Alien: Sigourney Weaver Seemingly Shoots Down Ever Returning to the Franchise

Sigourney Weaver last appeared in Alien franchise with 1997's Alien: Resurrection and, despite rumors emerging in recent years that she would be involved in a potential Alien 5, the actress recently shared that she thinks it's time for the franchise to let go of her Ripley character. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp had long been touting his plans for a new film in the series that would deviate from the canon seen in previous sequels, but original director Ridley Scott's return to the franchise and interest in developing it as he saw fit confirmed that Blomkamp's visions would likely never become a reality.

"I don't know," Weaver shared with Empire magazine about Ripley's possible return. "Ridley has gone in a different direction. Maybe Ripley has done her bit. She deserves a rest."

While Scott has confirmed that Blomkamp's plans for the franchise were never being considered, the magazine noted that producer Walter Hill had given her a 50-page treatment for a potential fifth outing for Ripley that came about in the wake of Blomkamp's plans dissolving. Still, whatever that treatment from the longtime producer might have included, it wasn't enough to excite Weaver enough to return.

Details about Blomkamp's project began to emerge back in 2015, with the filmmaker regularly sharing concept art hinting at his plans. Despite both Blomkamp and Weaver's enthusiasm for such an endeavor, Scott had already returned to the franchise with 2012's Prometheus, a prequel to the original 1979 Alien, which Scott then followed up with Alien: Covenant in 2017.

Both of Scott's prequels were relatively underwhelming both financially and critically, due at least partially to the franchise distancing itself from the horrors of the iconic xenomorph creature. Scott had often claimed that he had hopes to make a third prequel that would more directly connect with the events of the initial film, but the disappointing responses to the prequels seemingly slowed any progress on the projects.

Complicating matters even further is that the Walt Disney Company has acquired a majority of 20th Century Fox's film and TV properties, the Alien franchise included. With all six films in the proper Alien franchise earning an R rating, Disney's attempts to deliver more family-friendly fare to its audiences would seemingly contradict the mature subject matter of the series.

Stay tuned for details on the future of the Alien franchise.

Are you disappointed that we've likely seen the last of Ripley? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!