Sigourney Weaver Teases Ripley’s Return To The Alien Franchise

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time now, would it?

Now, take this with a massive pinch of salt, but Sigourney Weaver has said that her return to the Alien series is not entirely beyond the realms of possibility. Which is to say it’s not 100% out of the question, but we probably shouldn’t go warming up the old power loader just yet, and that’s even if she still has a Class 2 rating.

Nonetheless, even with that heavy caveat in place, there’s some intriguing possibilities in play. As reported by Variety, Weaver was speaking at an Aliens reunion panel at New York Comic Con when she mentioned she had seen and loved part of a script written by Alien franchise producer Walter Hill that outlined where Ripley might end up – presumably after the event’s of 1997’s Alien: Resurrection. “He wrote 50 pages of where Ripley would be now, and they’re quite extraordinary.”

That means we’re talking about the clone Weaver played in that film, the original Ripley having plunged to her death in vat of molten metal at the climax of 1992’s Alien³. Continuity is a hell of a thing, isn’t it?

“I don’t know if it’s going to happen,” Weaver said. “But I have had a meeting with Fox or Disney… what Walter has written seems so true to me, as very much about the society that would incarcerate someone who has tried to help mankind, but she’s a problem to them, so she’s sort of tucked away. I think it’s a very strong first 50 pages. I’m thinking about working with Walter to see what the rest of the story would be.”

So, some interesting stuff here, but not much to hang your hopes on. But there’s a few things worth noting.

Firstly, it’s not surprising that Disney or 20th Century or whoever took a meeting with Weaver. Between the success of Alien: Romulus and Alien: Earth, plus the imminent Predator: Badlands actively strengthening the ties between the two franchises, it’s clear that big plans are afoot for the whole Alien shebang going forward. I’d imagine almost every prominent actor and filmmaker involved in the series is at least being sounded out re: what might happen in the future.

It’s also not surprising that Walter Hill has a at least part of a sequel script on hand. He’s probably got several. Hill, a gun director himself, has been a producer on the entire franchise since the first film, and has a hand in several of the scripts along the way. That makes sense – Hill made his bones as a screenwriter on stuff like Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway (1972) before transitioning to directing and producing as well. So Hill having written some pages on Ripley’s return is not a big revelation. But I’m curious about when they were written – Hill is 83, and I would assume probably not nutting out fresh Alien material at this stage.

And thirdly, if this does pay off and Sigourney Weaver does return as Ripley? There’s a slim chance – just a slim one, mind you – that we might soon get to see Ripley fight a Predator.

So, that could be fun.