Could Alien V work with Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks?

Started by DiabloGuapo, Aug 26, 2021, 09:01:01 PM

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Could Alien V work with Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks? (Read 11,737 times)

DiabloGuapo

I seem to be one of those rare Alien 3 fans. I find the bleak tone of the film fits with the universe of the Alien franchise and that Ellen Ripley's sacrifice was the best way to end her story. But I still want more "Alien" films, and not just the Ridley Scott prequels. Seeing the concept art of Neil Blomkamp's Alien V, I wonder if it could still work but have it be a midquel instead of being a sequel that erases Alien 3. Instead of Ripley and Hicks, could Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks work as the leads?

At this point, Neil Blomkamp's Alien V seems unlikely and who knows what Disney will do with the franchise in terms of future films. I'm of two minds; I don't want Alien 3 to be retconned out of existence, but I also don't want a good idea like this to go to waste. Would anyone else want to see an Alien V with Amanda and Zula, an Alien V with Ripley and Hicks that replaces Alien 3, or something else altogether?

Stitch

I'd be happy to see an Amanda Ripley movie. Hell, Alien Isolation the movie would be great, as long as it's not an adaptation like the novel or the 'digital series'.
Zula I could take or leave.

BlueMarsalis79

I think Alien Isolation's perfect and I am more than content with that being the ending to Amanda's involvement with the Alien.

Rankles75

I'd be ok with an Alien Isolation film tbh, although with the way the game ended, you'd probably have to either change the ending or do a sequel. Would definitely be in favour of an Alien V with Ripley and Hicks etc that either replaces or serves as an alternative to what came after Aliens, although as I've said elsewhere, you'd realistically have to do it as a graphic novel or audiobook at this point, as too much time has passed and I don't think there's a good way of explaining away the age difference.

I know us "Aliens fanboys" are all supposed to want something along the same lines as that film if they went down the retcon/alternative route, but that would be the worst way to go with it tbh, as it would be impossible to live up to what went before. If they couldn't come up with an interesting story to follow Aliens that wasn't just a rehash, I'd want them to leave well enough alone.

Not overly bothered if Ridley gets to do another prequel or not. Covenant had its moments (Prometheus not so much), but I hated what he did with the Engineers/Space Jockeys and one or two other decisions. At the same time, cutting the story short wouldn't exactly help the series' credibility.

I'll certainly be interested to see what Noah Hawley does with the upcoming TV series, and how it fits in with the established lore. I loved Legion, so I'm quietly confident he will knock this out of the park.


Wweyland

Not a bad idea, but how about an animated version, as the actors might be getting too old for this.

Drukathi

Drukathi

#5
Very bad idea. Ripley ruined the franchise.

Alien saga already stuck with Ellen Ripley's character. AvP and AvPR trying to made a distant ancestor of Ripley. Even half of promo, false-promo, semi-legit rumors for Prometheus have a Ripley's relative or ancestor. The same with Covenant. And moreover - Ripley replace an unique Shaw with faceless Ripley's clone - Deniels.

No. Enough. The ghost of Ripley must leave. It's the Alien saga, not Ripley. And definitely not a Star Wars/Shannara - with the choiced family. Trying to put Ripley's relatives into everything - it's stupid.

We have a game, a comics, and a book for her. Enough. The films must be free from a such nonsense.

Darwinsgirl

Darwinsgirl

#6
I don't think Ripley ruined the franchise any more than Indiana Jones,James Bond,John McClane or the Lone Ranger did theirs. Any series needs a good script and director. We all ready know the leads in those films are competent actors (or were).

I do see your point. I just don't agree with the "ruined" part. It's just my opinion. I can see Sigourney Weaver appearing as a minor character much older than she is the way Harrison Ford did in Blade Runner 2049.

I am also one of the fans that hopes Ridley Scott will be able to make (finish) the sequel to Covenant.

Voodoo Magic

Before the prequels, Ripley severely damaged the franchise in the term of the studio worried they couldn't make an Alien film without her, and a result of that mindset was "Alien Resurrection", which (I know it still has its fans here) turned Alien into a mockery at the time for the general audience. Those weren't the good days.

Quote from: Darwinsgirl on Oct 08, 2021, 01:25:33 PM
I don't think Ripley ruined the franchise any more than Indiana Jones,James Bond,John McClane or the Lone Ranger did theirs. Any series needs a good script and director. We all ready know the leads in those films are competent actors (or were).

I think this doesn't quite equate though. Indiana Jones films are about the character Indiana Jones. James Bond films are about the character James Bond. Alien doesn't have to be about Ripley, nor did it need to be.... just as Terminator didn't need to be about Arnold Schwarzenegger's infiltration T-800 model... yet it became that.

To me, the Alien is the star of Alien films, just like in Predator.

In Predator films, there are no recurring characters, nor does there need to be. With Alien, I am personally ultimately good if there are recurring characters, as long as the films never become reliant on them again.  :)

Drukathi

I think Predator franchise has a clear win in this aspect.

Darwinsgirl

Quote from: Voodoo Magic on Oct 08, 2021, 02:31:27 PM
Before the prequels, Ripley severely damaged the franchise in the term of the studio worried they couldn't make an Alien film without her, and a result of that mindset was "Alien Resurrection", which (I know it still has its fans here) turned Alien into a mockery at the time for the general audience. Those weren't the good days.

Quote from: Darwinsgirl on Oct 08, 2021, 01:25:33 PM
I don't think Ripley ruined the franchise any more than Indiana Jones,James Bond,John McClane or the Lone Ranger did theirs. Any series needs a good script and director. We all ready know the leads in those films are competent actors (or were).

I think this doesn't quite equate though. Indiana Jones films are about the character Indiana Jones. James Bond films are about the character James Bond. Alien doesn't have to be about Ripley, nor did it need to be.... just as Terminator didn't need to be about Arnold Schwarzenegger's infiltration T-800 model... yet it became that.

To me, the Alien is the star of Alien films, just like in Predator.

In Predator films, there are no recurring characters, nor does there need to be. With Alien, I am personally ultimately good if there are recurring characters, as long as the films never become reliant on them again.  :)

It's just my opinion.  :)  As you point out Voodoo the studio made an error thinking Ripley equals a successful ALIEN film. I view her as a heroine in the franchise. I don't think she ruined anything. I welcome new characters and story lines to the franchise. Though I still can see a future for Ripley.

And you were correct Voodoo my examples were about films based on the main characters. I was focused on the "Ripley ruined" part of the previous post. :P

Concerning Resurrection I think the directors choice to go with the dark humor was a big contribution to the "mockery" for some. I think it would have been a much better film if it didn't have that slant.

Voodoo Magic

Quote from: Darwinsgirl on Oct 08, 2021, 03:48:55 PM
It's just my opinion.  :)  As you point out Voodoo the studio made an error thinking Ripley equals a successful ALIEN film. I view her as a heroine in the franchise. I don't think she ruined anything. I welcome new characters and story lines to the franchise. Though I still can see a future for Ripley.

And you were correct Voodoo my examples were about films based on the main characters. I was focused on the "Ripley ruined" part of the previous post. :P

Concerning Resurrection I think the directors choice to go with the dark humor was a big contribution to the "mockery" for some. I think it would have been a much better film if it didn't have that slant.

Yep, just our opinions here, and I 100% respect yours, and everyone's here actually... (except that wacky Voodoo Magic guy - his opinions are a little bit suspect.) ;)  :D

And please don't get me wrong, I looooove Ripley, and love Alien and Aliens, and I'm so grateful for her. Those films are greater because of her (much due to Sigourney Weaver's performance!) But as Arnold was great in The Terminator and Terminator 2, I can see a character and its actor become so iconic and tied to the franchise, that the very character we love can become the franchise's worst enemy... where it becomes seen as - it's not a fill-in-blank movie unless a fill-in-blank actor is in it. Big shoes to fill, even when she's gone. She's no Ripley! That's why I am soooo thankful Arnold didn't return for Predator 2. And thankfully, Ridley's prequels finally helped dispell much of that Ripley audience desire.... yet there's still calls to bring back Ripley and retcon Alien 3.

Regarding Resurrection, yeah, I think you're right, the dark humor, that tone probably contributed to its bad reception. Too me, the replacement of of Alien's traditional realistic characters with comic booky characters also didn't help. Of course, resurrecting your main character starts you off on the wrong foot with audiences to begin with. Audiences are smart enough to realize why the studio is doing this. ($$$) Whatever the case, as an Alien fan, seeing the film as a repeated punchline in late night talk shows and it appearing on critics' Worst Film of the Year lists was no definitely no fun time.

SiL

Ripley didn't ruin anything. Her character is a highlight of every film she's in.

Studios getting cold feet and wanting to continue banking on a particular character with name value is no fault of the character itself. Considering the four films which don't feature her hardly achieved stellar responses, it's almost like whether Ripley is or isn't in a story is completely inconsequential to it being good or not.

Terrible creative direction "ruined" the franchise, not Ripley.

Voodoo Magic

Quote from: SiL on Oct 08, 2021, 09:09:32 PM
Ripley didn't ruin anything. Her character is a highlight of every film she's in.

To be fair, one can easily argue the performance of Sigourney Weaver was the highlight of every film she's in, not the character Ripley, nor words on the page, especially in Alien 79 and Resurrection. But it's synonymous at this point. With a iconic role performance like this, Sigourney is Ripley and Ripley is Sigourney. To replace her in the role of Ripley is like replacing Bruce Willis as John McClane. Not impossible, but so damn hard not to be perceived as worse or a pale imitation in comparison.

But yeah, I wouldn't go as far to say she "ruined" anything. She just became an expectation with any new Alien movie.

QuoteTerrible creative direction "ruined" the franchise, not Ripley.

Well, the studio believing Alien needs Ripley hamstrung that creativity in the first place.
The bigger picture is audience polling and everything that led to the studio still believing Sigourney as Ripley is necessary for a successful Alien film severely handicapped the creative options in Alien 4. Painted in a corner with a dead character.

I personally would have loved if Ripley stopped with Aliens. Her arc was wonderfully complete at that point. It would have better served the franchise if they moved to another part of the universe at that point in my humble opinion... on Fury with that supporting cast alone without Ripley would have been great to me!

SiL

SiL

#13
An actor's performance is the character in a movie. You can't really separate the two out. Any two actors reading the same lines off a page will give two different performances and create two different characters, however similar.

Whedon's first idea was to clone Newt and turn her into Buffy the Alien Slayer so no, I do not agree that bringing Ripley back was the foundation of Resurrection's problems :laugh:

EDIT

I got it a bit backwards. Fox originally asked him to write the Newt clone due to Buffy, then switched to Ripley after the outline stage. But still, the creative direction was f**ked from the outset.

See also, every Alien 3 script being pretty lame with or without Ripley.

Voodoo Magic

Quote from: SiL on Oct 08, 2021, 10:35:59 PM
Whedon's first idea was to clone Newt and turn her into Buffy the Alien Slayer so no, I do not agree that bringing Ripley back was the foundation of Resurrection's problems :laugh:

EDIT

I got it a bit backwards. Fox originally asked him to write the Newt clone due to Buffy, then switched to Ripley after the outline stage. But still, the creative direction was f**ked from the outset.

See also, every Alien 3 script being pretty lame with or without Ripley.

Certainly bad writing can be greenlit at anytime. But writing can be scrapped too and the production doesn't move forward, and next we read in Variety that common article... "____ film gets a new writer!" And a new writer then takes a whack at it. We're familiar with that occuring in these franchises already. So who knows what could have happened.

But once you secure Sigourney Weaver's return because you feel you need her, you're boxed into a dumb idea. Painted into a corner. There's no way around it. That bad idea has to be your launching point... resurrecting the dead in someway.

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