Neill Blomkamp's Alien Sequel Is Probably Dead

It sounds like Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant is probably the only Alien sequel we'll be getting for a while.

After Prometheus failed to light the world on fire from a critical standpoint, sci-fi fans were psyched to hear that director Neill Blomkamp (Elysium) was developing a new Alien film designed to continue the story of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley — largely ignoring the less-than-stellar sequels that followed Alien and Aliens. He put out some concept art, Weaver expressed interest in returning, and for a while it seemed like the project might be just a few months away from entering production.

Then, original director Ridley Scott announced he was making a sequel to Prometheus that's designed to bridge the gap between that prequel film and the world fans fell in love with in Alien, so Blomkamp's project was put on the back burner. Initially, Blomkamp indicated his project had only been delayed to make space for Alien: Covenant, but in a recent response to a fan on Twitter asking the chances the film would still happen, Blomkamp simply replied "slim." Considering we haven't heard anything solid on this sequel since Covenant entered production, and Blomkamp himself is losing faith, it looks like his dream sequel might really be dead.

If the project is canned, it's a shame fans will never get to see what he was cooking up. The first trailer made it clear Scott is mining some of the vibe and aesthetic of the original Alien with Covenant, but that doesn't mean there's not still room to continue the original story. Weaver's Ripley is a sci-fi icon, and one of the most recognizable female heroes in all of science fiction. With everything else getting a revival these days, it's a shame she won't get one last adventure to take on a xenomorph queen.