14 DAY TRIAL // Sigourney Weaver loves the “Alien” franchise and the character she played in those movies, Lt. Ellen Ripley. She’s itching to go back to that universe now that Neill Blomkamp is working on a new “Alien” installment, but she’d rather she wouldn’t be reminded of the 2 “Alien vs. Predator” movies.
The first crossover film came out in 2004 and was followed by a sequel in 2007, and while they performed well at the box office, they did not sit well with fans and critics. Weaver agrees with them: making “AVP” was a very bad, bad, bad idea.
First “AVP” pushed Ridley Scott out of the franchise
Weaver was at the London Film and Comic-Con yesterday, where she talked to the press about “Alien” past and future, and that long-delayed “Avatar” sequel, THR informs.
She was very vocal about “AVP,” which, in her eyes, was a “depressing” film and a poor decision on behalf of the studio because it killed all chances for a proper “Alien” sequel, which Ridley Scott wanted to make.
When 20th Century Fox decided to make “AVP,” Scott was virtually pushed out of the franchise. Fans know that he would only manage to come back to the franchise with the 2012 prequel “Prometheus.”
To make matters worse, “AVP” didn’t fit in the existing “Alien” universe. It made no sense to put these 2 characters together, aside from the fact that it was happening because Fox wanted to make a lot of money.
The future is bright for “Alien”
All this disappointment behind her, Weaver is looking forward to getting to work on the new “Alien” movie, which Blomkamp is working on. Fans might actually get to see Ripley retire and live out her happy ever after: no woman or man deserves that more than she does, considering what she’s been through, the actress says with a smile.
As for how Blomkamp would handle the mythology, Weaver is not worried: he’s a fan, so he is bound to give it the kind of treatment (and respect) it deserves. That’s a promise Blomkamp also made, when he confirmed he was on board the project.
“I’m so excited about Neill - because Neill is like you guys!” Weaver told the audience at the convention. “He broke the tapes of these movies when he was a kid, he watched them so much. I love the fact that’s Neill’s fulfilling his childhood dream of what he hopes will be the popcorn movie, the Alien popcorn movie that he wanted as a kid to see.”
Blomkamp’s “Alien” movie is currently in pre-production, with a release date eyed for 2017. We still have a while to go until we see all these promises delivered on.