Sigourney Weaver casts doubt on Alien 5: ‘Ripley deserves a rest’

Sequel has been in development for years

Sigourney Weaver has updated fans on the status of a new Alien film centred on her character Ellen Ripley.

A sequel from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was in the work for years before being put on hold “indefinitely” due to Ridley Scott‘s Alien: Covenant, which was released in 2017.

The film was Scott’s follow-up to his 2012 Alien prequel Prometheus, with Weaver previously stating: “Ridley asked Neill not to make our Alien until after Prometheus 2; he wanted his movie to shoot and be released first.”

Now, Weaver has revealed that in 2019, she received a 50-page treatment for “a different take on a fifth Ripley film” written by The Warriors director Walter Hill, who has produced every Alien film to date.

However, speaking to Empire, Weaver said she’s unsure about whether she would like to proceed with the project.

“I don’t know – Ridley has gone in a different direction,” the actor said. ”Maybe Ripley has done her bit. She deserves a rest.”

Weaver, who first played the character in the 1979 original, last appeared as the character in the 1997 film Alien: Resurrection.

She will next be seen in the first of James Cameron’s four Avatar sequels, which will be released in December 2021.