If all things go according to plan over at 20th Century Fox, some time after Alien: Covenant slithers into theaters,Ā Sigourney Weaver andĀ Neill Blomkamp will be reteaming for a new entry in the Alien canon – one that will seemingly wrap up any loose ends for Ellen Ripley.
It’s a “gangbuster” script, according to James Cameron, though much of the excitement swirling around that shelved sequel can be traced back toĀ Weaver and Blomkamp’s collaboration on Chappie, the divisive sci-fi that bowed early last year.
Coming off the back of District 9 and Elysium, critics felt the South African filmmaker succumbed to a classic cast of style over substance with the 2015 release. But as the actress revealed in an interview with Collider, Weaver couldn’t disagree more, admitting that she was “astonished” to find that Chappie had divided opinion.
āIām astonished when I read the, ādisappointing Chappie.ā If youāre expecting a big movie with huge special effects instead of this small movie about this robot who the inventor changes to be more of a human being than the human beings, then you realize that all of those reviews that said, āWell, thereās no special effectsā¦ā Itās like ā¦ no. This is a very meaningful movie about a young robot who cares and feels, and is much more human. And they didnāt talk about any of the issues, they just talked about what it wasnāt.Ā Itās likeā¦dudes, think of what it is! See it without these expectations.”
What do you make ofĀ Sigourney Weaver’s assessment? Did Chappie really get unfairly panned by critics?Ā As for Weaver and Blomkamp’s untitled Alien sequel, there’s not much to report outside of James Cameron’s recent praise.Ā Alien: Covenant, meanwhile, is booked in for launch on August 7, 2017.