Alien Series Future: Upcoming Movies & TV Shows

With numerous Alien movies and TV shows being proposed, let's break down the future of the franchise. The Alien saga was left in bad shape following 2008's Alien Vs Predator: Requiem. While that entry performed decently at the box-office, it earned series worst reviews for both the Alien and Predator franchises, and it reduced the Xenomorph to mere canon fodder. Things started to look up considerably when Ridley Scott boarded an Alien prequel in 2009, with the original Alien: Engineers story set to explore the backstory of the mysterious Space Jockey creature and his derelict ship.

The project morphed from a straight prequel to more of a spinoff during development, with Scott personally feeling the alien had been overexposed by too many sequels. Prometheus was one of the most highly anticipated sci-fi films in recent memory, but while it performed very well financially, the film’s mix of high-brow sci-fi and low-brow B-movie tropes disappointed fans. Prometheus ended on a cliffhanger that saw scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and sociopath android David (Michael Fassbender) take off in search of the Engineers, but while a Prometheus trilogy was proposed, the sequel would once again morph into something else during development.

Despite Scott’s aversion to including the Xenomorph, the studio insisted Alien: Covenant include the beast and all the tropes that come with it. The resulting movie tried to act as both a Prometheus and Alien sequel, which proved to be an uneasy stew. Despite featuring tense set pieces and not one, but two, great performances from Fassbender as David and Walter, Alien: Covenant proved to be another letdown to audiences. Although it underperformed financially and attracted mixed reviews, Alien: Covenant was still a success for the franchise. While Scott had plans for two more Alien prequels, the series has stalled out. However, it's not dead yet.

This Page: Fox's Alien Prequels & Sequels Are Dead
Page 2: Two Alien TV Shows & What's Next For The Franchise

Ridley Scott's Alien Prequels Aren't Happening Anymore

Alien: Covenant ended on a staggeringly bleak note, with David taking control of the titular ship and its sleeping cargo, with plans to continue his inhuman experiments. Ridley Scott’s pitch for the next movie, dubbed Alien: Awakening, would have found David creating his perfect society free of humanity on a new planet. Katherine Waterston’s character Daniels was set to return, as were the Engineers to seek revenge on the rogue android, but the lack of movement on another Alien prequel since Covenant’s release suggests the project is dead. Scott has stated his ambition to push the Xenomorph's story and origin out of his own series and make it about A.I. instead, with David being the new alien of the franchise's title. Given the overall critical and fan response to Alien: Covenant, it’s clear this wasn’t a popular idea.

It’s highly doubtful 20th Century Fox would approve of this angle either, given how iconic the monster is. The original endpoint for Scott’s saga would have brought the series back to the original Alien, explaining how the derelict ended up on LV-426, and possibly revealing David himself was the Space Jockey, but even one more entry to tie up this storyline looks doubtful. There’s also the Disney/Fox deal to consider, with the Mouse House likely to focus on family-friendly fare over Fox’s R-rated properties. That said, Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated more than once Disney is open to more R-rated Deadpool movies as well as continuing other franchises, so a new Alien movie isn't completely out of the question.

Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 Was Canceled

Director Neill Blomkamp is a lifelong fan of the Alien series, and after revealing some artwork for a proposed fifth movie online, Fox gave his project a green light for development. The storyline for Blomkamp’s Alien 5 was never revealed, but it would have featured the return of Ellen Ripley, Hicks, and Newt, with the events of Alien 3 retconned out of existence. It appeared the plan was for Alien 5 and Scott’s Alien prequels to be developed side-by-side, but Blomkamp’s movie was eventually canceled in favor of the prequels. Scott later claimed Alien 5 never had a script and Blomkamp has stated he’s moved on from the project.

Sigourney Weaver loved Blomkamp’s idea for an alternate Alien 3, however, and so did James Cameron. In fact, a recent quote from Cameron suggests he’s trying to convince Blomkamp to resurrect Alien 5, where he’d act as producer. Cameron will be busy the next few years directing Avatar 2 to 5, but he’s also acting as producer on projects like Alita: Battle Angel and Tim Miller’s Terminator 6. Given fan disappointment in Alien: Covenant, there would be a lot of goodwill towards a legacy sequel that retconned the controversial decisions of Alien 3 while bringing back Weaver and Cameron. Blomkamp is currently busy on another legacy sequel, RoboCop Returns, so time will tell if his take on Alien 5 moves forward.

Page 2 of 2: Two Alien TV Shows & What's Next For The Franchise

Two Live-Action Alien TV Shows Are In Development

A rumor about a TV show set in the Alien universe first appeared in 2018, and now another report suggests there will actually be two shows. These proposed shows are set to appear on streaming platforms, with Scott said to be executive producing one of them for Hulu. No plot details for either of these potential shows have been revealed, but one theory is they could tackle multiple eras of the franchise across different seasons. It’s also unknown if these shows would connect to each other or remain separate. The alleged involvement on Scott on the Hulu show could indicate David’s story will continue somehow, though that’s just speculation for now.

These Alien shows have yet to be officially confirmed, and again, with the Disney/Fox deal still to be finalized, they could just be rumors. Until the acquisition is complete, it's best to treat any reports of a show with a dosage of salt. That said, the Alien franchise has branched out to just about every medium besides TV over the years, so one or two TV shows would be intriguing to explore. In fact, an Alien TV show sequel was pitched for the original Alien movie back in 1980, but that concept didn’t seem to get too far before being cancelled.

What's Next For The Alien Franchise?

The Alien franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2019 and there will be a whole host of tie-ins to mark the occasion. A documentary titled Memory: The Origins Of Alien will explore the creation of the original Alien movie, and there will be a series of official fan films as well as a mixed media project focused on Amanda Ripley, Ellen’s daughter. The first of these was Alien: Blackout, a recently released mobile-only title that acted as a follow-up (of sorts) to 2014’s acclaimed Alien: Isolation. Amanda will also return for comic mini-series Alien: Resistance, and while the character hasn’t been linked to one of the proposed shows, she’d certainly make a strong lead character for either one. An Alien multiplayer shooter set in the universe is also in the works.

The future of the series on the big screen is another question. It was revealed two alternate endings for The Predator contained a strong connection to the Alien saga, with one ending revealing a Weyland – Yutani pod that held a sleeping Ellen Ripley (played by a stuntwoman) and another with a grown-up Newt. The fact either cliffhanger was shot suggests the studio gave serious consideration to another Alien Vs Predator but ultimately decided against it. In the case of The Predator, these endings likely spoke more of the studio's desire to create a shock cliffhanger that got audiences excited for another installment than a well-thought plan to continue either franchise.

A recent statement from Fox appeared to clarify there are no new Alien movies currently in development - or at least none that are close to being announced. If it’s a choice between Scott’s Alien: Awakening or Blomkamp’s Alien 5, the latter would likely be the more attractive option, but some kind of soft reboot that strips the series back to basics is also a strong possibility. Given the sheer number of reports and rumors it feels like something is brewing behind the scenes on the Alien franchise, but it probably won’t be until after the Disney/Fox deal is done and dusted that anything is confirmed.