What’s next for the Alien franchise? Will Ridley Scott continue his prequel saga? Will Ellen Ripley return for a fifth installment in the core franchise? Will Disney remake the original film?
These are questions we don’t have any answers to at the moment, but it’s interesting to note that Sigourney Weaver revealed in a new chat with Empire this week that she had recently been sent a 50-page treatment by franchise producer Walter Hill, outlining a potential “Alien 5” that would presumably bring the actress back to play Ellen Ripley one more time.
This was, the mag notes, about a year and a half ago, though Weaver’s comments to Empire seem to suggest that she’s not so sure she hasn’t retired from playing Ripley altogether.
“I don’t know,” Weaver told the site when they asked her about a fifth Alien film. “Ridley has gone in a different direction. Maybe Ripley has done her bit. She deserves a rest.”
The 50-page treatment sent to Weaver by Hill is likely entirely separate from Neill Blomkamp’s once-planned sequel to Aliens, which of course fell through and would seem to be completely dead in the water at this point in time. Though it is worth noting that just two years ago, Weaver wasn’t completely ruling out that particular project coming back to life.
For now, the last time Weaver reprised the role of Ellen Ripley was for a sketch on “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” back in April 2019. You can check that out down below.
