James Cameron Addresses Possible Return to Alien Franchise

The Aliens director doesn't think he's likely to return to the franchise.

By Nicole Drum

The Alien franchise is thriving at the moment with filmmaker Fede Alvarez's latest installment, Alien: Romulus, engaging fans with a fresh take on the iconic sci-fi tale. And there's even more Alien to come, with Noah Hawley's television series, Alien: Earth coming in 2025. The future at this point seems pretty bright for the franchise, but when it comes to whether that future includes a return for filmmaker James Cameron, fans might not want to hold out hope. Cameron, who wrote and directed 1986's Aliens, recently told The Guardian that while he wouldn't rule out a franchise return, it's not something that's likely to happen.

"It's kind of trampled ground at this point," Cameron said of the franchise. "I wouldn't rule anything out but I've got 23 other projects in the queue before that hypothetical one so I'm going to guess, with me turning 70, that ain't gonna happen. You've got to pick your battles at some point. You know what I mean?"

Despite not planning to ever return to the Alien franchise, however, Cameron did have positive words for Alien: Romulus — and dismissed the idea that he did anything to help with the film though he did see the opening and offered advice.

"I wasn't really helping out," he said. "I know Fede, the director, and very early on he and his writing partner came to me and said, 'Got any ideas?' — no, they had plenty of ideas but they just wanted to kind of, I don't know, pilgrimage to Mecca or something like that. But that was years ago, then they went off and wrote their thing and I had nothing to do with it."

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He continued, "Then six months ago or so he shared an early cut of the film with me and I gave him some notes for like an hour. I don't want to take any credit whatsoever. If the film is great, I don't want to take any credit; if it sucks, not my fault! Seriously, it's his thing, so credit due where it's due and, from what I'm hearing, it's pretty good."

What is Alien: Romulus About?

Alien: Romulus is being billed as more of a spinoff rather than a direct continuation of the Alien franchise and will see a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), Aileen Wu. Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don't Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don't Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. 

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