Alien Reboot On The Way

The Hollywood remake craze continues with the (bad) news that 20th Century Fox intends to remake/ reboot the Alien Franchise. Yes – you really read that correctly. In space no one can hear you scream. However, on Earth they can!

Bloody Disgusting is the first to break the news on the remake/reboot whose actual plot is still up in the air. It could be an origin story/ prequel to the original Sigourney Weaver Alien, or a total remake.

There’s still some light at the end of the tunnel though, as original Alien director Ridley Scott is involved in the project.

To some the original Alien film is a lauded classic in the Science Fiction genre and pretty much near untouchable as remake material. That doesn’t seem to worry Fox, who last year unmade remade  the celebrated classic The Day The Earth Stood Still. The studio also sullied the Alien franchise with the dire Alien Vs Predator films earlier this decade.

Ridley Scott is involved in a producing capacity only along with his brother (and Scott Free partner) Tony Scott, as well as Michael Costigan. According to Bloody Disgusting the film will be directed by Carl Rinsch; apparently Rinsch is a commercials and music video director who has previously worked for Scott Free Productions. Could he be a Ridley Scott protégé?

At this point it doesn’t really matter  – it’s still a bad idea. Hollywood (and 20th Century Fox in particular) seem to have a total lack of respect for the movies that they have in their back catalog. Remakes and reboots are the current rage – mainly because they have “brand name recognition”.

Fox, however, just seem to want the cash – they’ve had a stellar year so far producing sub-standard fare and the way they’ve treated franchises such as X-Men and The X-Files borders on insanity. And don’t even get me started on the above mentioned crappy remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Why can’t the studio make sequels to beloved franchises, rather than remake them for younger audiences or better still leave them alone?

It appeared that Fox might be making amends by hiring Robert Rodriguez to help drive the Predator franchise back to the big screen. A Schwarzenegger-starring sequel would be ideal, but we know why that can’t go down (always politics). Scott’s involvement in Alien is a major plus for this project – but why not have it as a sequel with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley? I’m sure that Weaver would want to be involved if Scott was producing and fans of the original movies would be pretty excited by that.

If Indiana Jones, Rambo and Die Hard can return to our screens, then surely so can Ellen Ripley. Weaver has in the past discussed a new Alien project with Scott, so the relationship is still there. Heck, she’s even worked with James Cameron on Avatar - I’m sure the three of them could come up with a quick treatment for a fifth Alien film rather than a reboot.

As per usual this is all rumor right now, so there’s much that could change. Hopefully Weaver’s involvement is what will change, so let’s hope that fans of the franchise make enough noise to help get a fifth film off the ground rather than a remake!

More on the Alien prequel/remake/reboot when we get it – so get shouting folks!

Source: Bloody Disgusting