While we've been fairly preoccupied with news on Ridley Scott's upcoming Prometheus sequel, Alien: Paradise Lost, some news on Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 has surfaced! While speaking to The Daily Beast, once again about The Martian, Scott touched on Blomkamp's upcoming Alien sequel and dropped another bombshell - confirming that Alien 5 will release in 2017! Scott also reveals that the first draft of the screenplay has been completed and looks "pretty good":
“We have Neill Blomkamp’s Alien, which will be out in 2017. We just have the first [screenplay] draft in so far but it looks pretty good.”
Alien: Paradise Lost is set to release before Alien 5, which also confirms the Prometheus sequel will likely hit theaters in 2017 as well!
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.