It’s an exciting time for fans of the Alien franchise. The next chapter in the Prometheus series, now titled Alien: Covenant, is set to begin production soon; unfortunately, Ridley Scott’s film has put on hold Alien 5 which will be directed by Neill Blomkamp. Fans were excited to learn of Blomkamp’s vision for the movie, which casts asides Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection to continue the story of Ripley, Newt and Hicks after the events on LV-426.
However, according to returning star Michael Biehn, the film is only on hold temporarily.
An interview between horror website Icons of Fright and Michael Biehn let the star speak out about the film’s status, expectations and hopes for its success, stating: “The basic idea is acting like Alien 3 and 4 never existed, so if you go on Neill Blomkamp’s site, everyone can see all of the artwork for that.”
“I know Ridley Scott is doing his movie first and is going to be the executive producer on this one, so I’m really looking forward to that. I’m sure that he and Fox both don’t want that and Neill’s movie to come out right next to each other, because they’re kind of two different worlds, with Alien 5 taking place thousands of years later.”
“But at the same time, they want to give them a similar feel. I know they’re putting the brakes on Neill’s movie just for a little while, but I really think that it would be embarrassing to Ridley and Fox and Sigourney if they just didn’t make the movie. They’re planning on bringing me and Newt back, and at this point Newt will be around 27-years-old. I know that every actress in Hollywood is going to want to play this one, it’s really a passing of the torch between Sigourney and this younger actress who would play Newt. It would keep the franchise alive and the studios would make money, because that’s what the bottom line is now: money.”
Michael Biehn seems confident and hopefully that will give fans confidence as well.
Australia has been chosen as the location for Alien: Covenant‘s production with shooting to begin in 2016. It’s unclear who will return from the original Prometheus aside from Michael Fassbender’s confirmed part. Should all go well, the film will release on October 6, 2017.