New Alien Movie Officially A Go From Neill Blomkamp!
February 19, 2015 by brennon
We heard rumblings on the internet about the coming of a new Alien movie a few months ago now but it seems like those rumours were well founded. Fox have teamed up with Neill Blomkamp who will be bringing Alien back to the screen after Prometheus 2 which will still be helmed by Ridley Scott...
The new film is looking to be a return to form for the likes of Sigourney Weaver as she takes up the mantle of an older Ripley hopefully. It looks like Hicks is back too, utterly battered and bruised but still looking like a proper bad ass. It's unknown if any of this concept art (see more below) is going to be making it into the final film but it does look promising.
Time will tell if this translates well onto screen but I think that people are always ready for a new Alien film and Prometheus 2 should also be an interesting shout taking the tale in another direction. What we're interested in however is how this changes the look of the tabletop world and you could see a lot more board games and indeed miniature games coming out following this film.
Prodos Games currently hold the license to do a lot with the Alien and Predator worlds and since their game is tied into the old movies it would be good to see them allowed expansion content later down the line to continue support through these films.
I could really see Modiphius doing something awesome with a role-playing game based on Alien too.
What do you think?
"What we’re interested in however is how this changes the look of the tabletop world and you could see a lot more board games and indeed miniature games coming out following this film"
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"It looks like Hicks is back too, utterly battered and bruised but still looking like a proper bad ass"
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Very exciting news.
Right now, I’m more excited by Prometheus 2 than I am by the prospect of another outing for the xenomorphs. Although opinions were very mixed, I did like the way that Prometheus expanded on the Alien universe, rather being another “let’s think of a new place to throw in a xenomorph and then watch everyone die” movie.
If Ripley and Hicks are back, it does beg some interesting questions about the continuity of the movies. I remain to be convinced.
I agree, I have watched Prometheus about 4 times now and for me there is just something about that film I find very…. compelling. I think it has a lot to do with the music and atmosphere, and the general theme of “meeting our makers”.
I also am not that excited by the new alien film, but only because of the sketchy performance since Aliens (and the dodgy AvP movie franchise too).
Who knows, maybe this time they will nail it?
I’m afraid I went the other way. I had difficulty with Prometheus mostly because of the really odd and inconsistent behaviour (and comensurately patchy characterisation) of the characters (spoiler warning for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet):-
The scientist (Logan Marshall-Green as Holloway) who makes the greatest discovery in the history of human scientific endeavour… then whines about it for no real reason.
Michael Fassbender (the synth… er, ‘artifical person’ David) exposing Holloway to the black gunk, one assumes as some sort of experiment on behalf of Guy Pearce (Weyland), but without any means of containing any potential infestation or other unforseen contingency effectively. He risks killing the entire crew, not to mention risking his own death or at least isolation, for no obvious benefit.
The incredibly foolish disregard for saferty protocol when removing helmets in an unknown alien environment where a breathable atmosphere just suddenly pops into existence out of nowhere. Noomi Rapace’s character (Shaw) shows justifiable trepidation but is simply ignored, and then goes along with exposing the crew to an alien atmosphere without even checking for potential trace toxins, biological contaminents or other pathogenic substances, and then there is not even any quarantine procedure implemented when they return to the ship.
The geologist and cartographic specialist (Sean Harris as Fifield) who brought along and runs the nifty little mapping drones that mapped the alien structure… is the same guy who somehow gets lost in it. Even though one assumes he would have remote access to the drones and their navigational data. The captain of the ship (a sadly under used Idris Elba playing Janek) even has a holographic map of the tunnels complete with some kind of unexplained homing beacon/GPS lock on the exact positions of the lost crew members, but doesn’t even attempt to guide them back to the ship, instead chosing to ignore the members of his crew who are in peril in order to have sex with Vickers (played by Charlize Theron) as part of some weird kind of bet about how she doesn’t unwind enough.
The exobiologist (Rafe Spall playing Millburn) who is terrified of long dead alien corpses but entirely unconcerned about approaching a clearly potentially dangerous mutant alien snake thing.
The infamous scene where Vickers sees the relatively long but narrow Engineer ship falling towards her, and so runs along its length and is crushed rarther than running to either side and surviving. Shaw also makes the same error and is only saved by happenstance.
The rather nasty surgical scene where the proto facehugger/alien squid thing is extracted from Shaw by the auto-surgical suite (that isn’t calibrated for a woman’s physiology as a clue that Weyland is actually on board and it is designed for him, but that leaves the question of why would Vickers have a surgical system in her own lifepod that couldn’t treat her if her illness or injuries effected her as a woman in any specific way) leaves her with a serious abdominal injury that sometimes makes it extremely painful for her to walk or get into a space suit, but at other times doesn’t trouble her at all when she runs (which might be explained by adrenaline in that situation I suppose) or when she abseils down the Engineer structure at the end of the movie with David’s severed head after the threat has passed (which can’t).
And then there is the magically restored oxygen supply of Shaw’s space suit – it is running on empty so that she is on the verge of suffocating when she reaches Vickers’ life pod, but mere moments later when she flees again (after the Engineer tries to kill her and is attacked by the now grown tentacle monster baby) she has no difficulty making it all the way back to the Engineer structure.
They are admittedly all little things, but taken together they ruin any suspension of disbelief, at least for me.
Good post. It summarizes why I think Prometheus is, IMHO, a very good looking shit movie. So very pretty, so extremely dumb.
I don’t think the movie was terrible or anything, just that it had certain elements of its plot, characterisation and world building that consistently annoyed me and undermined my enjoyment. Each person’s judgement and aesthetic is their own. I would not presume to claim that my taste and experiences are or should be universal.
Bad post. It just demonstrates how, with a bit of thought and a touch of Google, it’s possible to pick apart any movie one and find faults in its script, its continuity or the way it has been edited. None of this is a valid reason to dislike a movie IMHO. If you want to say how you didn’t like the story, the themes, the characterisation, the acting, the cinematography, the editing, direction, costume design, etc etc then go for it.
So… problems with the internal logic of the fictional world and the characterisation of the actual personalities in a movie are not valid reasons to feel that you didn’t enjoy it as much as you might have? Inconsistencies in the fictional universe and in the behaviour of the characters present in it effects the story, the themes and characterisation, and all of it is an issue with the writing and direction of the piece. If you look carefully you will see that I have already answered the kind of questions you put forward at the end of tyour post
For me, the heart of any tale lies in the characters depicted, and if they do not ring true then the creators have a serious problem. For me, the characters in Prometheus just weren’t very believable, and that is no reflection on the actors in question, but rather a criticism of the underlying story telling decisions made. Naturally, your mileage may vary. I am not saying that my opinion is the only valid one or that it is wrong to enjoy or appreciate the movie – I am simply expressing why the movie didn’t work for me as an individual, and why it may not have worked for other people like me.
As for the Googling – I am just trying to make sure that I get the character and actor names right so people know who I am talking about. It is simply a matter of clear communication.
@vetruviangeek You are of course entitled to to you own views of Prometheus. I agree with many (though not all) of the points you made – I never said Prometheus was a perfect film.
My comment was actually aimed at the chap who said your post summarised why Prometheus is a “shit” movie rather than you. My fault if that didn’t come across.
Your list of flaws may well be a perfect summary of why you didn’t enjoy the film, which is of course always a valid response to any film. I only mentioned Googling because I have seen almost identical lists of faults before. You could say that’s evidence that Prometheus is a film with a lot of plot wholes and inconsistencies or it could be that everyone is copying and pasting the same lists. Who knows?
For me, a film is based more on the ideas it contains, the way it is shot, the design work, the acting. I have a very high tolerance for plot wholes and inconsistencies. Some very great stories will just fall apart if you take a moment to pick a whole in the threads of the story.
Prometheus is a terrible movie, objectively, on multiple levels. It’s an embarrassment. If you like a movie, that’s fine: that doesn’t mean it’s good.
At best Prometheus is best viewed as 100 isolated scenes with no continuity between each other – then it is actually a great experience.
A few plot holes and logic issues are fine – but when the entire movie is interwoven with these errors, it becomes a massive problem.
Bad post? the forums own opinion moderator is at it again
Oh sod off @hatamoto . Everyone is entitled to an opinion except me in your world 😛
no its how others opinions are viewed from standing on your world thats the problem imo, I rarely try to explain to people how and why their opinions are somehow not legit. Go on act like you dont know what im talking about.
@hatamoto I was under the impression that the purpose of the comments section was for people to post opinions. It seems fine for people to also post opinions of what other people have posted. An opinion of an opinion is still an opinion is it not?
So vetruviangeek posts an opinion and panzerkanzler posts an opinion of vetruviangeeks opinion. He calls it a “good post” and says why. That’s fine by your book I assume because you don’t pick him up on it.
Now I happen to disagree with panzerkanzler and so post my opinion as to why. I start the post “bad post” to mirror his wording. That’s all. For that, yet again. I get insulted by @hatamoto who gets to call me whatever the fuck he likes while telling me I am the one at fault. I don’t know why you’ve taken a personal dislike to me but instead of engaging in a discussion your comment to me amounts simply to stfu. I @hatamoto disagree with you so shut the fuck up. We could have had an enjoyable debate about the extent to which plot holes do actually threaten the enjoyment of a film, but instead I get told to shut the fuck up.
You see the nature of debate is that two (or more) people enter which their own opinion and each, by turn, tries to convince the other that their opinion is the most valid and thus agreement and understanding is reached. I’ve set out my opinion and argued my case when presented with a contrary opinion. Your contribution to the discussion @hatamoto amounts to, shut the fuck up.
Yes, I do know exactly what you’re talking about 🙂
Actually @hatamoto you’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t post anything else.
@vetruviangeek I agree with you 100% that a lot of the movie doesn’t make much sense when examined closely, but I find that to be the case with about 99% of movies I see.
What I enjoyed about Prometheus was the visual flair, the acting and the soundtrack, which in my mind more than made up for the dodgy plot holes.
yes if you actually (think) when most films are on they are all shit we are only ment to look at all the expensive special effects not think of the story and the like. look at aliens all very professional entering hardly’s hope then when they enter the processor lets all go in in a big tight group so they can’t cover each other?
@vetruviangeek I agree with every word in your post. It’s such a pity because there’s a really fine looking film with an interesting story but, just… what you said.
At least in the universe timeline by the time we get to Alien there is a quarantine procedure to be overridden by the villainous Ash.
Say a nice thing Brian – Really great looking earth spaceship.
None of that stuff really bothered me. I never have much sympathy for criticism along the lines of, “But why would they do this when they should obviously do that?” People in stressful or unfamiliar situations will often act in all sorts of crazy and irrational ways, which might not be how a movie viewer under no stress and with a bird’s eye view of the action would act. And many people are just flat-out weird and do strange things for no apparent reason, or because of how they (sometimes subconsciously) feel about other people or their past experiences. I think the most valid complaint is about Shaw’s quick recovery from her “abortion,” but she does inject herself with (presumably) some kind of high-tech painkiller/adrenaline shot that apparently lets her run around after that surgery. And I assumed she got more oxygen tanks from the lifepod.
Great list of head bashingly ridiculous moments.
Big thing for me though, that never gets mentioned, is the size of the engineers. In Alien, the Space Jockey is HUGE. Scott used his kids as stand ins for the main cast to highlight this. In Prometheus they were what, 8′ tall?
Fassbender held that movie together. Everyone else was utter rubbish. Well. Their characters were, and so was the script.
There was an original script for Alien 3 that saw an older Newt (now in the mental asylum) and a washed-out Hicks (working as a security guard) trying to stop a nutcase Industrialist from bringing the Alien to Earth. There was a Dark Horse comic and also novel featuring this story.
Sadly, the Fox execs got cold feet because the story didn’t feature Sigourney Weaver, and it was scrapped and replaced with what became the David Fincher film.
I have no idea if this will be anything similar to that, but its worth noting that the script writers and producers original intent was to make something with both Newt and Hicks in it.
I think the Xenomorph design has sadly been way too overused in the past 30 years, and by that I mean copied by other things, so it doesn’t feel as special as it did – and also I felt HR Giger had a lot more to offer than just the xenomorph and face hugger, so from that perspective I liked that Prometheus actually tried to offer some new and fresh Giger alien creatures. I felt the script could of been tighter and there were some parts I found kind of frustrating but a sequel could definitely fix some of that at least – I hope they invent more weirder creatures for it too…
All that said, it would be good to see another Alien film it is done well, but I only ever liked the very first one myself, the sequels weren’t my thing at all.
it looks like it could be based on the Dark Horse Comic Aliens: Book One (july 1988) and more recently rebranded as Aliens: Outbreak. that was a great story
Neill Blomkamp actually doing an Alien movie? Hell yeah!
I want to believe that this could be good, but bitter experience with the Alien franchise over recent years has taught me caution if nothing else. At least Neill Blomkamp is an encouraging chocie of director. Elysium didn’t do much for me, but District 9 was great, so we know he has the potential in theory to do an Alien film justice.
I will definitely keep an eye on this, l but right now I am still sceptical. Hopefully Mr Blomkamp will make a believer of me yet.
Elysium was well shot, well cast, and reasonably well scripted. The problem was that it was a boring and predictable plot. 30 mins in to the movie you knew where it was going but I did enjoy Matt and Sharlto’s opposing character roles.
I have a usual gripe: ditch the old actors already! Sigourney Weaver is an icon, we all get it, but, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, she’s simply too old for an action film.
… Though I must admit, I’d love to see Michael Biehn playing Hicks again. 🙂
Weaver is 65, Biehn is 58. There’s not much difference between them.
ZOMG
Bad news imo. District 9 was a lucky die roll, as Elysium was a pile of degenerate BS. Neill Blomkamp is no genius.
That being said, not seen Chappie or whatnot. But I think people should be VERY dubious rather than ecstatic.
Alien 3 gets a lot of hate, but recently it’s being re-seen in a different light. Given the difficulties in its production the heart of the (directors cut) movie might arguably be superior to the first two movies. Bringing back Hicks etc takes away from the movie’s beauty (yes Hicks hicked ass, but so did Drake …). Watch Alien 3 without the “I want to watch a bug hunt” attitude, and instead take it as how it was intended before the studio ass****** it: Ripley’s journey into hell pitted against the devil.
“Degenerate”!? Why is Elysium “degenerate”?
Because its theme is irrational and incoherent, and fundamentally flawed. It’s “violently stupid” as opposed to the cheesy silliness/stupidity of an innocent Michael Bay movie.
I thought elysium was pretty good, but maybe im just too stupid to see whats so bad about it
If I could have nominated directors for a stab at another Alien movie then i’d have certainly put Blomkamp in my top 3. Very excited for this. For me, his main task is to return the power and terror to the Alien itself. This is something subsequently ruined follow Alien 3 and utterly decimated by Scott in Prometheus. Once you begin to explain the origins of something terrifying, it loses a great deal of that terror. The Alien never needed a back story. It was always best left to the viewers imagination.
If this is a retelling or a “replacement” movie for Alien 3 and 4, it would be a great oppurtunity to unstain the Aliens universe.
To do that though it would need to retcon both AvP movies, which left a far greater, far stinkier, stain on both franchises than Alien 3 did.
I am cautions about this.
I should add that Alien is one of my favourite films of all time, but the xenomorph is the least interesting thing about it. Over thirty years later and people are still wanting to make movies based on the least interesting thing in the original film 😛
There just isn’t much movie mileage in ‘Jones the Cat’ though.
Sounds like your opinion more than anything else. The xenomorph is just an ingredient among many in the original of course but far from the least interesting imo.
Of course its my opinion, I typed it. Pretty much everything I type on BoW is my opinion 🙂
“Over thirty years later and people are still wanting to make movies based on the least interesting thing in the original film”
made it sound like you imagined it was common known fact, sorry
Oh nice, can we make a sequel to aliens and pretend 3 and 4 never happened?
3 & 4 are ok if you just think they are stand alone films I think.
It should be noted that there actually was an Aliens RPG. It was published by Leading Edge and based on their skirmish miniatures game system. It was a difficult system to master but a nice looking book. The same can be said for their Terminator game.
The ‘ALIENS’ miniature sets from Leading Edge still occasionally crop up on Ebay. They go for about £50+ though. I used to have a couple of them when I were younger. I often hover over the ‘buy it now’ button for them but just cant bring myself to buy at the prices they go for!
this is great news! who is directing it?
hopefully they will be good and promethium II will be half logical?
This is interesting news. I’m curious how this would fit into the now-established chronology of the Aliens films (particularly 3 and 4). In Alien Resurrection Ripley is a clone of the one that died in Alien 3. What if that Ripley wasn’t the real one either?
It’s sort of hokey, but if all the stuff that happened to the Ripleys in 3 and 4 weren’t the ‘real’ one you could still have Hicks and Ripley (and Newt) in a new movie. It wouldn’t discount or invalidate either film. In fact you could almost completely ignore them with a few lines of dialogue about how much Ripley distrusts WYC because of the stuff they pulled with her DNA on that prison planet.
I’d probably watch the movie regardless, hoping it to be good, expecting it not to be.
Sweet more movies! This is a geek’s dream.
They could just errata 3 and 4 making the story continue from the second. As for all the comments about how poorly the logic or actions of the Prometheus movie. I see it more as a theme issue. As in horror just can’t seem to shake its old patterns, such as every team has to have a rebellious member that will turn on the team. Oh how about the person that gets bit, sprayed or any contact with something and chooses to cover it up and forget. Nothing happened to me, then he becomes a monster!
My view is that Prometheus was just falling into the same old horror mode that we have come to see so often and that is smart people that should follow protocol for the situations they face become extremely dumb once they speak. Even androids seem to become victim to this phenomena.
A very interesting discussion.
I will just drop in my 2 pence… I just cannot wait to see the movie 🙂
I tried to watch prometheus again yesterday after seeing pepple talk about it. For me my first impression was correct an entirely forgettable movie,typical of recent hollywood releases very pretty but awful in plot,script and character. It has lots of issues but i think the biggest one is at no point in the movie did i care what happened. After all this time the names hudson hicks drake spunkmeyer apone deitrich frost ferro etc are burnt into my brain. I watched prometheus yesterday i cant remember a single name. I think if you watch that entire film on mute it wouldn’t make much difference.
would i like a new alien movie.? I am torn i love alien and aliens and get excited when they make new games movies etc based on the ip but 95% of the time it ends in disappointment. I dont know where you could go with it you cant recapture the fear from the first one easily everyone knows the aliens now, to remake aliens without turning into a cheesy action film would be equally hard.