A while ago we received the big announcement that District 9, Elysium, and Chappie director Neill Blomkamp had picked up the Alien franchise with a new film under development. According to reports, Blomkamp’s Alien film would bring back Corporal Hicks alongside Ripley in a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens, ignoring Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection.
This news was pretty damn exciting for Alien fans however new rumours suggest that the film has Prometheus director Ridley Scott’s nose out of joint while he focuses on Prometheus 2. Reportedly Blomkamp has been progressing along on his Alien script, however Ridley Scott is insisting the film wait until after Prometheus 2 has been finished.
Prometheus 2 is slated for filming early in 2016 to achieve a 2017 release window, with existing cast members Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender attached. If filming a new Alien sequel is pushed beyond 2016, we’d be likely looking at around a 2018 release window, which by the nature of the industry, pushes things just a bit too far back into more “maybe” than “definitely” territory.
Has Disney taught us nothing about release schedules and leveraging across franchises? Fingers crossed Blomkamp’s film still happens….
