While Alien 5 is not currently in production because Ridley Scott is busy making another Alien prequel (and Prometheus sequel), talk about the possibility persists. The rumors of a new sequel originally began when District 9 director Neill Blomkamp began tweeting unofficial concept art depicting some thoughts he had for a new entry in the franchise. Now Sigourney Weaver and others continue to speak of future possibilities.

With Aliens having recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, James Cameron, producer Gale Anne Hurd and members of the cast were all able to get together and speak about that 1986 classic. It has even led to some significant claims from Aliens costar Michael Biehn in regards to the future of the franchise and his involvement.

During an interview with Forbes, Biehn went into his side of the story concerning his knowledge of a new Alien film. In regards to what initially happened, Biehn stated:

"I got a call a few years ago from Neill Blomkamp and my agent say he wants to put me in his new movie, he was interested in me playing the antagonist and could I film myself doing a scene for him – it didn’t feel like an audition. I thought I did a pretty good job but I got a call from my agent saying I didn’t get the part and I was surprised because I thought he wanted me to be in it."

Biehn then explained what happened next and part of what got in the way:

"I thought [the film] was dead and gone as [Weaver] probably did too as well as Fox. [Blomkamp] tweeted out some pictures of me, he said he’s going take the third and fourth film and act like they never happened and things blew up. It looked like it was all go and then Ridley Scott decided that he was going to do a second and third film in the Prometheus series, but Sigourney says they are still doing their project."

Then there was Biehn's conviction that Alien 5 will happen:

"I think it would be very embarrassing to Fox if they don’t give Sigourney the movie that she really wants to go out on. I don’t know when it’s going to happen but I know it’s going to happen and I know I’m going to be in it and there’s going to be a new Newt, she’s going to be about 26 or 27 and looks a lot like Jennifer Lawrence to me but I don’t know."

Corporal Hicks Biehn Alien 5

That is certainly a lot of confidence in a project that mainly continues to be associated with rumors and hearsay. Obviously Blomkamp has a desire to make the film and Weaver seems more than on board with the project, given her excitement to see a real ending for her iconic character, but nothing concrete is in place. The only thing currently moving forward with regards to the Alien franchise is Alien: Covenant, which arrives in theaters next year.

It is hard to say what kind of potential there even is for an official Alien sequel that builds on Aliens and mostly ignores Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection, without actually knowing what Blomkamp's script is like. Many may be down with the idea of bringing back Biehn and Carrie Henn's characters from the first sequel and dismissing the two that followed, but can a good film actually come from this? While Blomkamp became a director to watch following his 2009 hit District 9, his follow-up films (Elysium and Chappie) haven't wowed audiences in the same way.

Perhaps attaching his name to a franchise and involving the original players may be the right step. Having more people involved to guide Blomkamp may be the best way to steer the director away from what has had a negative effect on his past couple films (namely the repetition of a lot of the same themes and poor story logic to go with it). It would be good to champion a promising filmmaker again, let alone get to see Biehn return to a really awesome role.

NEXT: James Cameron Praises Neill Blomkamp's Planned Alien Movie

We’ll continue to keep you updated on Neill Blomkamp’s untitled Alien sequelAlien: Covenant opens in U.S. theaters on August 4th, 2017.

Source: Forbes