It looks as though Sigourney Weaver won’t be picking up that pulse rifle anytime soon, now that director Neill Blomkamp has formally confirmed what many of us had been expecting: Alien 5 is officially “on hold” to accommodate the release of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus sequel, Alien: Paradise Lost.
Ever since news of Blomkamp’s vision for an Alien sequel first came to light, questions were raised as to how 20th Century Fox would balance both his film and Scott’s follow-up. Indeed, the South African noted that Alien 5 isn’t designed to “tread on the toes” of Paradise Lost, and that’s clearly been a factor in this decision to place his passion project on the shelf – for now.
alien is kinda holding/ pending prometheus 2. So I shall be working on other things… as much as I love the xeno- and Lt ripley
— Иeill BlomkΛmp (@NeillBlomkamp) October 30, 2015
However, given that Ridley Scott has mapped out plans for at least three more movies in his sci-fi sub-franchise, culminating in an installment that would help dovetail Prometheus with Alien, could Blomkamp’s Alien 5 be delayed indefinitely? After all, aside from some truly inspired concept art, Fox hasn’t officially set a production schedule for the offshoot – that we are aware of – while the only cast members to express an interest in starring are Weaver as Ellen Ripley and Michael Biehn as Corporal Hicks.
For now, it appears as though Blomkamp is prepared to fly the flag for Alien 5 for years to come, but don’t be too surprised when the director dabbles in other projects as he waits patiently for Scott’s universe to evolve. With production due to begin on the latter in early 2016, Fox has currently aligned Alien: Paradise Lost for launch on May 30, 2017.
