James Cameron's ALIENS was that rare sequel which managed to be every bit as good (if not better, depending on who you talk to) as its predecessor, but he isn't overly enthusiastic about the sequels which followed. After ALIENS, we were treated to David Fincher's ALIEN 3, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's ALIEN: RESURRECTION, Paul W. S. Anderson's ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, Colin and Greg Strause's ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM and Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS.
Even though James Cameron did enjoy the technical aspects of PROMETHEUS, he walked away convinced that the franchise had long since run out of steam. While speaking with Vulture, Cameron was asked about the state of the franchise and whether he was looking forward to the upcoming ALIEN: COVENANT.
The franchise has kind of wandered all over the map. Ridley [Scott] did the first film, and he inspired an entire generation of filmmakers and science-fiction fans with that one movie and there have been so many films that stylistically have derived from it, including my own Aliens, which was the legitimate sequel and, I think, the proper heir to his film. I sort of did it as a fanboy. I wanted to honor his film, but also say what I needed to say. After that, I don't take any responsibility.
I don't think it's worked out terribly well. I think we've moved on beyond it. It's like, okay, we've got it, we've got the whole Freudian biomechanoid meme. I've seen it in 100 horror films since. I think both of those films stand at a certain point in time, as a reference point. But is there any validity to doing another one now? I don't know. Maybe. Let's see, jury's out. Let's see what Ridley comes up with. Let me just add to that — and don't cut this part off, please — I will stand in line for any Ridley Scott movie, even a not-so-great one, because he is such an artist, he's such a filmmaker. I always learn from him. And what he does with going back to his own franchise would be fascinating.
Ridley Scott isn't the only one returning to his own franchise; it was recently announced that James Cameron would be teaming up with DEADPOOL's Tim Miller to bring back the TERMINATOR franchise, another series which could be accused of "wandering all over the map." Here's hoping that both ALIEN: COVENANT and the TERMINATOR reboot will be able to right their respective franchises.
ALIEN: COVENANT will hit theaters on May 19, 2017.