What comes next for the Alien franchise?
We know director Ridley Scott had planned to film the third and presumably final installment in his prequel trilogy (tentative title: Awakening) in order to dovetail with the events of the first Alien movie from ’79, but amid rumors of a possible TV series being hatched at 20th Century Fox, now we’re not so sure.
Omega Underground broke news earlier this week that Fox is now mulling over a show set within the Alien universe, as a big-budget movie is no longer feasible after the underwhelming performance of Covenant. Further details on said spinoff (i.e. release window, platform) weren’t disclosed, but a follow-up report from AvP Galaxy yields a little more intel about this rumored development.
Perhaps wary of putting all its eggs in one basket, Fox is allegedly in the formative stages of developing something for the Alien franchise, though AvP warns that it’d be foolish to get “hung up over words like ‘show’ or “series'” so early on. San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner, mind you, so perhaps we’ll catch wind of something – anything! – there.
Another thing worth noting is that AvP Galaxy suggests Alien‘s next venture won’t be presented like a traditional series, and that an online release (read: Netflix) is much more likely.
Again, this ought to be filed in the rumor cabinet for now, as 20th Century Fox has maintained a radio silence on all things Alien ever since Covenant slithered into theaters. The studio currently has The Predator on course for a September release, so let’s cross our fingers in the hope that Shane Black’s R-rated reboot will be joined by the famous Xenomorph when SDCC kicks off later this month.