Details on the fifth ALIEN film that James Cameron, Ridley Scott and Joss Whedon were planning

After Alien: Resurrection was released, Fox was looking to make a fifth Alien movie and that project began the development process Joss Whedon set to write. Whedon had worked on the screenplay for Alien: Resurrectionbut this sequel would be 100% his.

Tom Rothman, Fox’s president of production at the time, told Entertainment Weekly (via: Winona-Ryder). “Joss Whedon will write it and we expect to have Sigourney and Winona if they are ready.”

Whedon spoke about that project, saying that Ressurection set the stage for what would happen in the fifth film. He said (via Alienmovies): “There’s a great story to tell in another sequel. The fourth film is really the prologue to a film set on Earth. Imagine all the things that can happen. If I write this movie, and my writing credits are on it, then it will be on Earth… And it will be very different from the last one.”

The director went on to explain what the studio was thinking and what they were trying to do, saying, “The studio talked about Alien Resurrection as sort of a placeholder. They said, “We want to do Earth or the big alien planet, but we’re not convinced this franchise has legs yet.” So we want to do a smaller story.’ I don’t think you can do that with Alien 5. I think the time of people running in a tin can is over. We need to work on a broader picture otherwise it becomes an episode and not a new film. The way Cameron exploded from the first to the second, you have to do it again, and that means going somewhere new… With Alien Resurrection, I used the first two films as templates, but with this one I can promise you something new, something completely different from what we’ve seen before.”

This version of Alien 5which would have been titled Alien: Revelationit ended up not happening after Whedon got frustrated Alien: Resurrection It was released. Fox put the film on hold and Whedon lost interest. He explained: “I’ll tell you there was a time when I would have been interested, but I’m no longer interested in creating someone else’s franchise. Any film I make will be created by me.” Whedon then worked for Marvel and DC with their franchise films.

Not long after, Cinescape magazine reported that the story of Alien 5 would focus on Ripley 8 leaving for the Alien homeworld to confront the Xenomorphs. But nothing ever came of it. When Sigourney Weaver was asked about it in 1999, she told Sci-Fi Wire: “I’ve always wanted to do one [an Alien movie] where we return to the planet where the alien originally came from. I don’t know if there are plans to do another one. It wouldn’t surprise me if, in the next twenty years, I saw a white-haired Ripley limping around out there. But I didn’t hear anything.”

It was around 2002-2003 that word spread that James Cameron and Ridley Scott were looking to team up on an Alien 5 film project, which would have been awesome! Scott was once asked about his potential involvement in this, and at the time he said, “You know, I thought it would be nice. I would do it. It really depends entirely on the interpretation of the material. It’s all about the material. I was asked about Alien 5 and I said of course. We started a script meeting. I mean, I started it, so I might as well close the door if this actually has to be the last one. He added: “I will decide in the next 5 weeks. I’m watching Alien 5 [for] Safe. Why not? Perhaps.”

There are rumors that Cameron and Scott are teaming up Alien 5 it started with journalist Ian Nathan, who said that “there was talk of a celestial partnership with Cameron to come up with an idea” for a fifth Alien film. This was confirmed by Cameron when he revealed: “What I came up with was the idea to do Alien 5,” he said, “and at one point I proposed that I would write and produce it, and Ridley would direct it , and we had lunch talking about this.

Zap2it.com then shared the alleged plots of both Alien 5 AND Alien 6. They reported: “Issue five is set on Earth with the planet under attack by alien warrior dropships, which made their debut in the original Alien film. In the process they make Earth look like an incubator as they attack, leaving alien eggs around the humans. When Ripley realizes that his dreams have played a role in what is happening, he evacuates and confines himself to a cell, but will inevitably meet his nemesis face to face again.

The information for Alien 6 it was a little shorter, but was said to take place “on the home turf of the ship’s navigator. Aliens are conquering other planets and Ripley finds herself forced to turn to the dark side to save civilization.

These storylines have not been confirmed, but they would take the franchise in an interesting direction. Cameron talked about returning to the universe and how the story had to be uncompromising. He shared with The Edmonton Sun: “The original Alien occupies a special classic niche as one of the great terrifying experiences. And the trick is, you don’t go crazy and make a $150 million movie because you don’t want to compromise, you don’t want to try to make a PG-13 Alien that’s everything to everyone. It must maintain its roots in this type of cinematic Id. Ridley really did it beautifully. He just put you in this Freudian nightmare space.

He also said in an interview with BBC One: “We’re trying to do another one. Something similar to what we did with Aliens. Lots of great characters and of course Sigourney. I also discussed the possibility of putting [Arnold Schwarzenegger] in the movie Alien.”

Ultimately, this Alien 5 film project never panned out, and Cameron blamed Alien vs. Predator for the fact that the movie never moved forward. It would have been very interesting to see Cameron and Scott collaborate together on an Alien sequel and it’s a shame that it never happened. The fact that Fox chose Alien vs. Predator compared to Cameron and Scott’s project was a stupid decision, most likely made by Tom Rothman.