Alien 5 Delayed "Pending" Alien: Paradise Lost

[The Alien Predator]

good! neil is a mediocre director and also, I didn't like them ignoring A3.

I wish they had the balls to give it to Fincher, with FULL artistic control.

Or Nolan.

Or Paul Thomas anderson.

Or Soderbergh.

Or Mann.

Or Ang Lee.

Or Gunn.

Or...

Guillermo del Toro!   

Seriously, the guy has some really good practical effects works such as in Hellboy and in the recent TV show, The Strain. I think he can do a good Alien film.

[whiterabbit]

Or Ang Lee.

There is absolutely no way he'd make a good Alien movie.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

Alot of what I wrote above was kinda stream of consciousness...
Of course, I agree... there must have been some Prep contracts and script payments and etc. But the details of that is confusing, no? I mean, based on what he wrote on twitter, anyway.

After reading someone else's replies, to someone else, I think something else. Given the success of THE MARTIAN, and the fact that Ridley Scott's name produced TWO successful ALIEN films already, AAAAND considering that BLOMKAMP's last film did not perform too well, FOX/SCOTT (and maybe even Sigourney Weaver) may not want to move forward without 100% of Ridley Scott's attention. I think that would be a good idea. If FOX is basically saying to BLOMKAMP, "Look, you need to understand that the ALIEN franchise is now entirely RIDLEY SCOTT'S show, and we want him involved as much as possible, in your ALIEN 5 team, so you have to back off until he is ready and able to focus on this." Maybe that's an affront to BLOMKAMP'S ego, and he thinks, "Well... I could be doing something else! What kinda time frame are we talking about?" To which FOX would logically think "Again, RIDLEY SCOTT is more reliable when it concerns ALIEN. Let's not push this issue with him."
So the overall idea being, that they want RIDLEY SCOTT to produce this, similar the way Spielberg produced Gremlins, The Goonies, and Poltergeist... Where those films and now ALIEN 5 are really shaped and guided by the producer. Something like that makes sense to me and I think, if this is the case, its a smart move. For all the woes, which fan-reactions to PROMETHEUS extracted, no one could deny that it felt as grand and elaborate as the first 3 films... When it comes to creating other worlds, SCOTT is key.

The details are rather vague, but perhaps intentionally so? It's certainly causing a lot of confusion, some are blaming Scott, some are blaming Fox while some people are assuming the film is permanently canned etc. At the very least it's definitely generating a lot of debate about the film.

Getting Scott to produce was certainly a smart move from Fox. No doubt about that. It's actually a very similar strategy to how Sony marketed District 9 whereby they splashed Peter Jackson's name all over the marketing even though he was the producer, not director. The film even started off with the words "Peter Jackson Presents". In fact, Jackson's name was so ubiquitous that people leaving the cinema were saying things like "Wow! Peter Jackson has done it again!"

Now, I don't think Blomkamp really minded that. He doesn't really come across as someone with ego issues. Jackson is also pretty laid-back and knew when to back off and allow Blomkamp to do his own thing.

Scott is a bit different though, at least in his capacity as a director. He likes to micromanage everything, he knows exactly what he wants and he always gets what he wants. He once joked that he preferred working with British crews as they would never question his ideas or motives. They would simply say "yes guv'nor" and get him what he wanted. But this could become an issue if he gets too actively involved with Blomkamp's film especially if it becomes a producer driven film. You'd effectively end up with a "two captains, one ship" situation. Blomkamp being the junior and less experienced of the two would be under studio pressure to yield to Scott's suggestions, ideas and vision. Not an enviable position for an auteur to find himself in.

[Whiskeybrewer]

Alot of what I wrote above was kinda stream of consciousness...
Of course, I agree... there must have been some Prep contracts and script payments and etc. But the details of that is confusing, no? I mean, based on what he wrote on twitter, anyway.

After reading someone else's replies, to someone else, I think something else. Given the success of THE MARTIAN, and the fact that Ridley Scott's name produced TWO successful ALIEN films already, AAAAND considering that BLOMKAMP's last film did not perform too well, FOX/SCOTT (and maybe even Sigourney Weaver) may not want to move forward without 100% of Ridley Scott's attention. I think that would be a good idea. If FOX is basically saying to BLOMKAMP, "Look, you need to understand that the ALIEN franchise is now entirely RIDLEY SCOTT'S show, and we want him involved as much as possible, in your ALIEN 5 team, so you have to back off until he is ready and able to focus on this." Maybe that's an affront to BLOMKAMP'S ego, and he thinks, "Well... I could be doing something else! What kinda time frame are we talking about?" To which FOX would logically think "Again, RIDLEY SCOTT is more reliable when it concerns ALIEN. Let's not push this issue with him."
So the overall idea being, that they want RIDLEY SCOTT to produce this, similar the way Spielberg produced Gremlins, The Goonies, and Poltergeist... Where those films and now ALIEN 5 are really shaped and guided by the producer. Something like that makes sense to me and I think, if this is the case, its a smart move. For all the woes, which fan-reactions to PROMETHEUS extracted, no one could deny that it felt as grand and elaborate as the first 3 films... When it comes to creating other worlds, SCOTT is key.

The details are rather vague, but perhaps intentionally so? It's certainly causing a lot of confusion, some are blaming Scott, some are blaming Fox while some people are assuming the film is permanently canned etc. At the very least it's definitely generating a lot of debate about the film.

Getting Scott to produce was certainly a smart move from Fox. No doubt about that. It's actually a very similar strategy to how Sony marketed District 9 whereby they splashed Peter Jackson's name all over the marketing even though he was the producer, not director. The film even started off with the words "Peter Jackson Presents". In fact, Jackson's name was so ubiquitous that people leaving the cinema were saying things like "Wow! Peter Jackson has done it again!"

Now, I don't think Blomkamp really minded that. He doesn't really come across as someone with ego issues. Jackson is also pretty laid-back and knew when to back off and allow Blomkamp to do his own thing.

Scott is a bit different though, at least in his capacity as a director. He likes to micromanage everything, he knows exactly what he wants and he always gets what he wants. He once joked that he preferred working with British crews as they would never question his ideas or motives. They would simply say "yes guv'nor" and get him what he wanted. But this could become an issue if he gets too actively involved with Blomkamp's film especially if it becomes a producer driven film. You'd effectively end up with a "two captains, one ship" situation. Blomkamp being the junior and less experienced of the two would be under studio pressure to yield to Scott's suggestions, ideas and vision. Not an enviable position for an auteur to find himself in.

If it did become a two captains, one ship thing, we could have the production on Alien 3 all over again with Giler and Hill getting in and going behind Fincher's back and then changing everything every five minutes

[TheBATMAN]

What scares me is that Ridley had NO idea what he wanted to do until Prometheus failed and he saw the excitement surrounding Blomkamp's Alien concept. Then, he promised to stay away from the whole "Alien" idea! (It was reported here as well, AM I the only one??) Then, he personally torpedoed Neil's movie via his pull with Fox's executives to make another Ridley cash grab $$$$ runaway script (Thanks to Martian..his one hit in many years he took sole credit for).

Whoooooole lotta assumptions going on here.

Indeed, especially considering the Prometheus 2 script was completed before Blomkamp's movie was even announced.

[Perfect-Organism]

Moreover, Ridley Scott said he likes Blomkamp's script.  Also, he has agreed to produce Blomkamp's film.  And Blomkamp was able to modify his script to accommodate minor changes required to make it work with Scott's film.

Truth is nobody knows the status of the film other than what is being cryptically posted by Blomkamp et al.

It does make sense that the film would be delayed to not collide with the A:PL, but it could just as easily be derailed permanently.  There's no way of knowing right now.

I honestly hope Blomkamp's film gets made though.  I think he is doing what needs to be done with the film franchise though the bar is set really high and the possibility of failure is really great.

[Xenomorphine]

It's not getting derailed permanently. I'm utterly mystified why people have suddenly begun to speculate that.

If Fox, for whatever reason, didn't want it and didn't have faith in it to make profit, they would never have green-lit the project. They have and it's now clearly at the stage where actual props have gone past the concept phase and into actual production.

It's happening and the only question is when.

[RakaiThwei]

It's happening and the only question is when.

I'd wager 2018 or 2019.

[Perfect-Organism]

It's not getting derailed permanently. I'm utterly mystified why people have suddenly begun to speculate that.

If Fox, for whatever reason, didn't want it and didn't have faith in it to make profit, they would never have green-lit the project. They have and it's now clearly at the stage where actual props have gone past the concept phase and into actual production.

It's happening and the only question is when.

You're right.  It's all speculation.  I'm with you on this subject.  It's happening!  ..somewhat later..

[Corporal Hicks]

It's just hyperbole. The majority of reports I have seen all report its been cancelled and etc, rather than what is actually said.

[HuDaFuK]

It's not getting derailed permanently. I'm utterly mystified why people have suddenly begun to speculate that.

While I completely agree, there's also a chance the film could slip into development hell. It wouldn't be the first time a new sequel to a series has languished in limbo for years. Look at Beverly Hills Cop 4.

[whiterabbit]

Maybe Scott is being very literal with the title of his next movie. There will never be an Alien 5 as long as he lives! Alien: Paradise Lost would be right. 

[The Alien Predator]

Maybe Scott is being very literal with the title of his next movie. There will never be an Alien 5 as long as he lives! Alien: Paradise Lost would be right. 

He'll make sure that "Paradise" is "Lost" to some people. 

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

If it did become a two captains, one ship thing, we could have the production on Alien 3 all over again with Giler and Hill getting in and going behind Fincher's back and then changing everything every five minutes

Exactly, it could become an Alien 3 production hell redux. So I wonder if Blomkamp is trying to fast-track the film with the intention of shooting it while Scott still has his hands full with Paradise Lost in order to pre-empt this? This could prove equally disastrous if he were to enter production with a half-baked script.

This is all just wild speculation, mind you.

It's not getting derailed permanently. I'm utterly mystified why people have suddenly begun to speculate that.

"On Hold" has kind of become Hollywood speak for development hell or a nice way of saying it's canceled. While it's not really true (plenty of films still get made after being put on hold for years) many people just automatically assume it's the case.

They have and it's now clearly at the stage where actual props have gone past the concept phase and into actual production.

There's no indication that any props have been built unless WETA Workshop or ADI are keeping an extremely tight lid on things. That pulse rifle was probably from Blomkamp's personal collection, something he was just tinkering with. You wouldn't be mass producing props anyway unless there is already a date set for filming. And then you'd typically start building the sets and props around three months (sometimes longer depending on the project) out.

Though it's always possible some prototypes have been built even though the first draft of the script has only recently been handed-in. But generally there's no use building stuff that might get dropped later on after re-writes plus we don't even know if a budget has been allocated yet. At the end of the day there simply is not enough information regarding this film that has been made public yet. All we really have are some cryptic tweets and pictures from Blomkamp who's seemingly engaged with some kind of political maneuvering.

[windebieste]

This could prove equally disastrous if he were to enter production with a half-baked script.

Retcon ALIEN 3 and bring back Ripley and Hicks.  There's your half-baked script right there.  That has to change first.

If Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn are going to be in this movie, it's got to happen fast.  They aren't getting any younger.  In which case, if the movie is fast tracked, then it highly risks raising all the issues that a Project rushed through development brings with it.   

If the movie takes its time, then Ripley and Hicks are going to be Senior Citizens in space with flamethrowers and pulse rifles.  In which case Blomkamp's movie will just be embarrassing.

The real problem here is Fox has missed the boat.  Blomkamp's proposal would have been great, back in 1988.  Unfortunately, that ship sailed over a quarter of a Century ago.  This desperate attempt on Blomkamp's part to make up for lost ground is folly.  Fox and Scott have become aware of that.

Honestly, I don't think that most really fans care about who is holding the pulse rifles and smartguns.  Most fans want to see more Colonial Marine action in this series.  It doesn't have to be Ripley and Hicks all the time, y'know.  It could easily be a fresh cast.  Blomkamp's initial proposal is so hung up on nostalgia it forgets how much more this series has to offer and risks strangulating it to death with love for what's preceded. 

There's no reason to retcon anything.  Who doesn't want another movie featuring the USCM confronting Xenos once again?  I'm all for it.  it could easily parallel the events of 'ALIEN 3' and everyone would be happy.  Wow!  What a radical idea.

But this fan service bullshit that Blomkamp is attempting to strap us down with is no different than the ludicrous nonsense of Hicks returning in 'A:CM'; and frankly, I'd be happy to see it die.   

-Windebieste.