ALIEN: QUANDARY

That's a tough one.

I'd lay it to rest ......and then develop a TV series.... If it does well...Bring that to the big screen.

IF I was forced to continue.....I would use the Engineers as a plot vehicle for cosmic horror...Xenomorphs are just half witted bugs and I don't see them contributing much(jump scares).

I'd call it A L I E N  I I and use Sigourney Weaver just as she is.

The Narcissus has never left the system. Mother cancelled Ripley's commands. Mother WON'T leave until she/the company gets a specimen.

the shuttle orbit has decayed and has fallen into the ice asteroid belt around calamapos. Mother is suicidal.

Mother has been waiting for a new set of orders from the company..she is strained.

Mother spots a alien derelict (Juggernaut) in the ice belt she maneuvers near it and wakes Ripley......

This question has come up in the forum quite a bit and is always interesting to discuss.

I like that diagram BigDave- and I would like to see it continue to the left- somewhere between Isolation and Aliens. I think the Amanda angle has wings and could attract younger folks as well as geezers with open minds like me. My second choice would be after Resurrection and that could easilly include the Company and/or the creature.  Whatever the case, I would leave Ripley out of it unless there were some audio files or something. Ripley had her time just like I think David has had his. 

All said, I don't see it on the big screen, but maybe as a streaming series or something like MonsterZero mentioned.

Strangely enough, I was actually pondering this the other day and because of the very reason you mention BigDave; because we really do seem to be at an impasse when it comes to the future of the franchise.

Firstly I looked at what we have thus far, which is much easier to quantify than your diagram, and is this - we have the original movie in all of it's ambiguous and mysterious glory, then we have two spin-off franchises; the Queen movies (Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection) and the Engineer movies (Prometheus, Alien: Covenant).

In the original movie, the Alien was a bio-mechanical, invincible terror with an alien lifecycle whereby it transformed its victims into the medium by which its seed could be carried forward - the Facehugger. In the sequels, the Alien was an organic, mortal monster that having lost its mechanical edge needed to rely on a more natural method of propagation. And in the prequels we see the Aliens very essence being scrutinized with (in my opinion) the Engineers having reverse-engineered the Alien they found on LV-426 into a more manageable pathogenic weapon only for David to reverse engineer their reverse engineering and reassemble if only organically, the Alien creature.

This gives us three blanket choices; continue with the overexposed Queen narrative, continue with the needlessly bloated disassembly of the Aliens backstory, or return to the original concepts and feel of the original movie. While Aliens may have been highly influential and Prometheus may have been a visual tour-de-force the truth is that they both needlessly and unjustifiably deviated away from what made the first movie, both aesthetically and narratively, stand out.

So, in my opinion, we need to go back to that original movie and forget everything that has followed.

And to that end, I have been pondering the seemingly unponderable; a remake - but wait...

While I do believe that with the right cast, crew, script and so forth that a, at least technically, better version of Alien could be made, the format of a two-three hour movie in today's blockbuster, shared universe hungry market doesn't feel viable.

However, what if Alien was remade as a mini-series. The narrative, characters, and concepts could be given more time to breathe, especially if the 'lost' elements that later gave birth to Prometheus were reinstated, such as the Alien pyramid. The characters could be fleshed out and the creatures mystery and uniqueness reinstated.

Now, I know some may scoff at such a concept, and think the idea a fruitless exercise. But, take heed of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake, which failed to live up to the original, but a mere eleven years later Rupert Wyatt's reboot retold the story from its very beginnings and spawned one of the best trilogies in recent years and a trilogy that surpassed its predecessors (in my opinion).

I don't think Alien should be messed with except for the DC to be recognized as the definitive version. I disagree with any form of a reboot (with the below exception)- Alien is the template. The Quadrilogy is what it is. 

A mini series could be great for fleshing out aspects of Alien, but not replace it. Ripley and crew were common people whose back stories were adequate. Being regular people is what made them easy to connect with. I don't think we need to know about their childhoods or interim stories.  Ash's back story would be the only interesting thing except it would suck all the mystery from Alien.

I think it is rare to incorporate a game into canon, but Isolation is so well written that Amanda's story could be the closest thing to a fresh start without feeling like a hard re boot.

 The POTA remake was outstanding and is a great example of a re boot that led to a really good series- (for that matter, I would include the Star Trek re boot). I don't have a good argument, but somehow, I can't imagine Ripley or the original cast being  re done. 

For strange reason I can't post a long comment. And my another test comments randomly delete.

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@Gavin and do you think that going from two hours to ten, a series remake would not wander away from the original to fill up that huge new time? Do we really need yet another story of corporate shady dealings? Was the prequel novel to Covenant that exciting? There way to few parties in the original to spread it like this....

I think Certainly the Franchise is in a Pickle from a MOVIE stand point, as its WHERE do they go NOW.... which is the Main Reason for me doing the Topic...

The Problem is the Prequels have become something that has Fractured the Fan-base, and the Xenomorph Origins (route take)and a Series about Rogue AI is not to everyone's liking, the Engineers some were Interested in exploring the Engineers in Depth, some wanted to see them used as Aggressive Angry SOB's so with Less Depth than even Predators... (Basically Comic Book Engineers)  But its a case of NO MATTER what changes they make, what they introduce/change, i think they would STRUGGLE to get the Fans on board to the Point of Guarantee a Good Return on the COST of Finishing the Prequels...

It simply would be a RISKY Venture for Disney.

Thats WHY i placed that Prequel Line in the Diagram i used.

So Ignoring the Prequels, as far as to Continue to Branch from the Franchise it was a case of WHERE TO GO NEXT?

The Alien Franchise was really a QUADRILOGY that explored the Xenomorph Threat from the Standpoint of being about Ripley, it was just as much a Ripley Quadrilogy than the just Xenomorph.

The Option for a ALIEN V could have been to Continue from Alien Resurrection but then its a case of WHAT do you do?  More about Ripley and Xenomorphs?   You would also have to explain WHY a Ripley 8 would have Aged (But i have TWO ways to do this that dont mean we just CGI her for the Movie).

We could Consider at this point.... the Company Resort to CLONING our Ripley as they have NO other means of Obtaining a Xenomorph or anything related.

Alien Isolation came about as a Idea to Place another Story about Ripleys Daughter...  that seemed to be a Less Conflicting Idea that the Spin Off Novels... but its a case of should a Amanda Series be Confined to only the Video Games, Novels and Comics?

So to NOT Continue with Ellen Ripley's Story, to leave the Alien Isolation as its own thing and NOT be involved as a Movie, and to Abandon the Prequels, really leaves us with LITTLE OPTIONS...

I dont think that any Re-boots and Ret-cons are NOT wise be it Reboot Alien 3, Reboot Aliens, Reboot the Prequels!

So with all that Considered..... doing a NEW Series of Movies that does-not go the route of any of the Above may seem like there is NO-WHERE to go but thats NOT the case!

So without really Conflicting the Franchise or Prequels there are ways to go FORWARDS!

1) Alien Resurrection Parallel Story....  What became of the Failed Ripley 7 Queen?   This could have been SENT to another Facility and so we could explore that, and Xenomorphs that are slightly Different.

2) The Derelict, was this the only Ship to have Carried Eggs, could others had Landed on other Worlds?  So exploring this at some point after the Events of Alien Resurrection or Before could be another route.

3) The Engineers had Experimented on things similar to the Xenomorph in the Past, (Deacon) and so do we know what was the Basis for those Experiments?  Some Organism they encountered and Re-Engineered then if so and WHEN and mainly.... COULD there be this Organism out there in the GALAXY.

4) Similar to above, we know the Engineers did Experiment and had that Black Goo, but do we KNOW if they had Successfully Deployed it in the Past to other Worlds, and IF-SO then what has became of those Worlds?

TV Series is a OPTION!

But certain things would suit such a Venture, where we can Flesh Out Characters, the Problem is the Special Effects in Regards to the Amount of Screen Time we get Xenomorphs or Similar....

So you would have to Juggle the Budget.... Sacrifices have to be made, and depending on the Budget and Allocation to Xenomorphs and the like, we could END UP with some Comical Special Effects and CGI that could be Detrimental to the Xenomorph and similar.

TV Series that covers the Colonial Marines, the Weyland-Yutani as in Rivalry and Merger and Corporate Shenanigans, that covers AI and Synthetics in Detail.  Would all be more Easier to do.

To Cover the Engineers to a degree would NOT be so Hard.

The Vast Space Sets, and Special Effects for Monsters related to the Xenomorph are the Costly things, or things that IF they are NOT done right would look well LOW BUDGET...

You could make a Engineers vs Predators Movie that would be more Cheaper than a ALIENS 2 because Engineers and Predators are NOT as Expensive or Difficult to Produce on Screen.

Not saying we do that though lol

I think what made ALIEN stand out was you Hardly Saw the Xenomorph, so that would mean LESS TIME and Less Effects required, especially if you never see the Full Monster up close...

But you are going to get some Fans who would want to see more Xenomorphs and More Actions as they are used to from ALIENS and Various Comics/Games.... which for a TV Series would be Expensive.

Whats a Shame was that RS had ideas on how to Expand the Franchise that would NOT have to revolve around the Xenomorph..... but these PLANS went to POT when it was deemed they had to GIVE the Fans their Xenomorphs and Answers... it was then just HOW they chose to do this that was a Problem!

@Leto

Hope you can sort that out, as its always Interesting to read your take on things..

" I don't think we need to know about their childhoods or interim stories.  Ash's back story would be the only interesting thing except it would suck all the mystery from Alien."

Certainly i think going a Ripleys History would be a bad move, some Fans had expected to see her Ancestry in Alien Covenant....

With ASH his History and Agenda is surely Locked to Special Order 937 which likely would have been LINKED should the Prequels had got Finished.

I think the WONDER with Prometheus was it unleashed a Plot that revolved around the Engineers and Horrors they may have Created....

So within the Time-Line of say 2200-2400 then Missions could have Explored more Deeper Space and came across things Related to the Xenomorph and Engineers were i think the Potential could be to introduce something a Little Different to the Xenomorphs though, but we do have Fan-base that does-not like CHANGE.

EDIT:

I think we can understand WHY the Prequels had to give our Engineers a Location so Close, which was so that it was within Reach of Humanity within the Time-Line...  Having the USCSS Prometheus travel say Thousands of Light Years away would have seemed Silly if we are talking a Prequel in regards to Technology (Speeds and Cryo-sleep).   With a Sequel the Likelihood the Engineers would be BASED so Close to us seems a Coincidence, but a Necessary one again so that a Human Expedition could reach there in a Time-Line prior to ALIEN.  A Example is the Nostromo would take about 64-65 Years to Travel the Distance of that Green Dot, from SIDE to SIDE.

The Prometheus sequels i was working on in 2013 would NOT have taken David and Dr Shaw so CLOSE... they would even had reached their Destination after ALIEN introducing Humans was not a Problem, as i was looking at the Question.... is the EARTH the ONLY place the Engineers had Seeded/Evolved Mankind?

The Eventual Ramifications of their Visit/Journey would NOT have Effected Earth until after the Events of Alien Resurrection.

Gavin said: 'in the sequels, the Alien was an organic, mortal monster'

Yeah..I'd like a return to a biomechanical killing machine.

If the crew of the Nostromo had watched ALIENS they would have just locked the xeno in a closet and waited till they docked! Let the marines take care of it.

Ripley "Hey! don't open that locker!"

Parker "What!? Why not?"

Ripley "That's where we locked up that space bug!"

Parker "Oh yeah...Well... I guess he can have my stuff! lol!"

A TV series would be a good way to tell a story and develop characters. I don't special effects and budget would be a big issue. The IGN shorts did impressive work on small budgets. The xeno was never shown in its entirety either.

' is the EARTH the ONLY place the Engineers had Seeded/Evolved Mankind?'

That's actually a great question! Earth 2 or at least a primitive colony...ripe for monsters and easy to film.....planet of the apes....where it's NOT the Earth twist.

I like that.

Hard TV reboot, not so popular, how about a soft reboot come sequel movie...

First, you market it NOT as an Alien movie, but as a low budget sci-fi survival movie. Rather than call it Alien: Adrift we just call it Adrift.

Next to the narrative...

A human vessel traveling through an undisclosed region of space inadvertently crashes into another human vessel that was adrift in space. The crash damages the protagonist ship leaving them blind as to their location, venting atmosphere and power, urging the crew to repair their vessel else meet the same fate as the vessel they collided with. To hasten the repairs the crew salvage parts from the ship that was adrift and discover that it was carrying a strange cargo - a spherical object the size of a small car, both organic and mechanical, but beyond that no-one knows what it is. Believing it to be valuable they 'acquire' it and work feverishly to fix their vessel. After destroying the adrift vessel (to avoid future collisions) and upon completing the repairs they check their acquired cargo, to discover the object open, yet empty.

that's the first half of the movie, seemingly unrelated to Alien except for its aesthetic.

But in the second half of the movie crew members go missing or die in brutal fashion before it is revealed that the cause is (obviously) an Alien. But this is not just any Alien but the same one Ripley ejected from the Narcissus (the crew are revealed to be in the same region of space where the Nostromo was destroyed)...

In addition to showing that Aliens can cocoon themselves to survive long periods and hazardous environments (such as the vacuum of space), the Alien can be shown to have matured, being less animalistic and more callous in its pursuit to reproduce through egg morphing. This could be shown by having the Alien killing the crew by toying with them, tricking them, leading them into traps.

You could also have Mother, also used by this crew once their vessel is repaired to have a more active role in trying to secure the Alien by having Mother turn off life support or sealing helpless members of the crew in with the Alien.

But why the title and narrative subterfuge? Simple, really - to avoid the hype and inevitable expectations of the fans and delivering a good sci-fi survival movie, where the antagonist shifts from the prospect of being adrift in space to being hunted and used to birth sci fi's greatest Alien threat. Also, the shock of audiences in the first week of release when they realize they're actually watching an Alien movie, virtually priceless.

Nice scheme, Big Dave.

When I think about new alien stories, I use my 3-step scale of originality.

1. Re-imagination of original stories. You can look at it as a kind of remakes/reboots/retcons.

Include:

a) Other continuity (Alien > Prometheus > Covenant...; Alien > Alien 3 > Aliens...) (interesting to think about it, like a good puzzle)

b) Other staff (Prometheus crew found alien eggs, not black goo...)

c) Other events (David did not destroy the Engineers...; classic series before Alien 3)

2. New branch. Stories with connection to some things from the original films for a new story. You can look at it as a kind of prequels/sequels/spin-offs. Solid or free.

Include:

a) Stories that use places/locations which were mentioned/shown for new stories with new places/locations (AvP2 game)

Example: Some people/organizations found LV-223, LV-426, Planet-4, Derelict and get information about other worlds in deep space. They organize expeditions to these worlds.

Anti-example: Cave painting and LV-223 from Prometheus - this is new things for franchise.

b) Stories with characters/things which were mentioned (Amanda Ripley or Alien: Out of Shadows, Sea of Sorrow, maybe your story about 7th Queen)

The script type a-b does not have to be a development of the ideas and plots of the original films, but uses them as a starting point.

c) Classic (solid) prequels/sequels/spin-offs.

Also, ANYWAY, a feature of all those types is, well, the presence of these links. These links already should exist/to be mentioned in previous films.

3. New horizon. Stories without connections with original films. You can look at it as a completely new stories, not as a reboots/sequels...

Include:

a) Stand alone stories without plot connections with original films, but still housed in the same universe (Prometheus, Alien: The Cold Forge)

Those stories may have a references/mentions of things from original films, but don't use them as part of the plot.

b) Completely new stories (mb future Alien: Phalanx about medival people who are trying to survive against alien-plague)

c) Some types of cross-overs.

P.S. This allows you to determine what kind of story we want to get. And how far this story stands from the original films (all six). And interesting view on evolution of personal ideas.

Sometimes I think about new continuity of alien franchise, but with all "classic" staff.

Sometimes about free Alien sequel.

Now I am working on a story that is not a direct sequel or prequel or even a spin-off of the original films.

2 Fastbenders better then 1

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Gavin That is an interesting idea to have the xeno from Alien in there as it was alive in space last time we saw it. The idea of it toying with the crew would really give it a haunted house in space vibe especially with MUTHER being in on it. 

I thought the original script had the Alien kill Ripley and mimic her voice? Maybe some of that idea could be used as well? It could really keep the audience guessing.

I just don't see how they would market the movie without tipping its hand that it's an Alien movie. Alien fans might not even watch or know about it and thus have a poor turn out during opening week.

@Gavin May I alter the story a bit? Let's have the vessel adrift have a (some) surviving crew in the cryo and a shady guy awake (later revealed to be a robot). Only half of the crew inspects the derelict, but something wrong goes and they cannot go back to their ship and comms will go down for a time. Tensions will erupt and people will think that they "evil robot" lured them in to kill them (but in fact it was the Alien with his telepathic abilities). The robot will be revealed that only wanted to save the crew in cryo. After a while the comms will be reestablished and captain (now impersonated by a Xeno) will encourage the remainder of both crews to put their difference aside and to work together to make repairs and to return to the infested functioning ship.After that whole hell breaks loose.

Regardless of whatever narrative we next see the Alien return to prominence in, one thing that is a must, and it is that the Alien needs to evolve beyond its animalistic tendencies if it intends to regain its crown as the prime sci-fi horror antagonist.

Jesting about talking Aliens or Aliens in spacesuits aside, the Alien needs to be terrifying if it is to instill terror.

In all movies, the Alien acts like an animal, although we have seen glimpses of some low-level intelligence such as disabling the cameras aboard the Alien: Covenant or operating the atmosphere processors elevator in Aliens.

If we mix this with the bio-mechanical creature from the first movie and make it impervious to gunfire or able to regenerate/repair and reintroduce alien aspects such as egg-morphing, then all we need is to introduce this Alien into a narrative not yet experienced and watch the Alien flourish.

...

One example could be a reimagining of the lost airlock scene whereby a member of the crew is herded by fear of the Alien into an airlock. We would expect the Alien to smash through the glass window of the airlock and ravage the crew member. But what if instead the Alien can somehow sense/see the circuitry for the airlock and instead stabs the airlocks control panel with its tail, opening the outer airlock door and sending the unfortunate crew member into the vacuum of space. 

Another example could be the xeno manipulating a couple crew members to turn on each other and one gets killed. Right after that, the survivor snaps out of it and realizes what he just did. He looks up to see the xeno at a distance. The xeno hisses in acknowledgment and disappears into the darkness.