Yesterday's rumor that the next Alien movie could be set to bring back Sigourney Weaver to play a de-aged Ellen Ripley was met with a mixture of excitement and trepidation from fans of the classic sci-fi horror franchise, and Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez has now responded on social media.
The filmmaker might just be trying to throw people off track here, but it seems unlikely. However, Daniel Richtman - who shared the original rumor - has also shared an update.
"I noticed some confusion about my recent post, so just to clarify: I wasn’t talking about the Alien: Romulus sequel. What I heard was about a new project similar to what Neill Blomkamp was trying to do."
This would make a lot more sense than Ripley showing up in Romulus' timeline, and 20th Century Studios boss Steve Asbell did recently reveal that other Alien films are in development.
Original Alien director Sir Ridley Scott also confirmed that he is working on a separate movie late last year.
Though we have very little to go on, Scott revealed that he is developing a new Alien movie for 20th Century Studios. Details are sparse, but THR's report indicated that this will be a completely separate project to the Alien: Romulus sequel that's currently in the works.
"Not a perfect organism, but despite an overreliance on retreading over old ground, Alien: Romulus does mark a thrilling return to form, and is surely destined to be ranked as the third-best Alien movie," we said in our review of Alien: Romulus.
"The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe."
The film 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), and Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (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.
Alien: Romulus is produced by Ridley Scott (Napoleon), who directed the original Alien and produced and directed the series’ entries Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Michael Pruss (Boston Strangler), and Walter Hill (Alien), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (Charlie’s Angels), Brent O’Connor (Bullet Train), and Tom Moran (Unstoppable) serving as executive producers.