If there ever was a bit of news that could break my heart, this takes the gold. For those who don’t know, Neill Blomkamp had once pitched an idea for Alien 5. In addition, The film would be a direct continuation of Aliens, disregarding Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. Blomkamp had even created concept art for the film that looked absolutely amazing. Sadly, Blomkamp’s project had been put on the back-burner in favor of Ridley Scott’s Alien Covenant. Scott’s new film is, of course, a prequel to the first film and a sequel to his 2012 film Prometheus. So, it seemed like we could actually get two Alien series’ back to back, one prequel series and one sequel series.
Now, some of you may be angry about Blomkamp’s idea to ditch Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. However, that news had me overjoyed. I have despised Alien 3 since the day I saw it. I watched it recently for another article and it’s still terrible. Even the acclaimed Assembly Cut of the film was a mess, although better than the theatrical version. Even the film’s own director, David Fincher, wants nothing to do with the film. As he once stated, “No one hates Alien 3 more than me.” Blomkamp’s film would have brought back Ripley and Hicks and would have seen the passing of the torch to an adult Newt. That was the film that we as fans of the franchise truly deserved. Killing off Newt and Hicks in Alien 3 still, pisses me off to this very day. What a terrible idea and Alien Resurrection was just as bad.
However, are hearts are officially in the toilet today. Ridley Scott finally revealed the status of Blomkamp’s prolonged film in an interview with Allocine:
“There was never a screenplay, just an idea that evolved into a pitch of 10 pages. I was always just a producer, but it didn’t go any further because Fox decided that it didn’t want to do it.”
This is a sad day for Alien fans. Look, let’s be blunt here, for awhile the Alien series was Highlander 2.o. Yes, Highlander was a masterpiece but the sequels did nothing but hurt the franchise and hurt the fans. Alien & Aliens were masterpieces but every sequel after them just tended to get worse and worse. Yet, we as fans kept coming back to this series like domestic abuse victims. We never pressed charges despite our significant others repeatedly punching us in the face. Always screaming, “I can’t leave him, I love him.” Granted, Prometheus was a great movie but that was more of a spinoff than anything else. How cool would it have been to just see Ripley, Hicks, and Newt back together for another ride? Even if it was just one movie, I’d of been fine. Anything to get the taste of Alien 3 out of my mouth.
I’ve heard my complaints from Alien 3 apologists that they shouldn’t mess with the continuity. Okay, first of all, I don’t know if you’ve seen the AVP movies but they both completely contradict the other films. Therefore, the continuity of this series is pretty much already in the crapper. At least Neill Blomkamp could have given us something good. Everything Blomkamp revealed about his project sounded amazing and I am crushed that we will never see it. We’re officially stuck with the events of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection as official continuity. I mean, if anything you didn’t even have to erase them. You could have just said that the events of those movies were all in Ripley’s head while she was in Cryo-Sleep. See, right there, just fixed the problem with half a second’s thought. You’re welcome.
Let’s just hope that Ridley Scott can give us a good Alien film once again with Alien: Covenant when it hits theaters on May 19, 2017.
I will now leave you with the amazing Alien 5 concept art below.
What could have been?
*sigh* Adam needs a stiff drink *sigh*
