Alien movies to be retconned?

[Russ]

I'd like to see who the source of this rumour is.

It kind of frames this:

"A true Alien 3, probably set 30+ years after the events of 1986's Aliens with a "mature" Weaver and Biehn, accompanied by a late 30s actress in the role of Newt settled on Earth, with the evil Weyland-Yutani somehow getting their hands on their long coveted prize, possibly from the crashed derelict Juggernaut on Acheron LV-426."

as a quote.

I'll write and ask?

[Eva]

The only potential retcon I've ever read about with regards to the ALIEN franchise, was back then when Ridley and Cameron played with the idea of making a sequel together, possibly picking up the story where ALIENS left the characters. Whether that concept was a pure Ridley/Cameron thing or the studio had any involvement, I have no idea.

[HuDaFuK]

As Ultramorph said, the fact Fox specifically decided not to undo the third and fourth films when they oversaw Sea of Sorrows kinda blows this one out of the water.

As for whether they should do it, we already had one massive retcon with Hicks' miracle resurrection in ACM, and look what a steaming pile that was. Just leave them dead and stop pandering to the kids who just want Aliens 2.

[Xenomorphine]

It kind of frames this:

"A true Alien 3, probably set 30+ years after the events of 1986's Aliens with a "mature" Weaver and Biehn, accompanied by a late 30s actress in the role of Newt settled on Earth, with the evil Weyland-Yutani somehow getting their hands on their long coveted prize, possibly from the crashed derelict Juggernaut on Acheron LV-426."

as a quote.

I'll write and ask?

That's what I was curious about, yeah. It's like they were quoting from someone/somewhere, but forgot who to attribute it to.

As Ultramorph said, the fact Fox specifically decided not to undo the third and fourth films when they oversaw Sea of Sorrows kinda blows this one out of the water.

As for whether they should do it, we already had one massive retcon with Hicks' miracle resurrection in ACM, and look what a steaming pile that was. Just leave them dead and stop pandering to the kids who just want Aliens 2.

That they were considering it, speaks volumes. Someone got cold feet, but it's clear there was motivation from higher up to see whether it could be viable to go down that creative road. If they considered it in a serious fashion once, it's possible they'll do so again.

Also, let's keep in mind nobody bothered to point out to Scott all the various similarities with the first of the AVP films, back when 'Prometheus' was being made. It seems they've become very hands-off, creatively. If someone was handed the reins and decided to retcon the third and fourth films into a dream, I can see Fox simply shrugging proverbial shoulders and going with it.

[Kimarhi]

The only potential retcon I've ever read about with regards to the ALIEN franchise, was back then when Ridley and Cameron played with the idea of making a sequel together, possibly picking up the story where ALIENS left the characters. Whether that concept was a pure Ridley/Cameron thing or the studio had any involvement, I have no idea.

I've a book that talks about it.

Scott/Cameron were going to do two movies written together.  Scott was actually going to do the big sequel with them going out to the Alien's homeworld and smacking the Aliens around, and Cameron was going to do the slower paced lost in space trapped in a spaceship sequel.  From memory they both were supposed to have the Ripley 8 and Call characters in them.

Somebody got the bright idea to do AvP instead. 

[Gash]

I thought Cameron said he had raised the idea to Scott but had not heard anything back. Then Fox announced AvP and that derailed any plans. Cameron was going to write it, Scott direct.

[Kimarhi]

according to this dude they both were going to direct one. 

Even though I'm not entirely sure how well this dude researched his shiznit.  Its full of things I've never heard of before and I consider myself an above average fan in terms of knowing about movie history, even the unwritten and unused stories out there. 

book was dissecting aliens by John L Flynn. 

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

The only potential retcon I've ever read about with regards to the ALIEN franchise, was back then when Ridley and Cameron played with the idea of making a sequel together, possibly picking up the story where ALIENS left the characters. Whether that concept was a pure Ridley/Cameron thing or the studio had any involvement, I have no idea.

I've a book that talks about it.

Scott/Cameron were going to do two movies written together.  Scott was actually going to do the big sequel with them going out to the Alien's homeworld and smacking the Aliens around, and Cameron was going to do the slower paced lost in space trapped in a spaceship sequel.  From memory they both were supposed to have the Ripley 8 and Call characters in them.

Somebody got the bright idea to do AvP instead.

The story I heard was that it was going to be one film with Cameron writing & producing and Scott directing (since he can't write). Now it sounds like Scott was basically going to do Aliens 2 and Cameron do Alien 2.

[Kimarhi]

This is according to that guy.  You would have to read it to see whether you agree or not.

I give him the benefit of the doubt since some of the stuff about the unused Alien 3 and original Peter Briggs drafts was indeed true.  The unused stuff though about new Alien movies though, his book is literally the only one I've ever seen them discussed.

I think its hinted at that Cameron would write both installments, just that they would flip the directing responsibilities to do something other than their strong suits.  Cameron more horror, Ridley more action. 

There was also another Aliens knockoff he mentioned where the Aliens made it to a space elevator and the Marines had to stop the Aliens from reaching the bottom and invading the surface of Earth.  Was supposed to be one of the better Aliens knockoff scripts around. 

[Gash]

The story I heard was that it was going to be one film with Cameron writing & producing and Scott directing (since he can't write). .

..and Cameron can?

[Local Trouble]

The story I heard was that it was going to be one film with Cameron writing & producing and Scott directing (since he can't write). .

..and Cameron can?

Compare their writing credits on IMDb.  Cameron has Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and Avatar.  Ridley has...Boy and Bicycle.

[Eva]

The story I heard was that it was going to be one film with Cameron writing & producing and Scott directing (since he can't write).

That's also what I read.

As for Riddles not being a good writer, he would be the first one to point that out himself (and he has done so in interviews). He's stressed the importance on allying yourself with good writers on several occasions.

[Gash]

The story I heard was that it was going to be one film with Cameron writing & producing and Scott directing (since he can't write). .

..and Cameron can?

Compare their writing credits on IMDb.  Cameron has Terminator, Aliens, Titanic and Avatar.  Ridley has...Boy and Bicycle.

Oh I know the credits, I just think it's debatable that those credits suggest Cameron is a good writer. Ridley sticks to what he knows he excels at, Cameron branches out and dilutes his talent. IMHO.

[PsyKore]

James Cameron recently mentioned it when he was on reddit that he and Scott did start talking about it. They did actually meet face to face. But Fox went with AvP instead.

It's all so disappointing.

[Xenomorphine]

The last direct quote I saw from Cameron had him say he was writing the draft, hadn't heard anythng back from Scott about it (and never uktimately did), then mentioned it to someoneat Fox, who casually mentioned they were doing an AVP concept film: They had been naware Scott/Cameron were planning a fifth movie. He said it took his inspiration away or someting (but that, after seein it, it wasn't the Godzilla-alike toy adver he thought it would be, after all).

From that, my reading of the situation is that Cameron was ultimately the only entity involved who was actively trying to do something about getting it made. My guess is that Fox may well have gone with their concept instead of Anderson's, if they had known about it in advance. Weaver has mentioned having diners with Scott where the ideaof a fifth movie was brought up several times, but nothing about Cameron. So, I'm guessing it was just the two of them whe were making plans.

As for Cameron's writing skills, he's churned some excellent stuff out, script-wise, but he's always been an avid reader of science-fiction and my guess is that the better quality stuff rubbed off on him.