Neil Blomkamp, the director behind District 9 and the upcoming Chappie, set sci-fi fans abuzz when he announced that his next project would be a new Aliens film.
While exciting, not many details were known. Would Sigourney Weaver return? Will the film be a sequel to Alien or Aliens? Will it coexist with Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection?
Now we officially have answers to many of those questions. In an interview with Sky News (which has since been made private) during a promotional tour for Chappie, Weaver confirmed her involvement in the new film and Blomkamp spilled more details on what to expect from the future of the Alien franchise.
"I want this film to feel like it's literally the genetic sibling of Aliens," Blomkamp says. "So it's Alien, Aliens, and then this movie". His words fall perfectly in line from the early concept art released for the film, which showed an older Ripley and Corporal Hicks side-by-side.
Weaver says in the interview that she wants to give Ripley's character a proper send-off, something she doesn't believe was accomplished in the later two Alien films.
"I would love to take Ripley out of orbiting around in space, and give a proper finish to her story", Weaver says.
While the new movie will very much be a sequel to James Cameron's bombastic Aliens, Blomkamp doesn't want to lose sight of the horror aspect that made the original film an instant classic.
"It's a Freudian nightmare. That element to me is what is so appealing," he says. "To try to put the audience on the edge of their seat, in a traditional 'monster stalking you in a dark corridor' way."
Sorry fans of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. It looks like Blomkamp isn't interested in incorporating his new project into the existing mythos, instead doing a half-way series reboot. No matter what Blomkamp does, it's hard not to be excited by this new film, which currently doesn't have a release date. Blomkamp brings a grit and realism to his science fiction work that is a perfect fit for the Alien franchise. Let's all just hope it turns out better than Prometheus.
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