Alien franchise veteran Sigourney Weaver addresses whether she could still return as Ellen Ripley for a new movie while at New York Comic Con. Weaver debuted as the character back in Ridley Scott’s seminal 1979 sci-fi horror, a role she reprised in three sequels, ultimately departing the franchise with 1997’s Alien: Resurrection.
Speaking at the franchise’s panel at NYCC, for which ScreenRant is in attendance, Weaver reveals that Alien franchise writer and producer Walter Hill has written 50 pages of a script that catches up with an older Ripley. Though Weaver didn’t originally think more Ripley story was necessary, she does say that, “It’s a very strong first 50 pages.“
The actor then outlines what Ripley’s new adventure would be about, explaining why it could serve as a fitting return for the franchise’s most iconic hero:
“I was always like let her rest, let her recover. But what Walter has written first of all seems so true to me. It’s about a society who would incarcerate someone who’s tried to help mankind but she’s a problem for them…”
As for whether the project will ever see the light of day, Weaver isn’t sure, but she does offer a glimmer of hope, revealing that an official meeting did take place with the studio:
“I don’t know if it’s gonna happen but I have had a meeting with Fox, or Disney or whoever it is now.”
Weaver’s comments about a Ripley return are the latest in a long saga of franchise developments. Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) was, for a long time, attached to an in-development Alien 5, which would have featured a Ripley comeback and been a sequel to Aliens (1986). The project was ultimately cancelled, however, with the franchise moving in a new direction.
Hill, who helped conceive the story for Aliens, has also previously spoken about seemingly the same project Weaver is describing. Back in 2022, Hill told The Hollywood Reporter:
We took a sH๏τ 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.
The movie Weaver is describing then, may not be a new project at all, and it could still be very much stalled. It’s also possible, though, that Weaver is referring to a new idea that has more traction.
In any case, the franchise isn’t slowing down, with a sequel to 2024’s Alien: Romulus now in the pipeline. It’s also possible that Alien: Earth season 2 will get the greenlight at FX after a popular first outing for the Noah Hawley sci-fi TV series.
If Ripley does return in a future Alien movie, it’s also unclear exactly what form this could take and how it would fit into the franchise timeline. The character technically dies in Alien 3 (1992), after all, before returning as a human-xenomorph-hybrid clone in Resurrection. A return could retcon this development and be a direct sequel to Aliens, as was previously planned.
Alien: Romulus also showed that the franchise isn’t averse to cameos from original actors with its digital resurrection of the late Ian Holm as android Rook. It’s possible that Weaver could return in a similar way in a future movie, even if the story isn’t actually about Ripley. From Weaver’s latest comments, it sounds like she remains open to an Alien franchise comeback.
Alien
- Movie(s)
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Alien, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Prometheus (2012), Alien: Covenant (2017), Alien: Romulus (2024)
- Created by
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Ridley Scott
- First Film
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Alien
- Latest Film
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Alien: Romulus
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Alien: Earth
- Cast
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Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Bill Paxton, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Pete Postlethwaite, Winona Ryder, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Michael Fᴀssbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir
