Sigourney Weaver Confirms Why Neill Blomkamp’s ALIEN 5 Fell Apart and Shares Update on Walter Hill’s ALIEN V

During a special screening of Alien at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, Sigourney Weaver sat down for an hour-long masterclass called “A Lesson in Cinema,” a deep dive into her legendary career and her time as the iconic Ellen Ripley.

The event, moderated by Frédéric Bonnaud, gave fans a chance to hear Weaver speak candidly about the Alien franchise’s past, present, and possible future.

One audience member brought up a subject that still stings for a lot of fans… Neill Blomkamp’s canceled Alien 5. The project, which was first revealed in 2015, would have ignored Alien 3 and Resurrection, bringing back Weaver as Ripley alongside Michael Biehn as Hicks and Carrie Henn as Newt.

Weaver spoke warmly about the experience and the unrealized potential of the film:

“Yes. Well, I think like many of us, I was a big admirer of Neill. His movie was so striking and I worked with him on a movie called [Chappie]. And I loved working with Neill and he had this idea of bringing Ripley and Newt back.

“It was a wonderful script and unfortunately, it was at that point I think that Ridley Scott decided to be very possessive about the series and really drilled down on his prequels.

“And so I think it was a disaster for that project. We were never able to… I think Neill in fact just gave up and he’s so talented. I wish him all the best.”

Fans will remember that Fox did greenlight Blomkamp’s Alien 5 after the director dropped some concept art online, but once Ridley Scott shifted his focus to Alien: Covenant, the sequel was shelved.

Weaver and James Cameron both praised Blomkamp’s script, while Scott later claimed there was never a full screenplay, only a treatment. Whatever the truth, the project’s collapse remains one of sci-fi’s biggest “what-ifs.”

Weaver then gave a surprise update on another Alien project that’s quietly been in development for years, Walter Hill’s Alien V. Hill, who produced the original 1979 classic, has written a 50-page treatment exploring Ripley’s life centuries after the events of the earlier films.

“Actually, Walter Hill has written about 50 pages. Maybe, by now, he’s written more about where Ripley might be now. And although I’ve never particularly wanted to go back to the series, there’s something about her experience being sidelined now, probably by this society, by this company, by this world and being probably around 200 years old, but still Ripley and you know, presumably these problems still out there.

“So I’m going to see what happens with Walter’s script. It would not be like what we’ve seen tonight. It would not be running around through airshafts. It would be a very different kind of story.”

Weaver’s description suggests something more introspective, less about xenomorphs in vents and more about what it means for Ripley to exist in a world that’s moved on without her. It’s a great and interesting concept that could bring the character’s story full circle in an unexpected way.

Before wrapping up, Weaver also praised Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth series, saying:

“On the other hand, I loved Alien: Earth. I thought it was remarkable. So interesting, terrifying about our world and yet you could understand… you can imagine a world where each tech bro owns a planet.

“You know, it’s not that far from where America is now. So, I’m glad to see that Alien has legs, as they say, in the business. And I think it’s a very interesting time for the series.”

Alien is in the midst of a creative resurgence. While Blomkamp’s Alien 5 may never see the light of day, the franchise is far from finished, especially with the Alien :Romulus sequel and Predator :Badlands connecting the universe.

If Ripley ever does return, it sounds like Sigourney Weaver is open to seeing where the story might go next.