Although all anyone can talk about right now is Alien: Covenant, there are a few out there who are willing to question the status of Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 project while Ridley Scott is busy promoting his Prometheus sequel.
To the disappointment of those who were anticipating Blomkamp's Alien project, Scott insinuated that the film would likely never see the light of day. While speaking with the French publication Allocine, Scott was quoted saying:
I think he will never see the light. There was never a scenario, just an idea that evolved into a pitch of ten pages, I had to participate as a producer but it did not go any further because the Fox decided that She did not want to do it. I had already done Prometheus and worked on Covenant.
Although this does somewhat contradict what we had heard previously concerning Alien 5, it's not all that surprising. Blomkamp's Alien 5 was going to rehash a section of this franchise that Scott and Fox are seemingly trying to distance themselves from. With the expansion of the mythology, the focus is no longer on Ripley, Newt and Hicks, but more so on David, Androids, Engineers and the grand concept of creationism. Alien 5 would have been a fun film no doubt, but would primarily act as fan service rather than an expansion of the mythos.
However these are Ridley Scott's views and depending on how Alien: Covenant performs, Fox may consider revisiting Blomkamp's vision, if anything for a spin-off, much like what Disney are doing with Star Wars. Fans shouldn't lose hope in the project just yet.
Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 project was inevitably canceled following the merger between 20th Century Fox and Disney. Blomkamp had hoped to revive characters Hicks and Ripley for a new film, rewriting the Alien timeline, chalking up Alien 3 and Resurrection to mere bad dreams. Studio executives decided to can the project and instead took the franchise in a new direction, tapping Fede Alvarez to direct Alien: Romulus.
Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 is indefinitely shelved.
