New Alien Movie Officially A Go From Neill Blomkamp!
February 19, 2015 by brennon
We heard rumblings on the internet about the coming of a new Alien movie a few months ago now but it seems like those rumours were well founded. Fox have teamed up with Neill Blomkamp who will be bringing Alien back to the screen after Prometheus 2 which will still be helmed by Ridley Scott...
The new film is looking to be a return to form for the likes of Sigourney Weaver as she takes up the mantle of an older Ripley hopefully. It looks like Hicks is back too, utterly battered and bruised but still looking like a proper bad ass. It's unknown if any of this concept art (see more below) is going to be making it into the final film but it does look promising.
Time will tell if this translates well onto screen but I think that people are always ready for a new Alien film and Prometheus 2 should also be an interesting shout taking the tale in another direction. What we're interested in however is how this changes the look of the tabletop world and you could see a lot more board games and indeed miniature games coming out following this film.
Prodos Games currently hold the license to do a lot with the Alien and Predator worlds and since their game is tied into the old movies it would be good to see them allowed expansion content later down the line to continue support through these films.
I could really see Modiphius doing something awesome with a role-playing game based on Alien too.
What do you think?
"What we’re interested in however is how this changes the look of the tabletop world and you could see a lot more board games and indeed miniature games coming out following this film"
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"It looks like Hicks is back too, utterly battered and bruised but still looking like a proper bad ass"
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Very exciting news.
Right now, I’m more excited by Prometheus 2 than I am by the prospect of another outing for the xenomorphs. Although opinions were very mixed, I did like the way that Prometheus expanded on the Alien universe, rather being another “let’s think of a new place to throw in a xenomorph and then watch everyone die” movie.
If Ripley and Hicks are back, it does beg some interesting questions about the continuity of the movies. I remain to be convinced.
I agree, I have watched Prometheus about 4 times now and for me there is just something about that film I find very…. compelling. I think it has a lot to do with the music and atmosphere, and the general theme of “meeting our makers”.
I also am not that excited by the new alien film, but only because of the sketchy performance since Aliens (and the dodgy AvP movie franchise too).
Who knows, maybe this time they will nail it?
I’m afraid I went the other way. I had difficulty with Prometheus mostly because of the really odd and inconsistent behaviour (and comensurately patchy characterisation) of the characters (spoiler warning for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet):- The scientist (Logan Marshall-Green as Holloway) who makes the greatest discovery in the history of human scientific endeavour… then whines about it for no real reason. Michael Fassbender (the synth… er, ‘artifical person’ David) exposing Holloway to the black gunk, one assumes as some sort of experiment on behalf of Guy Pearce (Weyland), but without any means of containing any potential infestation… Read more »
Good post. It summarizes why I think Prometheus is, IMHO, a very good looking shit movie. So very pretty, so extremely dumb.
I don’t think the movie was terrible or anything, just that it had certain elements of its plot, characterisation and world building that consistently annoyed me and undermined my enjoyment. Each person’s judgement and aesthetic is their own. I would not presume to claim that my taste and experiences are or should be universal.
Bad post. It just demonstrates how, with a bit of thought and a touch of Google, it’s possible to pick apart any movie one and find faults in its script, its continuity or the way it has been edited. None of this is a valid reason to dislike a movie IMHO. If you want to say how you didn’t like the story, the themes, the characterisation, the acting, the cinematography, the editing, direction, costume design, etc etc then go for it.
So… problems with the internal logic of the fictional world and the characterisation of the actual personalities in a movie are not valid reasons to feel that you didn’t enjoy it as much as you might have? Inconsistencies in the fictional universe and in the behaviour of the characters present in it effects the story, the themes and characterisation, and all of it is an issue with the writing and direction of the piece. If you look carefully you will see that I have already answered the kind of questions you put forward at the end of tyour post For… Read more »
@vetruviangeek You are of course entitled to to you own views of Prometheus. I agree with many (though not all) of the points you made – I never said Prometheus was a perfect film. My comment was actually aimed at the chap who said your post summarised why Prometheus is a “shit” movie rather than you. My fault if that didn’t come across. Your list of flaws may well be a perfect summary of why you didn’t enjoy the film, which is of course always a valid response to any film. I only mentioned Googling because I have seen almost… Read more »
Prometheus is a terrible movie, objectively, on multiple levels. It’s an embarrassment. If you like a movie, that’s fine: that doesn’t mean it’s good.
At best Prometheus is best viewed as 100 isolated scenes with no continuity between each other – then it is actually a great experience.
A few plot holes and logic issues are fine – but when the entire movie is interwoven with these errors, it becomes a massive problem.
Bad post? the forums own opinion moderator is at it again
Oh sod off @hatamoto . Everyone is entitled to an opinion except me in your world 😛
no its how others opinions are viewed from standing on your world thats the problem imo, I rarely try to explain to people how and why their opinions are somehow not legit. Go on act like you dont know what im talking about.
@hatamoto I was under the impression that the purpose of the comments section was for people to post opinions. It seems fine for people to also post opinions of what other people have posted. An opinion of an opinion is still an opinion is it not? So vetruviangeek posts an opinion and panzerkanzler posts an opinion of vetruviangeeks opinion. He calls it a “good post” and says why. That’s fine by your book I assume because you don’t pick him up on it. Now I happen to disagree with panzerkanzler and so post my opinion as to why. I start… Read more »
Actually @hatamoto you’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t post anything else.
@vetruviangeek I agree with you 100% that a lot of the movie doesn’t make much sense when examined closely, but I find that to be the case with about 99% of movies I see.
What I enjoyed about Prometheus was the visual flair, the acting and the soundtrack, which in my mind more than made up for the dodgy plot holes.
yes if you actually (think) when most films are on they are all shit we are only ment to look at all the expensive special effects not think of the story and the like. look at aliens all very professional entering hardly’s hope then when they enter the processor lets all go in in a big tight group so they can’t cover each other?
@vetruviangeek I agree with every word in your post. It’s such a pity because there’s a really fine looking film with an interesting story but, just… what you said.
At least in the universe timeline by the time we get to Alien there is a quarantine procedure to be overridden by the villainous Ash.
Say a nice thing Brian – Really great looking earth spaceship.
None of that stuff really bothered me. I never have much sympathy for criticism along the lines of, “But why would they do this when they should obviously do that?” People in stressful or unfamiliar situations will often act in all sorts of crazy and irrational ways, which might not be how a movie viewer under no stress and with a bird’s eye view of the action would act. And many people are just flat-out weird and do strange things for no apparent reason, or because of how they (sometimes subconsciously) feel about other people or their past experiences. I… Read more »
Great list of head bashingly ridiculous moments.
Big thing for me though, that never gets mentioned, is the size of the engineers. In Alien, the Space Jockey is HUGE. Scott used his kids as stand ins for the main cast to highlight this. In Prometheus they were what, 8′ tall?
Fassbender held that movie together. Everyone else was utter rubbish. Well. Their characters were, and so was the script.
There was an original script for Alien 3 that saw an older Newt (now in the mental asylum) and a washed-out Hicks (working as a security guard) trying to stop a nutcase Industrialist from bringing the Alien to Earth. There was a Dark Horse comic and also novel featuring this story. Sadly, the Fox execs got cold feet because the story didn’t feature Sigourney Weaver, and it was scrapped and replaced with what became the David Fincher film. I have no idea if this will be anything similar to that, but its worth noting that the script writers and producers… Read more »
I think the Xenomorph design has sadly been way too overused in the past 30 years, and by that I mean copied by other things, so it doesn’t feel as special as it did – and also I felt HR Giger had a lot more to offer than just the xenomorph and face hugger, so from that perspective I liked that Prometheus actually tried to offer some new and fresh Giger alien creatures. I felt the script could of been tighter and there were some parts I found kind of frustrating but a sequel could definitely fix some of that… Read more »
it looks like it could be based on the Dark Horse Comic Aliens: Book One (july 1988) and more recently rebranded as Aliens: Outbreak. that was a great story
Neill Blomkamp actually doing an Alien movie? Hell yeah!
I want to believe that this could be good, but bitter experience with the Alien franchise over recent years has taught me caution if nothing else. At least Neill Blomkamp is an encouraging chocie of director. Elysium didn’t do much for me, but District 9 was great, so we know he has the potential in theory to do an Alien film justice.
I will definitely keep an eye on this, l but right now I am still sceptical. Hopefully Mr Blomkamp will make a believer of me yet.
Elysium was well shot, well cast, and reasonably well scripted. The problem was that it was a boring and predictable plot. 30 mins in to the movie you knew where it was going but I did enjoy Matt and Sharlto’s opposing character roles.
I have a usual gripe: ditch the old actors already! Sigourney Weaver is an icon, we all get it, but, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, she’s simply too old for an action film.
… Though I must admit, I’d love to see Michael Biehn playing Hicks again. 🙂
Weaver is 65, Biehn is 58. There’s not much difference between them.
ZOMG
Bad news imo. District 9 was a lucky die roll, as Elysium was a pile of degenerate BS. Neill Blomkamp is no genius. That being said, not seen Chappie or whatnot. But I think people should be VERY dubious rather than ecstatic. Alien 3 gets a lot of hate, but recently it’s being re-seen in a different light. Given the difficulties in its production the heart of the (directors cut) movie might arguably be superior to the first two movies. Bringing back Hicks etc takes away from the movie’s beauty (yes Hicks hicked ass, but so did Drake …). Watch… Read more »
“Degenerate”!? Why is Elysium “degenerate”?
Because its theme is irrational and incoherent, and fundamentally flawed. It’s “violently stupid” as opposed to the cheesy silliness/stupidity of an innocent Michael Bay movie.
I thought elysium was pretty good, but maybe im just too stupid to see whats so bad about it
If I could have nominated directors for a stab at another Alien movie then i’d have certainly put Blomkamp in my top 3. Very excited for this. For me, his main task is to return the power and terror to the Alien itself. This is something subsequently ruined follow Alien 3 and utterly decimated by Scott in Prometheus. Once you begin to explain the origins of something terrifying, it loses a great deal of that terror. The Alien never needed a back story. It was always best left to the viewers imagination.
If this is a retelling or a “replacement” movie for Alien 3 and 4, it would be a great oppurtunity to unstain the Aliens universe.
To do that though it would need to retcon both AvP movies, which left a far greater, far stinkier, stain on both franchises than Alien 3 did.
I am cautions about this.
I should add that Alien is one of my favourite films of all time, but the xenomorph is the least interesting thing about it. Over thirty years later and people are still wanting to make movies based on the least interesting thing in the original film 😛
There just isn’t much movie mileage in ‘Jones the Cat’ though.
Sounds like your opinion more than anything else. The xenomorph is just an ingredient among many in the original of course but far from the least interesting imo.
Of course its my opinion, I typed it. Pretty much everything I type on BoW is my opinion 🙂
“Over thirty years later and people are still wanting to make movies based on the least interesting thing in the original film”
made it sound like you imagined it was common known fact, sorry
Oh nice, can we make a sequel to aliens and pretend 3 and 4 never happened?
3 & 4 are ok if you just think they are stand alone films I think.
It should be noted that there actually was an Aliens RPG. It was published by Leading Edge and based on their skirmish miniatures game system. It was a difficult system to master but a nice looking book. The same can be said for their Terminator game.
The ‘ALIENS’ miniature sets from Leading Edge still occasionally crop up on Ebay. They go for about £50+ though. I used to have a couple of them when I were younger. I often hover over the ‘buy it now’ button for them but just cant bring myself to buy at the prices they go for!
this is great news! who is directing it?
hopefully they will be good and promethium II will be half logical?
This is interesting news. I’m curious how this would fit into the now-established chronology of the Aliens films (particularly 3 and 4). In Alien Resurrection Ripley is a clone of the one that died in Alien 3. What if that Ripley wasn’t the real one either? It’s sort of hokey, but if all the stuff that happened to the Ripleys in 3 and 4 weren’t the ‘real’ one you could still have Hicks and Ripley (and Newt) in a new movie. It wouldn’t discount or invalidate either film. In fact you could almost completely ignore them with a few lines… Read more »
Sweet more movies! This is a geek’s dream.
They could just errata 3 and 4 making the story continue from the second. As for all the comments about how poorly the logic or actions of the Prometheus movie. I see it more as a theme issue. As in horror just can’t seem to shake its old patterns, such as every team has to have a rebellious member that will turn on the team. Oh how about the person that gets bit, sprayed or any contact with something and chooses to cover it up and forget. Nothing happened to me, then he becomes a monster! My view is that… Read more »
A very interesting discussion.
I will just drop in my 2 pence… I just cannot wait to see the movie 🙂
I tried to watch prometheus again yesterday after seeing pepple talk about it. For me my first impression was correct an entirely forgettable movie,typical of recent hollywood releases very pretty but awful in plot,script and character. It has lots of issues but i think the biggest one is at no point in the movie did i care what happened. After all this time the names hudson hicks drake spunkmeyer apone deitrich frost ferro etc are burnt into my brain. I watched prometheus yesterday i cant remember a single name. I think if you watch that entire film on mute it… Read more »