Review The "Alien" Franchise

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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What next for THE ALIEN SERIES, in your opinion?

A movie reboot/remake?

A new tv series?

This thread will serve as a placeholder until something is announced; which it surely will be.

But what should that something be?
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Fox Reportedly “Reassessing” Future of the ‘Alien’ Franchise in Wake of ‘Alien: Covenant’


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It appears the future of the Alien franchise is once again uncertain. Anticipation was mighty high for director Ridley Scott’s return with 2012’s Prometheus, and indeed despite some mixed reviews, the sci-fi pic grossed a hearty $403.3 million worldwide. Scott intended for Prometheus to relaunch the franchise in an intriguing way, but while he was busy making Exodus: Gods and Kings and The Martian, filmmaker Neill Blomkamp convinced Fox to give his own separate idea for an Alienmovie a go. However, as soon as Scott got wind of this, he forged ahead with Prometheus 2, effectively killing Blomkamp’s movie—which would have seen Sigourney Weaver reprise her role in a sequel to Aliens.

Scott’s return resulted in Alien: Covenant, a massive, hard-R-rated follow-up to Prometheus that’s basically a hybrid between a Prometheus sequel and an Alienripoff. This one was also somewhat divisive, and its box office dropped 71% in its second weekend, ending its worldwide run with just $232.3 million—just a little over half of what Prometheus made.


Scott has made clear that he has plans for somewhere between 1 and 3 more Aliensequels that will wrap this whole franchise up and tie it neatly into Alien, but THRreports that while Scott is off making his crime drama All the Money in the World, Fox is “reassessing” the two intended sequels that Scott has pitched to the studio.

What this means is unclear, but Covenant certainly left things on a cliffhanger that sets up some sort of confrontation involving Michael Fassbender’s David. The David stuff was the best part about Covenant, and it felt like all the gore and horror was uninteresting to Scott—something he threw in to hopefully please fans. I like seeing Scott make weird sci-fi on a massive scale, so I’m definitely down to see an Alien: Covenant sequel, but given the disappointing box office performance it’s unclear if Fox is interested. Obviously Fox is going to keep making Alien movies, so hopefully this doesn’t mean we’re in for yet another reboot or some schlocky spinoff. I think we’ve learned enough from the Alien vs. Predator movies.

What do you think folks? Would you be down for an Alien: Covenant sequel? Do you want to see Scott finish his arc or would you rather see the series start over?
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Alien: Covenant Sequel Uncertain as Fox Reassesses Alien Franchise


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Director Ridley Scott’s planned Alien: Covenant sequels are reportedly shrouded in uncertainty right now, with 20th Century Fox currently busy “reassessing” the franchise’s future. This news comes several months after Alien: Covenant was released to disappointing box office receipts, with the film’s box office totals adding up to just a little over half of what 2012’s Prometheus made. While Covenantwas originally pitched and built up as being a return to form for the Alien franchise, with the latest installment not only adopting the same name but also basic structure and tone of the original 1979 Alien film, it proved to be a much different experience than some fans might have been expecting.

As such, the reception for Covenant proved to be just as divisive as that might suggest, with many fans and critics finding the film to be an unexpected combination of the themes and mood of Prometheus with the gore and horror of the original Alien – to mixed results. Following Covenant‘s release, the future of the Alien franchise from hereon out has been the hot topic of discussion amongst the franchise’s most die-hard fans.

THR is reporting that Fox is currently in the process of “reassessing” the future of the Alien movie franchise. That could result in Ridley Scott’s originally plan for two sequels to Covenant being scrapped, with the studio deliberating on the issue while the veteran filmmaker is busy shooting his new crime/thriller with Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Spacey, All the Money in the World, before he then moves on to the drug lord drama, titled The Cartel.


This news places the Alien franchise in a bit of an ambiguous place, for the time being, since it’s highly unlikely Fox will be taking a break from making any more Alien films altogether. On the one hand, since many fans were let down by the overall trajectory and story of Covenant, it’s entirely possible that Fox could be considering taking the franchise in a much different direction from here, possibly with new Xenomorph-related adventures that are completely unrelated to the events or characters of Alien: Covenant and Prometheus. However, if the studio decides to take that route, then Scott’s involvement will be in an equally uncertain place.

At the same time, the studio choosing to move away from the plot of the Covenant movies would leave this particular story arc in a strange, unsatisfying position. After all, the ending to Covenant very clearly set the stage for at least one more installment in Scott’s Alien prequel series – one that would have brought back Michael Fassbender as David for a third time. Leaving the Covenant story with that kind of a cliffhanger ending would almost render the entire point of the prequel series – which would explain everything that led up to the events of the first Alien – relatively moot. So with all of that taken into account, it’s hard to know for sure which direction the studio may decide to take the Alien property in – though either way, it’s safe to say that, no matter what, something will be different about the next installment in this long-running sci-fi franchise.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
The Alien Franchise May Be In Serious Trouble


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Ever since Ridley Scott returned to his Alien franchise with Prometheus back in 2012, fans of the films had been hoping that he would continue giving us stories that involved a growing variety of super angry, scary ass monsters and the creation of everything we know. The director released the highly anticipated sequel to Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, earlier this year, but critic and fan response was not entirely enthusiastic. The success of Covenant would have helped solidify plans to continue with Scott's planned additional Alien movies, but it sounds like Covenantwasn't enough of a box office heavy hitter for 20th Century Fox to be totally sold on continuing to invest in Scott's vision for the future of the franchise. Be worried, Alienfans.

While Prometheus and Alien: Covenant both had mixed reviews and audience reaction when they debuted, the former movie managed to rack up ticket sales of $403.3 million around the world. Covenant, on the other hand, ended its theatrical run with just a little over half of that, at $232.3 million. On top of that disappointment, the film's box office numbers dropped a whopping 71% in its second weekend, likely meaning that word of mouth was not helping its case any among moviegoers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, these numbers have, reportedly, led Fox to "reassess" Ridley Scott's intended sequels.

A few months ago, before Covenant's May premiere, Ridley Scott was very enthusiastic about his plans to keep Alien going for a long, long time. The director actually said that he could "keep cranking it for another six" films, but then, just a few days before the movie opened, he claimed to only have one or two sequels up his sleeve. At the time, Scott also noted that the next Alien movie was already being written, with plans to begin filming by 2018 and have it released by early 2020. But, with Fox reconsidering its position with regards to Ridley Scott and Alien movies, I wouldn't be surprised is those plans have already been halted.

So, what does this mean for the future of Alien movies? Right now, unfortunately, no one really knows, and it sounds like the bigwigs at Fox might still be in that camp, as well. All we do know is that if Fox doesn't want to try to completely reboot the franchise (which would surely enrage many, many fans), Alien: Covenant sent the series in a very certain direction that should, ideally, lead us right up to the original Alien film that kicked all this madness off in 1979.
 

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
What AVP films? Sounds like a good concept to have Aliens versus Predators but the films you're talking about never happened! Never I tell you!
Unfortunately, they did.

And if they'd just taken a little time to get the technicalities right, they could have been quite brilliant.

Of course, the preceding sentence could apply to just about every reboot, reimagining, remake or sequel you can think of. :emoji_disappointed:
 

Gavin

Member: Rank 6
VIP
Unfortunately, they did.

And if they'd just taken a little time to get the technicalities right, they could have been quite brilliant.

Of course, the preceding sentence could apply to just about every reboot, reimagining, remake or sequel you can think of. :emoji_disappointed:
Well regardless of anything you say I'm going to continue my denials. I'm pretty sure it took a lot of alcohol to purge my brain of the first of those movies that never happened!
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Ridley Scott's 'Alien: Covenant' Sequels Might Get Canceled


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it's being reported that Ridley Scott's two planned sequels to Alien: Covenant may get outright canceled or retooled by 20th Century Fox.

There's already been talk about getting Weaver's Ripley back into the franchise in some capacity, which would definitely be a major draw for longtime fans.

While the future is being determined, Alien: Covenant is ending its theatrical run, and waiting for home video release.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
New rumors are that 20th Century Fox is considering a third movie series for the Alien franchise. However, instead of connecting this third movie series to the existing characters in the existing movies, it would be set much further into the future so as to enable new plots with new characters and new settings. In other words, one cannot help but wonder if the proposed movie series should even be considered a part of the Alien franchise when the connections would be so tenuous.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
FOX IS REPORTEDLY LOOKING TO REBOOT THE ALIEN FRANCHISE WITH A NEW TIMELINE


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A new report has surfaced claiming that 20th Century Fox is looking to reboot the Alien franchise that would be set in a new timeline and focus on a set of new characters.

According to Steve Weintraub of Collider, who has an inside source, the original plan of the studio for the Alien prequel films was that if Covenant was a success, they would make one additional film after Covenant that would tie into Ridley Scott's original 1979 Alien. After that, it's said that they were going to reboot the franchise and establish a completely new timeline in the future. He explained:

"I think the original plan was after Covenant, assuming it was going to be a box office hit, that they were gonna make one more movie that connected to the original Alien. Then after that they were gonna jump, I heard, into the future, past all the movies we've known into sort of like, a new timeline so you could start again, with new characters, new predicaments, whatever it may be and start these movies at maybe a lower budget and basically continue doing Alien movies but not worry about David (Michael Fassbender) and all the other stuff."
Alien: Covenant didn't do as well as the studio would have hoped. Because of that, it's been reported that Fox "will have to reassess two intended sequels Scott has pitched." There's no information on if they the studio will pursue another film in the near future, but according to Weintraub, if they do, it may be handled with a significantly lower budget.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Would anyone want to see Ripley back as Clone Number 8? I guess that may not be entirely ruled out if it is set post Resurrection.... :emoji_confused:
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Scott: Next “Alien” To Explore More A.I.


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20th Century Fox has yet to make a decision about the future of the “Alien” franchise following the disappointing returns for “Alien: Covenant,” though filmmaker Ridley Scott says he’s ready to go if they do.

Scott spent much of the film’s press tour talking about rough plans for the next film and once again he’s gone into it again today, this time actually discussing the story and where it might go. He tells Empire:

“I think the evolution of the Alien himself is nearly over, but what I was trying to do was transcend and move to another story, which would be taken over by A.I.’s. The world that the AI might create as a leader if he finds himself on a new planet. We have actually quite a big layout for the next one.”

Scott seems fairly confident the film will go ahead, whether it will or not isn’t clear for now.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Ridley Scott Changes Tune On “Alien” Future


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Earlier this year filmmaker Ridley Scott was bullish on the prospects of “Alien: Covenant,” speaking about ambitious plans for the future of the franchise and its revival of the iconic xenomorph that he created. Even as the film disappointed, Scott maintained a desire to further progress the story with at least one more “Alien” tale.

Now though, in a new interview with THR, he appears to have changed his tune when he was asked about his decision to helm that film as opposed to “Blade Runner 2049” which he only produced:

“It was a crossfire of too much business. I’m doing a lot of TV and films, there are six films going out this year. I figured it was a good piece of business to follow through Prometheus, which, from ground zero, had good lift-off. So we went to Covenant to perpetuate the idea and [revive] the franchise of the Alien. I think the beast has almost run out, personally. [On 2049] You’ve got to come in with something else, you’ve got to replace that. And on Blade Runner, I think Denis was a fantastic choice.”

Scott also spoke about where he would like to take a follow-up should it go forward, and he indicates shifting the focus further away from the creatures and onto Michael Fassbender’s android David:

“I think the evolution of the Alien himself is nearly over, but what I was trying to do was transcend and move to another story, which would be taken over by A.I.’s. The world that the AI might create as a leader if he finds himself on a new planet. We have actually quite a big layout for the next one.”

“Alien: Covenant” scored mixed reviews and ultimately grossed $240.7 million worldwide from a reported $97 million production budget – good enough to avoid being a flop, but it wasn’t a profitable film let alone a hit and was notably down from 2012’s “Prometheus”. Since then 20th Century Fox has reportedly begun rethinking their strategy with the franchise moving forward.
 
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