Like many fans I was beyond thrilled when news broke this week that a new Alien film had been approved for production by FOX. The film was the result of Writer/Director Neil Blomkamp’s release of concept art from a film he had devised and thanks to the power of the net, a groundswell of support followed which prompted FOX to meet with Blomkamp and strike a deal to create the film with Sir Ridley Scott acting as Producer.
Combine this with a potential 2016 release for a “Prometheus” sequel and fans are going to have plenty of material to salivate over in the coming years.
While neither film reportedly has a final script, they likely have outlines and drafts which is what encouraged FOX to approve the projects and they have ensured fans that the two pending movies will work well with one another, especially since one is a Prequel to the original film while the other will be a sequel.
What has fans most intrigued is the nature of what path the storyline will take. Will it be a new film that essentially pushes asides of the last two Alien films and is a direct sequel to “Aliens” or will it be a follow up to “Alien Resurrection”? I would prefer it to be a direct sequel to “Aliens” but I know the issue of explain the older appearance of likely stars Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn would have to be addressed as it is not 1986 and short of digital touch ups, this would be something that needs to be addressed. Biehn will benefit from his acid scarred visage shown in the concept art but as kind as the years have been to Weaver, they may have to explain the changes in a creative way.
One likely scenario is to make the events of the third and fourth film a dream as this is the easiest bit of cinematic continuity that is open to the studio short of just pretending the last two films never happened.
I wrote a series of stories along this line which you can read here but be warned the images were removed after a security intrusion a year ago.
I would be curious to see what they end up doing as the concept art seems to indicate that the Company is in possession of a derelict ship and as such has landed their hands on Aliens and advanced technology.
Whatever direction the studio decides to take, one thing I am sure all fans can agree upon is that we want both films to be good and not to be hampered by the issues that caused “Alien 3” and “Alien Resurrection” to disappoint and underperform.
