Ridley Scott says there wasn’t even a script for Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

With ALIEN: COVENANT fast approaching, fans of the franchise that loyally follow every scrap of news on the series is left to ponder the status of the attempted Neill Blomkamp film with Sigourney Weaver. We got as much as some pretty stellar concept art, but it seems the project has been virtually scrapped as Ridley Scott continues to roll out his new films.  

Scott spoke to Allocine recently to discuss the upcoming COVENANT, and in the process confirmed that Blomkamp’s film wasn’t as far along as we might have hoped, and that at this point we will most likely never see the finished product:

I don't think it will ever see the light of day. There was never a script. Just an idea that evolved from a dozen or so pages. I had to participate as producer, but it didn't go farther because Fox decided it didn't want to do it. As far I was concerned, I had already done Prometheus and I was working on Covenant.

The highly discussed ALIEN 5 seemed like a sure thing, with Weaver talking about it some and Blomkamp saying he would work on it after CHAPPIE. But the project was scrapped over a year ago once it was announced Scott would be working on COVENANT, and Blomkamp said back in January that chances of seeing the fifth movie are “slim.”

Blomkamp blew me – and everyone else – away with his tremendous work on DISTRICT 9. Since then he has stalled somewhat, with ELYSIUM being good-not-great, and CHAPPIE failing to entice either critics of audiences. Seeing his early concept work for ALIEN 5 teased something potentially great, so its a shame we’ll probably never get to see his take on such a beloved series. Maybe in the future he’ll get a shot, but for now the master is in charge, and Scott is hugging the series closer than, well, you know what I'm referencing.

ALIEN: COVENANT arrives May 19.