May 11, 2017 (Australia)
Alien: Covenant/Release date

Sadly, it looks like the project will never happen, and Blomkamp has now placed the blame squarely on one of his own creations: Chappie. Blomkamp’s Alien 5 was greenlit by Fox at one stage, with the studio confirming the news and revealing that Blomkamp’s movie would be a sequel to the original four Alien outings.

Then in October, it was revealed that Alien 5 was no longer on the cards. “It’s possible that Ridley watched Chappie, and he was like, this guy can’t do Alien so let’s just go ahead and move on,” Blomkamp said.

“Yes, but it won’t be in the next one. It will be in the one after this one or maybe even a fourth film before we get back into the ‘Alien’ franchise… The whole point of it is to explain the Alien franchise and to explain the how and why of the creation of the Alien itself.

Alien: Covenant

Following the destruction of the original Xenomorph Hive and the derelict on Acheron, and the death of the Runner on Fiorina “Fury” 161, Ellen Ripley committed sacrificial suicide to destroy the last known Xenomorph specimen in existence — the embryonic Queen developing inside her.

Weaver’s interest in creating a fifth Alien movie spans back long before Blomkamp’s Alien 5 was suggested to be in the works.

Ridley Scott will produce a new Alien sequel directed by District 9 and Elysium creator Neill Blomkamp with Sigourney Weaver rumored to return as Ripley.

Producer Walter Hill has a 50-page treatment for Alien 5 that would bring Sigourney Weaver back as Ripley. Neill Blomkamp planned to bring back Sigourney Weaver in his scrapped Aliens sequel, and even James Cameron wanted it to see it.

However, the director recently opened up further on his attachment to Alien 5, the status of the film, and the support he had from Sigourney Weaver on the project. In an interview with the Independent, Blomkamp was asked about whether there he had any interest in the discontinued Alien project.