Neill Blomkamp to direct new 'Alien' movie (1 Viewer)

[Sam Favate]

I get Josh's argument in defense of Alien 3, but to me, the movie's dour tone is a let down after the excitement of Aliens. Count me as someone glad that Alien 5 will disregard 3 and 4.

 

[WillG]

I'm pretty much the asshole who thinks Alien³ (the Assembly Cut, especially) is actually better than Aliens, so take this with as many grains of salt as needed, prepare pitchforks, etc.

Everyone gets mad that the film unceremoniously kills off Newt and Hicks. Good. You're supposed to be angry. That's precisely the point. It's supposed to sting. Ripley’s entire existence in these films is one of random, senseless loss, and David Fincher absolutely nails this theme in his film.

In Alien, she loses her work-friends. They probably weren’t BFFs or anything, but there’s definitely a sense of camaraderie among the Nostromo’s crew. Each of their deaths has an impact to some degree.

In Aliens, she loses her family-life. Having been adrift in space for decades, anything she might have hoped to return to is long since gone.

In Alien³, she loses her last hope for rebuilding a family. It might be enraging to have Hicks and Newt die off-screen, but it’s also very thematically appropriate. Alien³ is a long, meditative funeral in the same spirit as The Grey.

I mean, I get why it doesn't connect with a lot of people. But the movie isn't even close to being the flaming cinematic car-wreck that many of its critics love to claim it is.

Well, you're very clearly going to be in the minority regarding Alien3 as superior to Aliens, but I do agree with what you are saying here. Everybody seemed to be pissed when Hicks and Newt were killed, and even I at the time had he same WTF reaction. But as I got older, I de-subscribed to the notion of a "code" of what you can or can't do in movies. Alien3 was a flawed movie, but the majority of people didn't see the movie through the right lens it seems. The film is essentially a tragedy that involves a space monster (although it does seem overwhelming how much death can be saddled on one person).

 

[TravisR]

I think a massive problem with Alien 3 is that I know who about 5 characters are and the other 20 characters are so similar and not fleshed out that they might as well be extras. And It's not just the bald heads (though that really doesn't help matters) but they do nothing to differentiate them so the bulk of the prisoner characters don't mean anything more to me than seeing what cool way the Alien will eat them. The other 3 movies have fairly distinct actors, characters and costumes so I know and care who is who.

 

[WillG]

I think a massive problem with Alien 3 is that I know who about 5 characters are and the other 20 characters are so similar and not fleshed out that they might as well be extras. And It's not just the bald heads (though that really doesn't help matters) but they do nothing to differentiate them so the bulk of the prisoner characters don't mean anything more to me than seeing what cool way the Alien will eat them. The other 3 movies have fairly distinct actors, characters and costumes so I know and care who is who.

Yes, this is a major flaw of the movie

 

[Sam Favate]

More from Sigourney Weaver on Blomkamp's movie:

“Well, we have a great script. Fox asked us to delay so Ridley Scott could shoot his [second] Prometheus movie. That was too bad because we would have already done it by now,” she says.

“It’s a great story and it’s satisfying to me to give this woman an ending,” Weaver says, which makes it sound like this would be her final go-round as the character. That means resolution — not that Ripley will necessarily die. (Note that she’s died before, and that obviously didn’t end anything.)

Weaver also suggested Blomkamp’s Aliens sequel will delve into the motivation of the aliens themselves, exploring what it is their race has been seeking. “The script itself has so much in it that’s so original, but also really satisfies the, I would say, the primal needs of the aliens,” Weaver says. “It’s a tribute to all of the great work that the other directors have done, in a way, but goes in a completely new direction. I hope we’ll do it.”

She hopes to see the movie happen in "a couple" of years.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/07/13/sigourney-weaver-aliens-sequel-neill-blomkamp

 

[Sam Favate]

Damn it.

'Alien 5' Has Been Shelved Indefinitely

http://sciencefiction.com/2016/09/21/space-no-one-can-hear-scream-alien-5-shelved-indefinetely/

Of course, Ridley Scott is one of Fox's MVPs; naturally, they are going to defer to him, and he - bizarrely - wants to make 3 more prequels.

 

[Worth]

Pity that both Scott and James Cameron, once two of the most interesting working directors, seemed determined to spend the rest of their lives churning out sequels.

 

[Lord Dalek]

On one hand I'm sad we're not getting a final Alien film (at least for the moment)

On the other hand, Blomkamp's turned out to be a hack who got lucky once so maybe this was for the best.

 

[dpippel]

I hear M. Night Shyamalan may be available if Fox changes their minds...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Wasn't the Blomkamp film canceled a year ago?

Personally, I loved Prometheus more than any of the Alien movies with the possible exception of the first one, and I've disliked every Blomkamp film I've seen, so I think Fox is making the right decisions here.

 

[WillG]

Damn it.

'Alien 5' Has Been Shelved Indefinitely

http://sciencefiction.com/2016/09/21/space-no-one-can-hear-scream-alien-5-shelved-indefinetely/

Of course, Ridley Scott is one of Fox's MVPs; naturally, they are going to defer to him, and he - bizarrely - wants to make 3 more prequels.

Who saw this coming?!

 

[Sean Bryan]

Disappointing. I'd still love to see (what I consider) a proper follow-up to ALIENS.

Hopefully the delay is just a delay and this still eventually happens. Weaver and Beihn aren't getting any younger though.

 

[WillG]

Disappointing. I'd still love to see (what I consider) a proper follow-up to ALIENS.

Hopefully the delay is just a delay and this still eventually happens. Weaver and Beihn aren't getting any younger though.

Well, if Ridley is truly intent on doing a series of films, Blomkamp's version is at least a decade out at this point (although, Ridley is pretty up there in years now). And yeah, problem kind of becomes that Weaver and Biehn would be too old for a follow up to Aliens to be all that logical.

 

[Malcolm R]

Unless RIdley's sequel bombs, then maybe he can get on to other things.

I'm more interested in Alien 5 than more Prometheus.

 

[Sam Favate]

Damn it.

Ridley Scott says Blomkamp's Alien 5 is dead:

http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/script-alien-5-ridley-scott-light-day/

 

[Lord Dalek]

My enthusiasm for this continued to die as Blomkamp continued to make horribly disappointing films so no great loss. He's keeping Richard Kelly company in Director's Jail now.