Alien 5 With Sigourney Weaver Gets Disappointing Update From Producer

Producer Walter Hill offers a disappointing update on a potential Alien 5 with Sigourney Weaver, revealing a lack of studio interest in the project.

While the franchise's future looks to the small screen, producer Walter Hill has a disappointing update on the proposed Alien 5 with Sigourney Weaver. Weaver led the cast of the original four Alien movies as Ellen Ripley, a warrant officer in the far future aboard the cargo ship the Nostromo whose life is upended when she and her crew come under attack from a dangerous extraterrestrial species now known as the Xenomorph. Ripley has become one of the most iconic heroines in the year since her Alien debut, with Weaver also going on to be nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.



Plans for an Alien 5 have been in the works since the release of 1997's Alien: Resurrection, with Joss Whedon penning a draft for an Earth-set story, which Weaver rejected, while original director Ridley Scott would go on to co-write and direct the prequel films, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and Fox produced the Alien vs. Predator franchise. Talks of a new film began to surge in the early 2010s when Weaver expressed her interest in returning as Ripley with a story from District 9's Neill Blomkamp that would act as a direct sequel to Aliens. While it would initially be canceled in favor of Scott's still-unproduced third prequel, Alien: Awakening, previous director James Cameron revealed he was working on reviving Blomkamp's Alien 5 in 2019, though audiences holding out hope for it to happen may not want to hold their breath.

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In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Walter Hill was asked about the proposed Alien 5 with Sigourney Weaver returning as franchise protagonist Ellen Ripley. The producer offered a disappointing update on the project, revealing he and his team pitched the movie to Disney, but they were not receptive to the idea. See what Hill said below:


We took a shot at that a couple of years back with Sigourney. But that was back when Aliens was still at Fox. The people at Disney, who now control Aliens, have expressed no interest in going down that road. I had an idea for a good story with the Ripley character and Sigourney. But I do hope to see her in Venice.

Hill's update on the potential Alien 5 with Sigourney Weaver is sure to come as a disappointing one for fans of the sci-fi/horror franchise, namely those who were eager to see her return with Michael Biehn's Corporal Hicks, who was revealed to be involved in the film with official concept art for it. Weaver had remained very positive on Blomkamp's idea for the sequel, with the director revealing in mid-2021 that she was "really into" his pitch and expressing disbelief at the studio turning down the project, given the fan's anticipation for it. Hill's disappointing Alien 5 update largely lines up with Blomkamp's discussions on the matter, seeming to indicate Disney taking over the rights to the franchise after the Disney-Fox merger left a lot of plans shelved.


Though the proposed Alien 5 with Sigourney Weaver may not see the light of day, the franchise's future isn't all bleak. FX is currently developing a TV show from Fargo creator Noah Hawley, which will be set apart from the Ripley-led films, while 20th Century Studios recently tapped Don't Breathe's Fede Álvarez to write and direct a standalone movie apart from the prior ones. In the meantime, audiences can revisit Weaver's tenure in the franchise with the first four Alien movies streaming on Starz now.