Alien is Back

[wayfriend]

One other film tidbit I came across today.

It seems that Neill Blomkamp (Chappie, Elysium, District 9 ... yeah, that guy) has been toying around with some Alien (Ripley, xenomorphs, "in space no one can hear you scream" ... yeah, that Alien) concept art. Everyone thought it was just for fun.

Except now it's not.

Variety confirmed that the next ALIEN film will, indeed, be the director’s next after the upcoming CHAPPIE.

Frankly, I'm excited. Blomkamp is damn interesting. This seems like a peanut butter and chocolate kinda pair-up.

[Brinn]

Nice!

[Cail]

I'm not getting excited about this until they actually start filming. I think there's a good story to be told if they ignore everything that's happened after the second film. I think there's some amazing things that can be done with effects now that weren't possible when the other films were made.

But Sigourney Weaver is 65, and Michael Biehn is 58. What are the chances that a studio is going to funnel a ton of money into a film that stars a has-been and a never-was? Not to mention that as much as I love the franchise, it's not really that financially successful.

I hope something comes of this, and I hope it's amazing.

[Obi-Wan Nihilo]

I'm still confused about whether Prometheus 2 is actually going to be filmed. Scott keeps saying that it will be, but they keep pushing it back.

[michaelm]

To be honest I wish they had not done anything after Aliens and left it at two really good movies. Not getting my hopes up for this.

[wayfriend]

I agree that the latter movies were not as good as the first two. But I don't consider the Alien story-line the kind of thing where making more movies does any harm. They're just good or just bad.

What I like about Blomkamp is that he explores the implications of technology on society, which is really what the golden age of sci-fi was all about. I expect to see the future society in which Alien happens to be flushed out more. Meanwhile, Weaver feels Ripley's story is incomplete, and is hankering to finish it. I think that this combination could be astounding: imagine the conclusion to the Ripley/Alien hybrid storyline with profound implications for humanity. This has a sort of Avatar vibe to it. (And, indeed, Cameron was attached to a new fifth film for a bit.)

Of course, we might get Aliens vs. Smurfs. But you get excited about possibilities.

[Cail]

What I like about Blomkamp is that he explores the implications of technology on society, which is really what the golden age of sci-fi was all about. I expect to see the future society in which Alien happens to be flushed out more.

This is where I think the real potential is. Looking at the art design from the first two films, Blomkamp's design ethic appears to be heavily influenced by what he saw there.

We'll part ways on Weaver's involvement. Her continued presence in the films has been a liability, not an asset. It's a real shame that William Gibson's script for the third film was unused. It focused on Hicks and Bishop, and was a far more compelling story than what we got.

[wayfriend]

A followup:

So, after days of speculation, it’s a done deal: SkyMovies reports that Sigourney Weaver herself says that the new ALIEN film by Neill Blomkamp will give the fans “a proper ending” to the ALIEN franchise to tell a new story that is a direct continuation of the arcs introduced in ALIEN and ALIENS. What does that mean for ALIEN 3 and ALIEN RESURRECTION? Reading between the lines, it sure seems like either Blomkamp’s new film will simply ignore those movies, or that ALIEN 5 will retcon what happened in those movies entirely. [link]

[Cail]

Yup, I saw on AVClub this morning that it's going to be a sequel to Aliens. That's a Good Thing.

[I'm Murrin]

It's the only way you could tell a story with the same characters. And it kind of makes sense to try a new sequel at that spot.

On the other hand, this makes Blomkamp's film the Superman Returns of the franchise.

[Orlion]

In mine opining, Blomkamp is able to come up with interesting ideas... what he is not really good at is pulling them off.

District 9 was a decent sci-fi shoot 'em up

Elysium was....Elysium...

I will see how Chappie does, but I imagine it'll be more of the same.

So though this film should be better than the Aliens vs Predator films or Alien: Resurrection, I'm not keeping my hopes up that it will be better than Alien 3.

Particularly if he's going to bring old characters back.

[Cail]

Agreed on Blomkamp's results. He's trying too hard to make message movies instead of telling an organic story.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+



Alien: Covenant Official Trailer

[Cagliostro]

I have a soft spot for Alien: Resurrection because of the director. I like his style. But the movie was kinda dumb, and Winona was annoying. But I had a good time watching it.

[dANdeLION]

I saw them all; still like the original best.

[Sorus]

The first two were the best, but I will confess that I sometimes watch Alien 3 when I'm already in a bad mood. It's not something I'm going to pop in the DVD player if I'm in a warm and fuzzy mood, but the atmosphere makes it a perfect bad mood movie.

[dANdeLION]

Heh, I can't bear to watch 3. I saw it once, and that was 1 too many times. 4 is prolly just as bad, but Winona somehow makes it bearable for me. Promethea wasn't initially going to be an Alien movie, right? It shows. Charlize is IMO a very good actress; but not so much this time. Still, Promethea is better than 3 & 4.