Neill Blomkamp admits his Alien sequel is "totally dead"
Director Neill Blomkamp has sadly confirmed what Ridley Scott declared not long ago: his proposed ‘Alien 5’ isn’t going to happen.
The 37-year old South African filmmaker behind ‘District 9,’ ‘Elysium’ and ‘Chappie’ makes the confession in a new interview with The Verge. When quizzed about the status of the project, Blomkamp replies, “I think it’s totally dead, yes. That would be an accurate assumption at this point.
“It’s sad. I spent a long time working on that, and I feel like it was really pretty awesome. But politically, the way it’s gone now, and the way that it all is — it’s just not going to live.”
The politics Blomkamp alludes to centre around Scott, the originator of the ‘Alien’ series who has returned to that universe with prequels ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Alien: Covenant.’ The legendary 79-year old British filmmaker has stated that he intends to make at least two more ‘Alien’ prequels.
Fans of the ‘Alien’ series may have noted that ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Alien: Covenant’ present a genesis of the monstrous Xenomorph that diverges from that which was later established by James Cameron’s sequel ‘Aliens.’ This has led to questions as to whether or not ‘Aliens’ and the films that came after count as official series canon anymore.
As such, it’s understandable this would put the kibosh on Blomkamp’s proposed film, which would have served as a direct sequel to ‘Aliens,’ bringing back Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and Michael Biehn’s Hicks, and ignoring the events of ‘Alien³’ and ‘Alien: Resurrection.’
Understandably, the situation leaves Blomkamp (who has designs on building his own independent studio) with mixed feelings.
“Ridley was one of my idols growing up. He’s so talented and he’s made this film that really set me off in a direction. I want to just be as respectful and not go stamping around in this world that he created.
“I think that if the circumstances were different, and I didn’t feel like I was getting too close to something that he obviously feels a massive personal connection to, that things that may have played out differently. But I did want to be as respectful as possible.”
Asked about his opinion of ‘Alien: Covenant,’ Blomkamp replies, “I haven’t seen it yet. But I definitely want to check it out.”
Sigourney Weaver, who worked with Blomkamp on ‘Chappie,’ had previously spoken of her excitement for the project, declaring his script “incredible.”
‘Alien: Covenant’ is still in UK cinemas now, and Ridley Scott says he hopes to start work on the follow-up sometime next year.
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