Ridley Scott isn’t ruling out using CGI to bring young Ripley back

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

After making his return to the ALIEN franchise with PROMETHEUS just five years ago, Ridley Scott seems set on staying involved with the franchise this time around. The upcoming release of ALIEN: COVENANT will go a little further towards connecting the new series with the original 1979 film, but Ridley Scott still has a few more ALIEN movies left in the tank before we catch up with the Nostromo.

While speaking with Empire (via Bloody Disgusting), Scott stated that he's planning at least two more films before connecting up with ALIEN. John Logan (ALIEN: COVENANT) is working on a "ten-page synopsis" with Ridley Scott and they "know where we're going with it." Once the sequels approach ALIEN territory, Scott added that he's not ruling out the idea of bringing Sigourney Weaver back as a digitally de-aged Ellen Ripley, saying "you could do that."

This of course doesn't mean that Ridley Scott will bring Ellen Ripley back, but it seems as though he's mulling over the possibility. Using CGI to de-age, or recreate, an actor certainly isn't anything new, but we've seen some fairly notable examples over the past few years including Michael Douglas in ANT-MAN, Robert Downey Jr. in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and both Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher in ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY. Sigourney Weaver was set to return as Ripley in an ALIEN sequel from Neill Blomkamp, but Ridley Scott's renewed interest in the franchise seems to have put that project on hold. Whether that sequel gets resurrected or not is still up in the air, but Sigourney Weaver has previously raved about the script as well as promising that it will be worth the wait.

The script itself has so much in it that’s so original, but also really satisfies the, I would say, the primal needs of the aliens. It’s a tribute to all of the great work that the other directors have done, in a way, but goes in a completely new direction. I hope we’ll do it. It’s a great story and it’s satisfying to me to give this woman an ending.

ALIEN: COVENANT is set for a May 19, 2017 release.