For nearly 8 months the prospect of Alien and Predator’s future under the House That Mickey Built has been an uncertainty and a worry. While Disney may be well known for family orientated films, they’ve never been shy about releasing more mature films under the banner of other companies they owned, such as Mirimax and Touchstone.
Disney previously commented that they would be retaining Fox Searchlight and Fox 2000 leading to hope that perhaps Alien and Predator would continue under a different banner too. To quote Prometheus’ Elizabeth Shaw, “we were wrong, we were so wrong.”
According to the Wall Street Journal not only is it likely that 20th Century Fox will be massively downsized and perhaps completely dissolved and its own executives forced to act as if nothing is wrong until then, but what Alien and Predator fans have also been fearing may come to pass – Disney may be dropping support for any franchises that don’t fit the family-friendly image they’ve cultivated for themselves.
Unlike its sibling television studio, Fox’s movie studio is expected to be significantly downsized once the deal is complete. Disney will likely take over Fox’s two biggest film franchises, Avatar and the X-Men, and scale back production of costly movies that don’t fit its family-friendly, franchise-focused formula, people close to both companies have said.
Until the deal is done, however, Fox is obligated to keep acting as if it will survive, people who work at the studio say, which means making movies and developing new ideas with no certainty as to what Disney will end up doing with them.
The Predator is perfectly safe but not so for any of those potential sequels that John Davis previously spoke about and that prospective Alien: Covenant sequel. This news makes it seems unlikely that we’ll be seeing any future big screen releases for either series and if we do, they’ll be scaled back severely. Which may not actually be a bad prospect.
With Comcast having been a serious contender to purchase 20th Century Fox, perhaps there’s hope that Disney may just sell those franchises it doesn’t deem suitable to its brand to another company. The Comcast owned Universal Studios seems like it’d be a much better home for Alien and Predator in a Fox-less world than Disney ever would.
How Disney’s lack of interest in more mature franchises will effect tie-in materials still remains to be seen. Hopefully we’ll continue to see Alien and Predator live on in the pages of Titan’s novels and Dark Horse’s comics.
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A few years ago, I would've argued you down for this line of thinking... that said. I would like to see new stories, characters, worlds etc. too.
Growing older makes you more humble in some instancesJenny prefers the term 'artificial person,' herself.
TC
So that's a no to Jenny Lee Jones then?
No no no... we were just told:
Jennifer Connelly, Jamie Lee Curtis, Catherine Zeta Jones = Gynoids
Jeri = Xenoid
TC
Just to be safe.
Why should androids look human? Because the root word is andro, which is Greek for man. Maybe a female robot that is in the shape of a woman should be a gynoid? Andro is similar to anthro, but anthro means human. So if a robot is in the shape of a human but appears to have no gender characteristics, maybe it should be an anthroid?
Bottom line is, robots can take any shape, but androids are in the shape of man.
Nobody wants to continue from Alien: Resurrection. So if you can retcon one film, any other film is fair game. Alien 3 is a natural for an alternate time line, because that is when most people clearly saw the franchise go in an unpopular direction.
Mind you I enjoy watching Alien 3 and Resurrection just the same. And I will enjoy them long after they are retconned. They can be great alternate stories.
Even though I enjoy AR, it still seems like more of an EU experience, than a serious entry in the series. Ripley died, on film, and that's that.
Me too. But he'd fit into a sort of Alien:Res style of dark humour. Most fans didn't like that.
But he's an intriguing character. Android technology has apparently come so far, why should they all look human? Lot's of possibilities there, although there's always the danger (as in Ridley Scott's latest forays) that android business will overshadow Alien stuff.
TC
Thanks, Hicks
I can agree with this. Bishop was cool in his own way. If they make an Android go full Rambo, let it be a different character.
Personally... as out there as this sounds... I'd love to see Jeri on the big screen. Jeri was my favorite synth from the comics.
(ISOLATION, Samuels)
or one designed for such a purpose.
What I like less is the idea of retroactively making Bishop OP.
That'd be Gibson's first Alien 3 draft IIRC.
Ha, that's quite clever. Hopefully she can laugh about it.
Wow. The Cold One.
I'd be happy Alien³ wasn't retconned out of continuity for some family friendly trite.
But sad Sigourney Weaver had to die to make it a certainty it'll never happen.
I mostly agree with you. And of course it is all personal preference. There's a reason why the original Aliens comics were so successful. People were totally invested in Newt's character. It made sense then, and it still makes sense.
The area where we disagree is sort of splitting hairs. You would prefer to have an all new film with new characters. I would prefer to have both. Having a Ripley - Hicks-Newt film does not negate the need for a film without those characters. I would be super stoked for both. The only reason to do the Ripley film first is due to the merciless hands of time. The clock is ticking. Actors are getting older. Windows of opportunity are slowly closing.
High-5 Badwolf-00!!
The great thing about bringing in Sigourney Weaver and friends for another Aliens film, is that it has the potential for the public to look at the series in a fresh new way. It justifies a higher budget. If such a film is successful, which it would have a high probability, then the budget for an upcoming non-Ripley film could potentially be much higher. As it stands, one can only imagine that Ridley Scott's next film would probably be done on a vastly diminished budget.
Iam not saying you could not work of the basic idea and make a enjoyable movie out of it. I just feel you could achieve more going for a different route.
It's all personal preference of course.
She would. That would be an angle that could work. Maybe have Newt traumatized after LV-426, unable to find her place in the world and go from there. But still, i think pulling it off with Newt/Ellen/Hicks the right way is harder than just make a good movie with all new characters. Maybe even without WY.
I mean, if Newt did survive and was traumatized about the events of Hadley's Hope, managed to get through but still struggle with her PTSD, it does sound like something she might do. Though we have an actual comic with similar basis.
I mean... I kinda wanted to see Newt grow up, go postal on some Aliens and WY for revenge.
Ripley doesn't have to drag Newt into anything. What if a Ripley finds out that Newt went off on her own on a crusade of some sort? Would Ripley not react?
I think it would be the opposite. Ripley would not get Newt in danger to wage a privat war against a overwhelmingly influential corporation. She would not risk leaving her surrogate daughter alone while she is dead or in jail.
Hicks was a competent soldier but hardly a Jason Bourne. There is just a limit to what two people and a child can believable accomplish without losing it's ground in realism. Even in T2 all they tried to accomplish was assassinating one engineer and destroy one more or less civilian lab.
There are certain life situations which define who you become. In the case of Ripley and friends, it would be almost certain that they would SEEK a confrontation with the Aliens knowing WY's motivations, whereas with Die Hard, Bruce Willis's character continues to CHANCE upon disaster. That's where the difference lies. Die Hard is implausible, bordering on comedy, whereas another encounter for Ripley is highly probable.
Moreover, if Alien 3 is retconned, it will only be Ripley's third encounter not the 23rd.
Hicks is already an action hero. Ripley could be a reluctant hero. Perhaps she's been on the run from W-Y all these years and Hicks finds her to tell her that he needs help in dealing with some W-Y madness? Or in the hands of a competent director, Ripley could go the route of Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2. Sarah Connor was a vastly different character between James Cameron's two Terminator films, and yet compelling.
But how would you built a story around Ripley\Newt\Bishop without making them into hyper competent guerrilla fighters who fight a private war against WY/Xenomorphs? I think it would turn them from everyday normal people into some kind of action hero. Which is a sharp turn from what made them great to begin with.
You would go from ordinary people stuck in a bad situation to Die Hard 23 territory, where the same extraordinary situation happens to the same people over and over again.
True, but you need to generate audience excitement to go see another Alien film. And I do believe, if Ridley continued with another Alien sequel after Covenant with new cast members, it would continue on a downards trajectory, box-office performance wise. Goodwill has eroded fast.
So as things stand, to bring back audience goodwill, you remind them of a time when Alien was great with the return of Ripley and Hicks, it creates a tremendous buzz, but then you continue on with new compelling main characters. Their child. Newt. Or someone else entirely. Like what the new Star Wars trilogy did, but this time, with good writing, good direction and good actors.
If this ends up working with Linda Hamilton and Terminator as well as it did with Halloween, I think this chances of Alien following this path will be very likely.
Yes. You can have a great film without Ripley. We've had 4 Alien related films since 1992 without Ripley, or 5 if you count Alien Resurrection. So what are you even talking about? It's time we had an Alien film with Ripley. More specifically, post-Aliens, and featuring Hicks Newt and some Bishop parts.
I'm up for Ripley and non-Ripley films. There is room for both, and I believe both can be done well. The problem with ALL non-Ripley Aliens films is that someone is brought in to play the trope of a female protagonist.
You can have a great aliens film without Ripley and at this point its time we had one.
You deserve the whole chocolate factory bro! Alien 3 retconners unite!!
If you're referring to the characters in the movie then that's your valid opinion. If you're referring to yourself, then please go outside, get some fresh air, enjoy the sunshine, then go seek help.
If that sad day should come, will you feel proud of yourself for assisting in the prevention effort of us getting one more great Aliens film with Ripley? Look in the mirror on that day and say Well Done!!
I feel like I deserve a cookie.
Oh yes! Even more really real than real! It's what many hardcore fans want.
There you go! That's the spirit! Well said Voodo Magic.
Though I suspect most hardcore fans would be totally on board to retcon Alien 3. It's really just a few people on here who make a lot of noise defending Alien 3, but I am pretty sure there is a silent majority out there who would agree that the series went off the rails with Alien 3.
It doesn't necessarily have to be about passing the torch, but that's not the issue here. The issue is that you think the series is about the creatures first and foremost, and not about the characters. The creatures are animals! Exotic, yes but only animals. The audience is mostly invested in the struggle of the characters who are facing the creatures and they want to know their story. That doesn't make the audience stupid. They are simply NORMAL PEOPLE.
Me personally, I'm not up for a passing of the torch which results in ongoing Newt tales. I just want a better story told with the characters that many people including myself are invested in, and that will transition better into the next phase. Currently, everything in the timeline starting with Alien 3 is just not satisfactory. I would be totally up for a David / Ripley confrontation if done well.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want only films with the core characters. But I want some. Alien : Cold Forge as a film is something I very much desire also.
Yeah, movies aren't shown in ballparks. They're shown in cinemas.
Wow, what would you all do without me?
https://drinksanddrinking.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/pulp-fiction-0431.jpg?w=450&h=290
I think that was during the Influencer round-table prior to the Covenant premiere. I think Louis Nostromo asked the question. The CGI replacement technique is certainly getting better and better but it's not quite there yet.
I'm still hoping for a soft reboot.
making an Alien film and a Halloween film-
and thus their financial success:
Aren't in the same ballpark.
I wouldn't put it past them. They kinda did the same thing with Carrie Fisher (may she rest in peace) in Rogue One.
Hey, spew chunks all ya like. The new Halloween sold me that this could work wonderfully. And it just so happened to result in the best Halloween movie since the original.
I mean to digitally resurrect her likeness. I know I know.
There will be calls for digital resurrection.
Or at least the character to return with another actor.
It's going to have to be done, and fail miserably, in order to
put the idea to rest for good.
that it actually has me in the headspace of wondering,
when the inevitable comes and Sigourney Weaver
passes away will this discussion end?
That's quite a case of the pukies you got there!
Umm...glad you're not overreacting??
So turn the series intro lineage "passing the torch"
focused garbage like a dozen other series?
https://i.giphy.com/media/EiCQzmzE5HLaw/giphy.webp
It may piss off us hardcore fans, but it will give the franchise the best chance to thrive into the future imo. Plus, if they are good movies, I suspect we hardcore fans will quickly get over the Alien 3 retcon.
For really real?
That's because the idea of
Prometheus we/I got in
2010/11 is fantastic.
"Ridley Scott returns to Alien
but this time it's really about the
Space Jockey?
Del Toro's Mountains Of Madness
got canned because it was too similar?
Inferring Prometheus is going to have some
Cthulhu shit in the Alien universe?
Sign me the f**k up!"
But once you saw the execution...
Covenant > Prometheus
Prometheus didn't introduce new themes
so much as it was so unsure
of what it wanted to be,
that it was full of mystery boxes
that ultimately meant nothing.
Covenant knows what it is.
& Covenant certainly introduces
new themes for the franchise,
Ahem;
https://yutani.studio/a-l-i-e-n/alien-covenant-analysis/
It's an Alien film in the style
of a Gothic Horror, full of romanticism.
The writing is the problem,
not the general content.
Ahahaha.