‘Alien’ Franchise Vet Walter Hill Says Disney Isn’t Interested In His ‘Alien 5’ Script

Longtime “Alien” franchise screenwriter and producer Walter Hill (“48 Hours“) has revealed that Disney isn’t too keen on his “Alien 5” spec script — or in bringing back Sigourney Weaver‘s iconic hero Ellen Ripley for a legacy sequel.

The “Alien” franchise is in an interesting place at the moment. Not only are we getting an Earthbound prequel series from Noah Hawley (“Legion,” “Fargo”), but a new streaming feature film from horror director Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “The Girl In The Spider’s Web”) is on tap at Hulu (both projects are being produced by Ridley Scott). Notably, neither features Weaver, who was attached to star in two failed attempts to get a fifth entry in the original film series off the ground.

In a new interview with THR to promote his upcoming directorial effort, “Dead For A Dollar” — a western set to debut at the Venice Film Festival — Hill revealed that the franchise’s now-owner Disney wasn’t terribly interested in his Ripley-featuring “Alien 5” spec script from March 2020, which he co-wrote with late creative partner David Giler.

READ MORE: Neill Blomkamp Thinks ‘Chappie’ Might Have Caused Ridley Scott To Lose Faith In His ‘Alien’ Sequel

“We took a shot at that a couple of years back with Sigourney. But that was back when ‘Aliens’ was still at Fox,” said Hill (Fox was acquired by Disney in 2019). “The people at Disney, who now control ‘Aliens,’ have expressed no interest in going down that road. I had an idea for a good story with the Ripley character and Sigourney. But I do hope to see her in Venice.”

The project Hill references is actually the third incarnation of an “Alien 5” script featuring Weaver’s Ripley. Previous versions included one that saw Scott and James Cameron teaming up, more than 20 years ago, to develop their own version — which would have been a sequel to “Alien Resurrection” — before the studio opted to make “Alien vs. Predator” instead. More recently Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”) attempted to pitch his take, which would have been a direct sequel to “Aliens” and brought back the characters of Newt, Hicks, and Bishop, who were killed off in “Alien 3.”

Both Hill and Giler have been part of the “Alien” franchise since the first entry in 1979, as they helped rewrite Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett‘s original script. They continued with the franchise for years, working on “Aliens” as well as the disastrous “Alien 3” that was helmed by a young David Fincher. The creative duo would continue on as producers for all subsequent films featuring xenomorphs, including the “AVP” movies, Scott’s prequels, and the aforementioned streaming projects that are currently in the pipeline.

We can only hope the upcoming “Alien” projects will be half as thrilling as director Dan Trachtenberg’s “Prey” (read our review here) a “Predator” prequel set during the 1700s that gave the “Predator” franchise a much-needed shot in the arm after “The Predator” failed to excite audiences. It’ll also be interesting to see where in the franchise timeline Hulu’s feature-length “Alien” film takes place compared to the Hawley series.