neill Blomkamp’s mooted “Alien 5” project with Sigourney Weaver and Michael Bien—killed by Ridley Scott who didn’t want it to overshadow the “Prometheus” line of films—could come back to life?

There’s no confirmation of it, but in a recent ‘Alita’ red carpet interview, Cameron was asked exactly that: could he call up Blomkamp and get “Alien 5” up and running again? “I’m working on that, yeah,” he said in response (via IGN)

Now, it’s on the red carpet, and it seems all in good fun, but it does sound like Cameron, at the very least, might be trying to talk to Disney and see if he can revive “Alien” the same way he’s helped resurrect the “Terminator” franchise with “Terminator 6” that comes out this fall. Does that mean, it actually has something to do with Blomkamp’s “Alien 5,” a project he last said, had its moment and its time has passed?

It’s such a passing comment that it’s hard to say, but usually, a skeptic, I wouldn’t rule it out. Following the underwhelming box office of ‘Covenant,’ it seems that Fox decided to pause the ‘Alien’ franchise quietly and the new management of Disney seems like the perfect opportunity of a fresh reboot.

Plus, as suggested, Disney loves taking legacy films (“Star Wars”) and reviving them with the original characters years later (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”). Neill Blomkamp’s “Alien 5” was exactly that. As proposed, the film would discount all the other “Alien” movies and pick up after James Cameron’s “Aliens.”

In David Fincher’s “Alien 3,” Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn, who played the little girl Newt, have both died at the beginning of the film when their pod has crash-landed on a prison planet. It’ a decision that upset a lot of people then and even now (even Christopher McQuarrie complained about this plot point being a terrible choice for the franchise; “When [‘Alien 3’] started I was like, ‘I hate “Alien 3′ already and I’m not even into the movie yet,’ because it felt like all the effort made by the second film was sort of gone.”).

Blomkamp’s film would undo that mistake, and pick up with Weaver and Biehn right after the events of “Aliens” movie using de-aging technology. Now, isn’t that a little bit impossible to do? You would think, but the technology has gotten better and better, and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” using de-aging technology for half the film to make Robert De Niro and Al Pacino appear half their age.

James Cameron’s upcoming “Terminator 6” directed by Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) picks up after “Terminator 2” and discounts all the other films. Blomkamp’s “Alien 5” proposes the exact same thing. Cameron says he’s “working on it” when asked about a return to the franchise and let’s not forget he tried to make his own “Alien 5” several years back as well. Additionally? Blomkamp’s mooted “Greenland” film with Chris Evans, which was supposed to be his next movie, has fallen apart and a new director has taken over.

Something is definitely brewing. Watch this space (and watch below to see the clip of Cameron talking about “Alien” near the end).