Director Neill Blomkamp's (District 9, Chappie) proposed Alien sequel may be one of the biggest will they/won't they teases in fandom right now. Alien 3 decisively ended the journey of Nostromo survivor and xenomorph-slayer Lieutenant Ripley. Alien: Resurrection managed to somehow continue that journey, postmortem.  Blomkamp's proposal will wipe out the timeline of those less-appreciated entries, picking up right after James Cameron's Aliens.

The story would see Sigourney Weaver's 'Ripley' return to Earth alongside her felow survivors, the young girl 'Newt' and Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn). The project was originally in active development by 20th Century Fox, only to be put on hold for original Alien director Ridley Scott's own franchise sequel: Alien: Covenant . But the movie's star is still talking up Blomkamp's ideas.

After rumors swirled that Scott's pseudo-prequel Prometheus was the reason for the delay, expected to tie that movie's story to the core series before adding a new chapter. Weaver eventually confirmed as much:personally, explaining that Fox had delayed production - which "was too bad because we would have already done it by now."

At San Diego Comic-Con 2016, Weaver spoke about her future in the franchise on the panel for Aliens' 30th anniversary:

"There is an incredible script by Neill. I didn't want to do a fifth one. I thought going to earth wouldn't be fun. I got this script that was amazing and gives fans everything they're looking for and innovates in ways that became part of the world for me. He has things to do and I have things to do. And I hope that we'll circle back around to do it once those things are done."

Director James Cameron (Avatar) then went on to throw in his two cents, saying that Blomkamp's is "a very strong script" and "works gangbusters." Continuing on, he stated:

"I thought it was dumb [that Hicks and Newt were killed off]. I thought it was a huge slap in the face to the fans. I mean look, [David] Fincher's a friend of mine, and David is an amazing, amazing filmmaker, unquestionably. That was kind of his first big gig, and he was getting vectored around by the studio, and he dropped into the production late and they had a horrible script and they were rewriting it on the fly, and it was just a mess. I think it was a big mistake. So I certainly -- had [producer Gale Anne Hurd and I] been involved, we would not have done that because we felt we earned something with the audience with those characters."

Considering how much Blomkamp's films have borrowed from the style of Aliens, he seems like an obvious choice for a follow-up to that series (though some fans have been concerned about the diminishing returns of his filmography, not to mention the rewriting of the series timeline). While the second half of the Alien anthology is decidedly less popular, "erasing" their legacy strikes some as sacrilege. It's one thing to retell or reboot a story for a new generation, but using the same cast to "undo" two whole chapters is a bit too far for some. Then again, Weaver and Cameron seem to be excited about the opportunity the film brings, so maybe that's enough to keep an open mind.

Are you looking forward to Blomkamp's possible rewrite of Alien history, or is it better this film never sees the light of day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and stay tuned to Screen Rant for updates on the Alien series as they hit.

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