Another Alien movie is in the works from director Ridley Scott, but it will likely not take place in the universe of his prequels.
Scott and his team tried to “reinvent the wheel” in doing Prometheus in 2012 and Alien: Covenant in 2017. The director now says the upcoming Alien movie might not follow these storylines.
“That is doubtful because Prometheus woke it up very well,” Scott said in an interview with Forbes. “But you know, you’re asking fundamental questions like, ‘Has the Alien himself, the facehugger, the chestburster, have they all run out of steam? Do you have to rethink the whole bloody thing and simply use the word to franchise?’ That’s always the fundamental question.”
Details of the cast, plot or release date have yet to be revealed, but two producers from the Alien franchise — Walter Hill and David Giler — are reportedly hashing out a script treatment. The pair wants Sigourney Weaver to reprise her iconic role as Ellen Ripley, but the actress hinted that she would like to give the character a rest.
Where will the next story go?
The Alien franchise debuted on the big screen in 1979 with Scott at the helm. Three films subsequently followed in 1986, 1992 and 1997 with different directors but with Weaver as the star.
Scott returned to the director’s chair with the two prequels films without Weaver’s Ripley. The underwhelming performance of the prequels at the box office, however, suggested that it might be time to retire the franchise.
But if Scott is keen on resetting Alien, Hill’s script ties the story of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. Fans of the franchise, however, are only too excited to see how Scott will revisit the world he created for the big screen.
Why Scott directed a TV show
Meanwhile, Scott’s newest project is the TV series Raised By Wolves. The sci-fi drama from HBO Max centers on a couple of androids who have to raise a new human population in a mysterious Earth-like planet.
Scott directed the first two episodes in the six-part series. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, the director said that he couldn’t let go of the script so he signed on to the project.
“I read the material, the material was inspirational. I thought, I can’t let this one get away. I need to do it. It was that simple,” Scott said.
The show is from scribe Aaron Guzikowski and stars Travis Fimmel and Niamh Algar. Critics said that the world in Raised by Wolves is hardly anything like Alien or Scott’s other sci-fi movies. Scott said that he intentionally made the series different and fresh.
Image used courtesy of Prometheus/YouTube