Moved on? Disney buys fox and Alien 5 starts to come out of the woodwork alittle. I don't blame him, it's what I'd do. The likelihood of it being made though, I think, is on the low side. It just seems too fan-ficky.
Disregarding other films in order to bring back older actors, I think this is a bad idea. Ripley is dead. Alien 3 wasn't some made for tv movie. It was a legitimate studio film that finalized her story. In the spirit of continuity, it counts. Hicks is dead, as are bishop and newt. These were good characters, but they're gone. To bring them back feels like some attempt at making Aliens 1.5 I've said it before, I'm old enough to remember Ripley dying in Alien 3 and that being the end of her story. The idea of giving original human Ripley the deja-vu treatment is just weird. More importantly, in this universe, how in the world would Ripley and Hicks still be alive at that age? Either the Aliens would've long since taken over, Wey-Yu has them killed, or I suppose they go into hiding for how many years? Given the companies resources, survival for any decent length of time would be unlikely.
As for the Aliens 86 style, when we talk about Ridley broadening any horizons, it was Cameron who took a creature and built a universe around it. The thing we must remember, is that those Marines, dropships, planet colonization, queens, hives, all that stuff now exists within the universe. It existed, even in Alien 3. In order to proceed forward from Aliens, you have to take this stuff into account. Cameron made his movie and left us where he left us. While I'd rather receive a film in the spirit of Alien Isolation, Aliens and humans can only Ping-Pong off each other so long, before one begins to dominate the other. This is why I believe Gibson was the most aware of the logical direction this series was headed after Aliens.
I don't think Neil is ready to head a film of this (or that) magnitude. District 9 and Elysium had some interesting ideas, but for something of this scale and priority, it should be given to a more experienced and accomplished director, such as Cameron.