Neil Blomkamp's Alien film a direct sequel to Aliens; disregards Alien 3/Resurrection

Status
Not open for further replies.
I like that the fact that they're making this film means Fox is basically telling Ridley that he can go fuck himself.

Finally, an intelligent decision by the company regarding the franchise!
 
I like that the fact that they're making this film means Fox is basically telling Ridley that he can go fuck himself.

Finally, an intelligent decision by the company regarding the franchise!

Ridley Scott will be producing both this and Prometheus 2, I believe.

I don't think this is the "fuck you" you think this is. It's also still scheduled to come out AFTER Prometheus 2, isn't it?
 
Ridley Scott will be producing both this and Prometheus 2, I believe.

I don't think this is the "fuck you" you think this is. It's also still scheduled to come out AFTER Prometheus 2, isn't it?

I disagree. My prediction:

Expect to hear next to no news about Prometheus 2 from here on in. Then out of the blue one day it will be announced that Alien 5 will come before Prometheus 2, though of course Fox will say the usual BS about still wanting to make Prometheus 2. Then once Alien 5 comes out, if its even halfway decent (not hard considering what has preceded it) expect to hear Fox quietly cancel Prometheus 2 so as to focus on Alien 5's sequel(s).

Like I said, by announcing this film at all Fox is telling Ridley that they have lost confidence in him.
 
If Blomkamp is doing Superman Returns for the Alien franchise, how does he top this?

nR5PTFI.jpg
 
Then once Alien 5 comes out, if its even halfway decent (not hard considering what has preceded it)

Your prognostications aside (plausible enough) - your parenthetical is pretty optimistic considering the last two shots at "making up" for Alien 3 didn't manage to hit Alien 3, and honestly, it's not all that high a bar.

Can't wait to read people's reactions when time travel or some such shit gets introduced.

Further to Devin's point about playing Exquisite Corpse - we've got an Old Ripley and an Old Hicks both obviously on some sort of suicide mission. So we're potentially going to end with a movie where Ripley kills herself ANYWAY for her own peace of mind and for the sake of humanity (Alien 3) And we've got her packed into a Xenomorph suit (somehow) which I'm guessing will enable her to be somehow superpowered or will lend her abilities she didn't have otherwise (Alien Resurrection)

Not that I'm at all a fan of Alien Resurrection - but isn't it more interesting to see if he can somehow continue from that film and somehow build himself a good movie, rather than pretend like those two movies never existed and make a sequel whose ultimate goal can never actually be realized? Because no matter how good this movie could possibly turn out - those other two movies will still exist. You can't make a movie with the goal of rewriting ACTUAL history unless you also happen to have a functioning time machine with you.

If Blomkamp is doing Superman Returns for the Alien franchise, how does he top this?

That's what all the C4 is for, I guess.
 
Your prognostications aside (plausible enough) - your parenthetical is pretty optimistic considering the last two shots at "making up" for Alien 3 didn't manage to hit Alien 3, and honestly, it's not all that high a bar.

Can't wait to read people's reactions when time travel or some such shit gets introduced.

Further to Devin's point about playing Exquisite Corpse - we've got an Old Ripley and an Old Hicks both obviously on some sort of suicide mission. So we're potentially going to end with a movie where Ripley kills herself ANYWAY for her own peace of mind and for the sake of humanity (Alien 3) And we've got her packed into a Xenomorph suit (somehow) which I'm guessing will enable her to be somehow superpowered or will lend her abilities she didn't have otherwise (Alien Resurrection)

Not that I'm at all a fan of Alien Resurrection - but isn't it more interesting to see if he can somehow continue from that film and somehow build himself a good movie, rather than pretend like those two movies never existed and make a sequel whose ultimate goal can never actually be realized? Because no matter how good this movie could possibly turn out - those other two movies will still exist. You can't make a movie with the goal of rewriting ACTUAL history unless you also happen to have a functioning time machine with you.



That's what all the C4 is for, I guess.

It's a story, not shit that actually happened. If he thinks the best story he can tell is ignoring the trainwreck at the end of the series then he should do that. Those movies will still exist and so will that timeline for the fans who want that, this is another timeline, let him work. We shouldn't live in a universe where a bad movie seals an entire movie series off, and makes it so you have to build off that or reboot. Messing with canon to make a good movie in my book is always okay.
 
I really don't get why people think Alien 3 was that bad.

I thought the setting was awesome, I thought the acting was amazing, the story was okay. Really the only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the alien itself. Everything else about the movie was fine.

Resurrection was fucking terrible on all accounts. Story, characters, acting, all of it.
 
This is the best news I've heard in movies in a long time. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. I will be in the theater day one. I would never even watch a movie titled Alien 5 just like I have no desire to ever watch Alien resurrection.

Would love to see a Terminator that disregards all the Terminators after 3 too.
 
This is the best news I've heard in movies in a long time. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. I will be in the theater day one. I would never even watch a movie titled Alien 5 just like I have no desire to ever watch Alien resurrection.

Would love to see a Terminator that disregards all the Terminators after 3 too.

That won't happen until 2019 when Cameron get's the rights back, and by that point he will be ASSURING us that Avatar 2 will enter production next year...
 
It's a story, not shit that actually happened.

I'm not talking about fictional continuities. The goal of this movie is to literally rewrite a history that can never be rewritten no matter how good the movie is. It's masturbational futility.

Bryan Singer knows this firsthand.

We shouldn't live in a universe where a bad movie seals an entire movie series off,

This doesn't even make any sense, especially in context of the Alien series, where Alien Resurrection followed Alien 3. People were hopeful/excited for that movie, too. Very much so. Superpowered clone-hybrid Ripley? Kickin ass & takin names? Swimming aliens? Holy shit, sign me up.

And then...

The whole point of the quote I reference is arguing that a bad movie DOESN'T seal a series off, especially one that can be as open as Alien is. So not only will this film NOT literally rewrite the history it wants to rewrite (it can only even exist in direct contrast to Alien 3, really, because the movie is always going to be connected to that one as its mulligan), but the purpose behind choosing to do so is ultimately unneccessary.

Especially considering he HAD an idea that didn't involve Ripley at all - which is maybe the most original thing an Alien sequel could BE at this point.
 
Can't say I'm overly keen on this idea. It does seem like fanboy getting access to something he's dreamed about for years. I'd rather they just have went for something completely unrelated to the previous four. I fear we are going to be getting another Predators situation.
 
I really don't get why people think Alien 3 was that bad.

I thought the setting was awesome, I thought the acting was amazing, the story was okay. Really the only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the alien itself. Everything else about the movie was fine.

Yea Alien3 is flawed, but I still enjoy it. The story is disjointed, but I just love the aesthetic of that film. The characters and acting are solid, too. Alien3 gets judged more as a sequel to Aliens than as a movie with its own merits.

The more I think about Blomkamp ignoring Alien3 the less I like the idea, but I still hope for a good final product. Still, I think a story with different characters perhaps taking place during or shortly after the Ripley timeline would be more interesting.
 
Very exciting news. I love the alien franchise, but man has it been messed around.

I have always taken the stance that Alien 3 isn't a bad film, but it also isn't great. Unfortunately though I would contend that it is a terrible film acting as a continuation of a series.

Basically everything that happens in Aliens is simply made moot. Alien 3 had the opportunity to start with such a strong base.
Instead Hicks and Newt are immediately killed off in such a lazy way. I would have loved for Alien 3 to be a logical continuation. I always heard that Aliens was an action movie because we already knew about the Alien. So trying to make another horror movie wouldn't be as effective. Yet Alien 3 tries to put the toothpaste back in the tube and rehash the first movie. I really think with Alien 3 they should have continued with the family angle.
 
Can't say I'm overly keen on this idea. It does seem like fanboy getting access to something he's dreamed about for years. I'd rather they just have went for something completely unrelated to the previous four. I fear we are going to be getting another Predators situation.

Hell, a Predators situation is preferable. They at least went somewhere different and did something that didn't specifically tie back to the Predator/Predators continuity. A wink here and there, (Long Tall Sally, Dutch shout out) but Predators is a totally different animal than what Blomkamp is setting out to do.
 
Awwwww yeaaah

Wonder what Fincher thinks? He probably doesn't give a fuck

Yeah, I doubt he's paying attention to this, really.

If anything, he might be rolling his eyes because this now guarantees journalists are gonna start asking him about Alien 3 again.
 
Hell, a Predators situation is preferable. They at least went somewhere different and did something that didn't specifically tie back to the Predator/Predators continuity. A wink here and there, (Long Tall Sally, Dutch shout out) but Predators is a totally different animal than what Blomkamp is setting out to do.

I actually don't mind Predators but it was a total waste of such a good concept. A re skinned version of Predator 1 with The Pianist as the lead was the best they could produce. I still remember that bullshit bait and switch they did with the Predator lasers in the trailers.

Yeah this is obviously more extreme though. Lifting the script straight from fanfiction.net.
 
FUUUUUCK YES!

Was always hoping James Cameron would give the series one more shot but since that ain't happening this is the next best thing!
 
I'm not talking about fictional continuities. The goal of this movie is to literally rewrite a history that can never be rewritten no matter how good the movie is. It's masturbational futility.

Bryan Singer knows this firsthand.



This doesn't even make any sense, especially in context of the Alien series, where Alien Resurrection followed Alien 3. People were hopeful/excited for that movie, too. Very much so. Superpowered clone-hybrid Ripley? Kickin ass & takin names? Swimming aliens? Holy shit, sign me up.

And then...

The whole point of the quote I reference is arguing that a bad movie DOESN'T seal a series off, especially one that can be as open as Alien is. So not only will this film NOT literally rewrite the history it wants to rewrite (it can only even exist in direct contrast to Alien 3, really, because the movie is always going to be connected to that one as its mulligan), but the purpose behind choosing to do so is ultimately unneccessary.

Especially considering he HAD an idea that didn't involve Ripley at all - which is maybe the most original thing an Alien sequel could BE at this point.


Superman Returns sucked because it was a bad movie, if it was a fantastic movie I don't know if it's even brought up in this way.

The goal of this movie is to make a good movie, that is the driving force of this. He thinks there's another way to end the Ripley story, considering that the actual ending sucked I don't really have a problem with him having another go at it, especially if it results in a good movie. Those other movies will still exist and everyone knows that, our reactions and emotions towards them will remain. However I dont think he needs to acknoledge those movies. He didn't make them. It may seem fan fictiony to you, but I don't really have a problem with that. Especially when Resurrection is so trash.

More specifically I would say a bad movie can seal great characters off and the actors who play them lose their performance in a world where we reboot things, which I think is a great shame. And not completely necessary.

One thing I do agree with you on is that I think a non-Ripley movie might be the most original thing for the franchise, but he has chosen not to do that for better or worse, I just don't think the road he's taken makes it automatically worse.

It's not rewriting history, it's providing an alternative one.
 
Even if it's crap, it's already given the best gift it can: a retcon!

I presume this also makes Aliens: Colonial Marines even more non-canon than it was?
 
Another Alien film? With Ripley? Sequel to Aliens but disregards 3 and Resurrection?

Eh, I was kinda hoping for something less Ripley focused and not in the past/alternate timeline/whatever.
 
Superman Returns sucked because it was a bad movie

Well, yeah. But it didn't do itself any favors with its premise. And that premise ended up working against the film, as well.

More specifically I would say a bad movie can seal great characters off and the actors who play them lose their performance

This doesn't make any more sense than the last time you said it. Die Hard 2 didn't seal off Die Hard 3. Temple of Doom didn't seal off Last Crusade. Hell, The Motion Picture didn't seal off Wrath of Khan. It sure as hell doesn't make an actor "Lose their performance" either. The performance you value and treasure still exists. It'll always exist. You can go back to it at any point. They were on that set, the camera captured their performance, you own the DVD/Blu-Ray. Which is why this:

It's not rewriting history, it's providing an alternative one.

Doesn't follow. You can't provide an alternate history with a movie. They're not gateways through the space-time continuum. They're just movies.

Again, to be clear - I obviously didn't like Alien Resurrection, and while I'm a bit (a lot) of an Alien 3 apologist, that film still isn't all that good, either, and it's not the idea that these "wouldn't count" that bugs me, because none of it "counts" - it's just the weird angle at which the movie is even being born. He had an original idea, and then abandoned it to attempt this weird, half-ass game of pretend that tries to distance itself from a movie that it can't be distanced from because it exists as an answer to it.

Like, he might as well straight up call it "Not-Alien-3" because good or bad, that's all it can be when starting from here.

Hopefully this turns out more like Alien Isolation than Colonial Marines.

That'd be somethin, wouldn't it? I know he plays games. It'd be interesting to see if he's played Isolation. But it seems pretty obvious he's leaning more ALIENS than anything.
 
Terminator Salvation did this by ignoring 3. Look how it turned out. :/

Also, Alien 3 is actually a pretty great movie. Especially the assembly cut. I'm glad it got made.
 
This seems like such an unnecessary minefield for Blomkamp to step into. This could tank his career.

How so? I'm assuming Fox is behind him, it's not like he's doing this all in secret.

And if Elysium didn't tank his career, nothing will!

Confession time: I like Elysium
 
Well, yeah. But it didn't do itself any favors with its premise. And that premise ended up working against the film, as well.



This doesn't make any more sense than the last time you said it. Die Hard 2 didn't seal off Die Hard 3. Temple of Doom didn't seal off Last Crusade. Hell, The Motion Picture didn't seal off Wrath of Khan. It sure as hell doesn't make an actor "Lose their performance" either. The performance you value and treasure still exists. It'll always exist. You can go back to it at any point. They were on that set, the camera captured their performance, you own the DVD/Blu-Ray. Which is why this:



Doesn't follow. You can't provide an alternate history with a movie. They're not gateways through the space-time continuum. They're just movies.

Again, to be clear - I obviously didn't like Alien Resurrection, and while I'm a bit (a lot) of an Alien 3 apologist, that film still isn't all that good, either, and it's not the idea that these "wouldn't count" that bugs me, because none of it "counts" - it's just the weird angle at which the movie is even being born. He had an original idea, and then abandoned it to attempt this weird, half-ass game of pretend that tries to distance itself from a movie that can never actually distance itself from that movie because it exists as an answer to it.

Like, he might as well straight up call it "Not-Alien-3" because good or bad, that's all it can be when starting from here.



That'd be somethin, wouldn't it? I know he plays games. It'd be interesting to see if he's played Isolation. But it seems pretty obvious he's leaning more ALIENS than anything.

There's a difference between "didn't live up to expectations" and trash, Alien Resurrection is a franchise freezing movie. I would say killing, but somehow it is not dead, it's more been in a coma. Die Hard 2 while disappointing is not on that level in my personal opinion.

You don't lose an actors performance, you lose the potential of what may be. When you watch a bad sequel to a movie you really liked you don't just feel bad because you watched a bad movie, you feel bad because there was potential in the story you were following between those movies and now it is gone.

Different directors don't tell alternative history as much as they take characters and have their stories go in completely different directions. Aren't the new Star Trek movies literally alternate history?

The original answer was bad, like real bad...well half of it, Aliens 3 wasn't that bad...that's why most people in this thread don't care, they want to forget those movies and see what another person's vision of the ending is. If you care about those movies then you won't be able to forget them and this will just seem to be an odd half a replacement for them, if you don't care you will move on rather quickly and easily. So I disagree with you there, if this is a great movie, I think most fans will think of this when they think about the third Aliens movie, cause right now when I introduce people to the franchise I tell people they can watch the first 2 and then stop, and I don't think I'm the only one.
 
Alien 3 wasn't even that bad. I liked how it ended the story, and it made sense that Hicks and Newt die. It was like "Ripley's fate is to suffer, as a result of the Xenomorph." It fit in with the dark tone set in the first film as well. I don't like that they're completely ignoring these movies. How do they even explain that? The others were a dream or something? And how will they explain Hicks and Ripley being like 30 years older? Hypersleep should keep them the same age. Weird concept.

Easy, just start the movie with a titlecard saying "what if..."

And they wakeup 30 years later only to find out the hypersleep system has malfunctioned.
 
What I hope Neil does is have a reason doing this. So far the only reason people have had to bring Alien back into movies is to make a quick buck exploiting nostalgia.

Even in gaming we see this. Alien Colonial Marines and Alien Isolation are both part of the problem. There's no reason to tell these stories. You're basicly just retreading either Alien or Aliens. The point is always nostalgia. Never anything fresh.

If Neil makes a good movie out of this that doesn't look back to nostalgia for its guidelines of creativity I'm all for it. All the more power to him. We really need a good Alien movies these days.
 
I like alien 3 as an entertaining movie but as a follow-up to Aliens it can go fuck itself. I don't feel like we're losing a national treasure here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom