Some more concept art from Neill Blomkamp’s canceledAliensequel has surfaced online. While the film remains dead in the water, fans of the franchise have been eager to know more about what would have been a fifthinstallment of the popular sci-fi horror franchise. Blomkamp’s other directorial credits include sci-fi filmsDistrict 9,Chappie,andElysium,and he has a new movie coming out in 2021 calledDemonic,which has been described as a supernatural horror film.
If you don’t already know, back in 2015 Blomkamp shared several pictures on social media that showed early concept art for anAlienfilm that he had supposedly been working on. This included images of theinfamous alien xenomorphand series protagonist Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).This got a lot of fans excited, as it implied that a 5thAlienmovie starring Weaver in one of her most famous roles might be in the works. At the time the most recent film in the series was the prequelPrometheus,which was directed by the franchise’s original director Ridley Scott and took place many years before the first film.
RELATED:‘Alien’ Sequels To Get Remasters For 4K Blu-Ray, Disney Plus Release
Blomkamp eventually stated that he was indeed planning on making anAlienfilm featuring Weaver and that it would bea direct sequel toAliens, the second film in the franchise and the sole entry by director James Cameron. However, in October of that year, the project was shelved by 20th Century Fox and the studio went forward with another prequel film directed by Scott, a sequel toPrometheustitledAlien: Covenant. Despite the general enthusiasm from the fans and an online petition, it seems like Blomkamp’s film is unlikely to move forward.
The newAlienimages were posted to Artstation by concept artist Geoffroy Thoorens. They show off some advanced space marines, or soldiers of some kind, as well as Cpl. Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Ripley along with an android of some kind. Androids have played an important role throughout the franchise. In the first film, Ripley and her crew were betrayed by their android Ash (Ian Holm), and in the second film, Ripley is forced to work with another android named Bishop (Lance Henriksen), who turns out to be one of her most trusted allies in the film.Aliensalso featured a group of space Marines (including Hicks) who accompany Ripley to a deserted space colony that has been overrun by xenomorphs.
What’s interesting about Blomkamps’s hypothetical 5th film is that it’s clear that it would have retconned both the third and fourth installments,Alien 3andAlien Ressurection. Neither film did particularly well, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. This is evident since characters introduced inAliens,such as Space Marine Cpl. Hicks (Michel Biehn), are featured in the concept art. Hicks was unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of the third film, which some fans felt was a disservice to a character that had been greatly developed in the previous film.
With theacquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney, the future of the franchise remains uncertain. Last year, Scott hinted that there would another installment of the franchise, but was uncertain as to whether it would tie into his recent prequel films. There is a confirmedAlienTV show in the works at FX fromLegionandFargocreator Noah Hawley, but details are sparse at the moment. Blomkamp seems to have moved on to other projects, so for now fans will just have to speculate on what could have been.
you’re able to watch every film in theAlienfranchiseon Disney Plus in Canada and Europe.
MORE:How FX’s Alien Series Could Fix The Shortcomings Of Prometheus & Covenant
