Unless you’ve been living on LV-426, you’ve probably heard the news that Neill Blomkamp is directing a new ALIEN film, with Ridley Scott acting as producer and Sigourney Weaver likely to star. We’ll be getting drips and drabs of news regarding this sequel for a few years now, so you’d better get used to it. And hey, here are a few new drips!
First up, Blomkamp – who is doing press rounds for his latest sci-fi fantasy CHAPPIE – spoke to EW about how his ALIEN flick originated. Naturally, having Ms. Weaver on the set of his new movie helped quicken his imagination:
It did have to do with having Sigourney on Chappie. It’s just something that I’ve always wanted to one day be a part of. Those first two [Alien] films are probably my favorite films ever made. I didn’t know if it would ever happen. I just always wanted to participate in it if I was able to.
Over the years, I came up with a story for a film in that universe that I wanted to make. And then when I talked to her about her experience making those films and what she thought about Ripley and everything else, it informed and changed the film I wanted to make into something different.
It just sort of stuck with me. A year later, when post-production was winding down on Chappie, I started fleshing out the idea for a film that would contain Sigourney. Fox never knew. I just worked on it when I could. Before I knew it, I had this really awesome film with a lot of artwork and a lot of backstory. And then I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not. So I just kind of sat on it for a while.
Next up is Sigourney talking about her desire to give Ellen Ripley’s story a proper finish and her delight that Blomkamp is working on the film. You can hear that – plus more from Blomkamp – in the video below. The director especially has some very interesting things to say about his thriller…