Will Neill Blomkamp still make Alien 5

@T_D.

I was brought up in the tradition of English Literature which meant we studied texts. When I come to think of the body of literature and drama that i enjoy and about time spent in a theatre most people seem to be moved the same way about the same things. Characters are reviled, pitied, respected loved to the same degree within the same cultural environment and that seems to be the key.

Movies are made for people from 16 to 60 and for entirely different cultures even cultures which share the same language but are culturally quite different.

A L I E N was quite linear and we ended up with one survivor who we connected with simply because she had the guts and tenacity to survive. In the second movie they layered her more as a lost mother who gained a child and as someone who started off being disbelieved and thought of as crazy and was completely redeemed and survived saving her "daughter' and a man she warmed to.

They decided for the third and fourth movie to make her the A L I E N and even interact with the Zeno strain more intimately but it was all about her. That was a huge mistake because they began a process which concluded in the AVP movie I did see of emaciating the A L I E N and reduced it to an uninteresting one dimensional stereotype. The only way to make the Zeno interesting again is to find out where it came from and why it is a weapon of punishment and there is no better way to do that than to thread its history into mankind with the Engineers a third part of the triangle.

However relatable Ripley is that makes her entirely expendable because if you make the Zeno back story interesting, because she has been round for ever, she becomes a stereotype and even more worrying is the movie is driven by the delayed opportunity of her being a mother and lover again. She has nothing to add indeed she becomes a dangerous diversion. She already is, two films have been nixed because of her.

So in the third corner we have mankind do we have a replacement sassy female, thats the danger of Daniel's but I suspect she is aligned to the mission quite differently to Ripley. Whether as the crew "turning up to dinner reduces" you find upsetting because you are rooting for them because you relate to them is another matter which you can answer in a years time. But for me I do not have to relate to them, I have to understand them. They can do stupid things that does not worry me people do stupid things every day thats life.

The Prometheus crew were a bunch of opportunist pushing there luck and all got what they deserved (Janek was a genuine hero) the Covenant crew are colonist probably some are idealists who will not be prepared to meet whats there. They maybe naive but in a different way, so long as i understand who they are in the same way I understood the Prom characters I am unconcerned. Yes you can tighten up some of the drama and make the all hell breaks lose arc more consistent (Fifield unleashed felt added on and indeed it was) but the characters can still do stupid things just as Romeo, Lear, Bathsheba and the Mayor of Casterbridge did stupid naive things which caused death and terrible consequences.  

The only characters that cannot do stupid things are the robots they must act in line with whatever their programme indicates, just as the Zeno's do and thats really the point morality, gives us mankind the privilege of doing illogical things. We are prepared to sacrifice ourselves for others for the greater good the ultimate symbol of sacrifice being christ. The Engineers it may turn out rebelled against this Covenant with their maker and may have lead to their fall. The biggest message of the film maybe they did stupid things.               

Well said Michelle!

150,000 humans die every day...I doubt any more than 100 are heroic Hollywood deaths. .....100 is probably too high..but I'll give the benefit of doubt to my fellow humans!

Perfect Sequel?

Hicks : needs reconstructive surgery(Navy's not going to pay for the operation, it's cosmetic)....He lost ALL his squad mates...Probably having survivor guilt...other signs of PTSD.....Clearly headed for a desk job...if he doesn't take his own life.

Bishop : Needs major surgery. May not be worth it....Probably headed for the scrap heap. Memory's upload to the synth cloud to help further the synth race.

Newt : PTSD....Family dead.... headed for years of therapy...Nightmares...Maybe a chance of deprogramming, but that's $$$$.

Ripley : Have her nightmares ended? That's the only reason she joined the Sulaco Slaughter in the first place.....More nightmares? Well then you might have another story.

Really sounds like their story has ended?

Then the story has to be forced on them.  Ripley had 30 years of reward; now she (and Hicks and Newt) get dragged back in when more Aliens are discovered. Or the Derelict is excavated.  Or whatever.

SM .. Exactly thats what i think....  the movie makes more sense to be shot 20 years latter... Blomkamps original concept work looked set 10 years latter tops...

And so its maybe correct to assume they returned to a normal life after Aliens...  then some event drags them back into it...  we have to assume Ripley goes home or to a Outpost to take up a more World Based Job and put Space Travel behind her...  

It would be interesting to see what direction Hicks takes, did he stay in the Military, does he become a Private Security type roll, as Military wont have him back due to his injuries... or does he take a 9-5 job and what emotional scars do they all carry.

We have to try and figure out what event brings them back....

*After Aliens is that the last the company have as far as Xenomorph or Egg Cargo and Derelict... was they destroyed on Hadleys Hope... (as far as canon to Alien 5, and not Games).

*If so and the Derelict is destroyed, then we have to ask where else could the company get its hands on the Xenomorph?  Alien 3 and Alien R showed us the companies only hope was to pursue Ripley.  But why if the Derelict at least on LV-426 and its Cargo is Salvageable.

*Does the company recover it or set up a outpost on LV-426 and keep things quiet from Ripleys knowledge and also contained... (but history tells us they cant safely control and contain the Xenomorph).

*If the Derelict was destroyed and Hadleys hope is completely gone too,  this would explain their endless pursuit of Ripley (however maybe because dealing with one Xeno carrying Host is less risky than going down to a Ship/Hive with Thousands of Eggs).  But if we go the route as Alien 3 and R and the Derelict is destroyed then what?

*Prometheus showed us there was more to the Engineers than Xeno Eggs.... the Derelict/Juggernaught are just as big a prize for a Company than its Cargo.. also Alien Covenant will maybe show us how the Goo/Xeno are related in which Chicken/Egg Order are those....

As we know LV-223 was intact after Prometheus, it looked like it had many more temples.. there defiantly was many more Engineer Ships... they only explored a small part of LV-223 was it pot luck that where Prometheus Landed is the only Outpost on that World.

*We have Paradise, and any mission to LV-223 may uncover clues to Paradise... or maybe information had been passed to the Company... and even if Covenant arrives by pure Coincidence... the aftermath we have to ask what information does the company have?

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So we have avenues for where and what condition as of Aliens and Alien 5,  the Engineers and their Technology and Xeno Bio-Weapon are in......

Does the company never try and explore or obtain any of this ....this is one thing that has to be covered as a potential Plot Hole..... what becomes of Engineer Tech and Companies knowledge as of Aliens..  for example.

*LV-223 and its Temples, and Engineer Ships.

*The Derelict after Hadleys Hope Destruction.

*Paradise... and any clues left to other Worlds the Engineers have Technology on or Bio-Weapons.

These are important as to work out how the Xenomorph and Engineer Ship comes into play in Alien 5...

Maybe Blomkamp had explored ideas... of these but these ideas of how he would carry on the Plot of where in the Galaxy can and does the company get Engineer Ship and Xenomorphs after Aliens....  (we know LV-223 has such stuff and Paradise).

And so i think these are maybe the things that had to be changed that conflicted with Ridley and Foxes explanations for the condition and availability of such things.

Going back to what SM said....

There is another more simple option and that is the Derelict gets buried and assumed Lost....  (still have to wonder why they dont go to Paradise or LV-223 or other Worlds the Engineers have tinkered with).

so a company arrives and they unearth it.... (i was working on  a Alien movie that had similar idea, that i only got as far as a broad synopsis rather than actual draft... where a Mining company mine a World and they explore and excavate further and further and come across a Cave System with Spore like Eggs hanging from the Walls and Ceilings....   they then later come across a Engineer Ship that had been buried under a Volcanic Eruption thousands of years prior.

They could go that similar route.....

But then we have to ask why would Ripley bother.... is Ripley now the SPECIALIST XENO ASS KICKER...?  surely the Marines have better trained people who only need Intel and surely after Aliens Hicks and Ripley would have been questioned about what happened.. surely someone at the company would known about the Mission and Burkes plans.

So the "Who ya Gonna Call" when you got a Xeno outbreak as being Ripley Xeno Buster role does not fit with me.....

She would want to forget about these nightmares and her only role would be to raise awareness of the threat than want to go back out... especially if we are ignoring the Character Ripley became in Alien 3

So there has to be a reason for her and Hicks to Go... and maybe that Reason is Newt?   Does Newt become some Pilot or some other role that takes her on a Mission that then ends up encountering the Xeno?

That would give Ripley a better reason to enter the foray again... but who knows..

@Thoughts_Dreams

If we want to go back and off topic and cover Alien Covenant and how much Xeno and how much Engineers...  Then IF THE SOURCE can be trusted..

Here is a nut shell of the connections...

*David and Shaws mission to Paradise for Answers is only one Plot the movie had 3 in total and concentrated on the other TWO

*That would not be largely based on the Juggernaught they took off in.

*Shaw plays a minor role and is incapacitated for the most part

*She Technically is not dead... but plays a big part in the Plot (but seems she dont get much screen time).

*Plot revolves in part around David, his Agenda and Evolution.

*The Engineers, their Hierarchy and Agenda is covered and its a Sinister Agenda... Engineers are not the Top of the Hierarchy and are to the Hierarchy as David 8 is to mankind.

*Some links to LV-223 and LV-426 as far as related Events but its not a Xeno based movie or Xeno Origin Tale.

*It appears one of the 3 Plots could be around Engineers and History and reasons for a Rebellion (Fall) and so flashbacks could be part of this.

*The movie feature Two Types of Xenomorph related Organisms that would provide clues to the Xenomorph but they are not Traditional Xenomorphs...

*One is a Past Event, the other a Event post Prometheus and seems source hints David plays a role in this.

*Total Xenomorph related connections and goings on is 20% 25% Tops of the Draft....  its no more a Xeno Flick than Prometheus was... just Xeno connections are not as vague.

That seemed to be the idea for Prometheus 2... which they said was going to be called either Paradise Lost or Pandemonium... i think maybe they hinted at Paradise Pandemonium?   But said Prometheus title would be dropped.

This was all said back March-July 2015 most in March and so who knows if its true... but thats what the rough percentage of the idea of Green/Paglens draft was.

So Thoughts_Dreams it appears Alien Covenant will however be more connected to link to Alien movie... and Xeno DNA and so i expect a lower % of Engineers and their Agenda and History in this... but more than we got from Prometheus.... and i think the Xeno DNA and Xenomorph would be more linked to the Original and a higher % of Xeno based movie is what we would see..

Maybe as much as 50%?

I would suggest that maybe she (Newt) joins some kind of role on a Ship or a Pilot for a Mission to a outpost or something related and she runs into Xeno trouble and thats why Ripley and Hicks get involved in Alien 5

I think she has to be the key event that would get Ripley involved.... as i would assume after Aliens that Ripley would want to get back to some normal life, a normal job and back to life pre Nostromo.

Rather than her, Hicks being the Xeno Busters "who ya gonna call when ya got a Xeno outbreak" Ripley and Co... like shes the only Human who can deal with them.

The same goes with if they kidnap Newt to blackmail Ripley and Co to get involved in the Xeno or give information... again who is to say Ripley is the only one Human who has all the information on the Xeno?

Sure Bishop has more....  and then we have Prometheus Mission and David 8, and Covenant etc... so the company is bound to not really need Ripley for input... the only reason she was needed in Alien 3 would be logically in that series of events the Derelict was destroyed or buried after the destruction of Hadleys Hope.

@BD Prometheus has already used up a good deal of artistic capital by introducing LV233.

Covenant will use up an equal amount of capital with Paradise and the why the zeno. The third and final movie (the official view is this is the second chapter in a trilogy) will then use up more mythos capital.

So one of the few credible ways to use all those substantial pre equal investments and genuinely tie them together is for a character, probably Newt, to be involved in the discovery of something buried in the original films.

I have said it elsewhere the Zenomorph strain is inert the species that set them in motion destroyed they remain as in the first film some thing latent and hidden and only respond in storytelling terms to being poked.

If the origins of the Zeno lie with the Engineers and we will certainly know that after Covenant what more can a post Aliens world do other than poke around ill advisedly some more which all sounds like a re tread to me mixed in with Ripley's increasingly soap opera story.       

Sigourney's 'I want to give this woman an ending' sounds more like a slogan than a mission. It's certainly inducing seizures in the susceptible. Watching these people peddle themselves is depressing.

To me, there's no doubt this movie will be made, I'm just hoping the story doesn't insult our intelligence trying to justify itself. So far the people talking about it do not inspire a lot of confidence, especially when conspicuous by it's absence is Blomkamp's voice.

I found a couple of his concept pieces to be interesting, especially the housed and apparently rotting Juggernaut. I wouldn't mind seeing a movie just about the horrors of being exposed to that, no pulse rifles, no reunion, no Queen. Alas. Maybe his movie will be a pg13 film for the kiddies.

@Aorta I like your style ! I also think its important (and concerning) that this came out of conversations between Blomkamp and Sigournays whilst working together as a lets do it for her rather than the wider mythos.   

I think NB is genuinely enthusiastic, but yes let's forget the 'motives' of the MORBs (eye roll) and look at the motives of the players thus far.

The whole premise feels shaky and inorganic and extant only to reunite popular 1980s characters. That in itself is a massive burden for this film to overcome, and how much of it's energy will be expended establishing its legitimacy?

Maybe very little, and that would be pretty slick, but maybe a lot, and that the question even exists strains credulity. Probably the script is good, a fair amount of heavyweights seem to think so.

But a couple of those heavyweights are only so on the laurels of long past accomplishment, and that thanks to the vision and hand of the directors they worked for. You can practically smell the hunger for renewed stardom. Yes, that's pretty cynical, but not inaccurate, I don't think. And it's coloring things already.

It might just be a thrill to see Ripley make her grand entrance. But Hicks, Bishop etc. I can do without. I'm surprised more don't share this view, but I'm a misfit.

Edit- This movie might be really great, I know. I will see it. Just not convinced at this time.

" I also think its important (and concerning) that this came out of conversations between Blomkamp and Sigournays whilst working together as a lets do it for her rather than the wider mythos."

I don't see that as concerning in the slightest.

If you look at it from the 'this will cost me $20 and two hours of my time' angle, there's nothing to be concerned about, it will likely be as entertaining as anything else. 

From the 'I want integrity in my storytelling and I'll be quite aware if it's absent' angle, it's an issue. A movie shouldn't exist because Sigourney wants it and found someone who agrees. But the probability of that is low.

I think Michelle wants more than just another MORB movie, particularly one that's dependent on nostalgia? That would go for me, too. 

Alien took the Hostile Extraterrestrial Biology trope to a whole other level of sophistication, and in doing so created a need in certain people. It carved out a new space in our imagination. Then Aliens blew it up with action and excitement and some of what made Alien great was lost, never to return. It seems the majority want war movies.

I think a lot of the skepticism over Alien 5 (and to a lesser extent Covenant) is that they're more of the same. Covenant's saving grace is Ridley, and his refusal to go back any more than necessary to satisfy the zeitgeist.

"From the 'I want integrity in my storytelling and I'll be quite aware if it's absent' angle, it's an issue."

Sounds a tad presumptuous.

We don't have the slightest of the content of the story, nevermind the quality.

Sigourney Weaver vs Alien(s) again after a break of 20 years - even if it's some alternative continuity - sounds alright to me.  She's the soul of the series anyway.

Great Grandmother Ripley....yeah just what we need!

I'm interested to see what they'll do.

S.M.-

No presumption, I'm just saying that based on what we know so far, it's possible. That's the concerning part. To put it in perspective, it's akin to being concerned about whether or not the ingredients of a sandwich are organic, though one could argue that that question is far more important than Alien 5. 

My curiosity is piqued too, but so far mainly because I want to see if smooth sense can be made of such a contrived premise, which is not the best reason to be interested. Ripley, Hicks, Newt, Queen MORBS are all things I need never see again.