The Two Camps ('kamps?) of the Alien Franchise

To the casual observer of pop culture news, the debacle of the Alien series and its future may be a little confusing. Ridley Scott returned to the universe that he helped create with the 1979 classic Alien in the form of the 2012 sci-fi thriller Prometheus. I went into that film with far too much self-promoted hype and was very disappointed in the early hours of Thursday June 8th after taking in that midnight screening. It was rough. I dragged my friend Dave to that after making him sit through Alien and we haven't talked in a while. So, thanks a lot Ridley Scott.

I thought Prometheus was going to be a true Alien prequel with direct references to the original film and callbacks to iconic creatures and places. Instead, Ridley Scott delivered a movie that lacked the essence of a 1970s future and the horror that made Alien great, all the while shoehorning in explanations for aspects of the original that didn't need any backstory. (I'm not knocking the aesthetic of Prometheus, which in itself was gorgeous, but it was not "Alien"). Weyland-Yutani is very present in the film, the iconic alien ship and space-jockey designed by the legendary H.R. Giger receive a lot of screen time and the subplot of android and AI is developed similarly to the way Alien went about exploring the android Ash. However, we don't see a traditional xenomorph, save for the blue thing that crawled out of the Engineer at the end. I understand that since a human wasn't the host it looked differently, but people did become infected at various stages through Prometheus and instead they went zombie-insane rather than chest-burster like good old Kane in Alien. So in a way, Ridley Scott was being truthful that Prometheus was not an Alien prequel, but instead a Weyland-Yutani prequel.



It's not entirely Ridley Scott's fault that I was disappointed in Prometheus. It was my fault as well because I expected an Alien film. Ridley Scott explicitly stated on more than one occasion that Prometheus would be its own film within the Alien universe, allowing it to stand on its own as a sci-fi film for 2012. If Ridley Scott wanted to make a sci-fi film, why did he have to shove it into the Alien property? Why make any reference at all? A new film could have explored ancient life in the galaxy, the dangers of artificial intelligence and corporate exploitation of science and exploration. I would have fully embraced Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi if it were a new property simply because I know what he has done in the past and I would like to see him deliver his interpretation of the future from today's vision. But that's not what we got. Alien was ripe for the picking and had all of those open-ended plot questions and an under-scrutinized world.

In the wake of critical mediocrity and fan disappointment, Ridley Scott put his Prometheus sequel on hold to tackle The Martian. Maybe it's too early to say, but I think that film will be regarded as a triumphant sci-fi classic in the same way the Andy Weir book will become. So, I guess we can trust Ridley Scott again, especially if he has a good writer working for him like he did in Drew Goddard for The Martian. I know he's the butt of many Lost jokes but let's face it, Damon Lindelof just didn't work out. At least, that's how it appears and the way it's been spun thus far.

But pump the brakes a second here. Before The Martian released, Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9 and Chappie released his take on an Aliens (1986) sequel through concept art on social media and immediately caught the eye of nostalgic fans. Alien and Aliens are two very different films, but the argument can be made that there is a larger following for the action sequel than there is for the original horror film. The online attention for Blomkamp's ideas drove Fox to consider the cult sci-fi director for a new Alien film within the universe that Prometheus ultimately let down.

Concept Art for Aliens sequel by Neill Blomkamp

Fox reached out to Blomkamp and they made a deal for him to helm an "Alien" film, which differed from Ridley Scott's Prometheus series. This was exciting news for Alien fans who feared that Prometheus would continue down the convoluted road it had set out on in 2012. Blomkamp confirmed that he intended to tell a story about Ripley and Hicks from Aliens, and I assume that this would effectively erase the mess that was Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. He was posting small glimpses of the pre-production process like more drawings and an awesome pulse rifle prop. Everything was looking up. We'd have Alien 5 (or 2.5?) as early as 2017 and the world would be right again.

Pump those brakes again because this is where the situation becomes as confusing as a Lindelof plot. Ridley Scott, hot off of The Martian, revealed that his Prometheus sequel would be titled Alien: Paradise Lost. Funny, because I recall him stating that Prometheus was not a direct alien prequel. So how can Prometheus, a film that is not a direct alien prequel, have a sequel beginning with "Alien"? Now, I understand that Prometheus is leading us towards Alien, and Blomkamp's film is a sort-of sequel to Aliens, but this is getting a little odd.

If Ridley Scott wants the Prometheus sequel to veer a little closer to Alien, that's fine. The Prometheus was the ship that the explorers were traveling on in the film and it makes sense to use a different title. But in late October, Blomkamp confirmed that his Aliens sequel is officially on hold for the time being. This came only shortly after Ridley Scott made mention of his Alien-esque sequel title. He directly cited Prometheus 2 as the reason for his venture being put on the back-burner. If we're being honest, Ridley Scott has far more influence on the industry and at Fox than Blomkamp does, so if he wants his film to come out before Blomkamp's that is understandable.

I believe that Ridley Scott wants his film to overtake the fan interest and hype for Blomkamp's Alien film because Prometheus had left such a bad taste in our collective mouths. In a recent interview, Ridley Scott made reference to his new film as titled Alien: Covenant rather than Paradise Lost. He did so casually without noting that the title was changed or that he had even used Paradise Lost in the past. And today, 20th Century Fox revealed that Alien: Covenant is the official title for the Prometheus sequel and that it is headed for an October 6, 2017 release. The synopsis refers to Covenant as the second film in an Alien prequel trilogy and that it will connect directly to the 1979 classic. Covenant is the name of a colony ship that stumbles onto a planet inhabited by the android David who survived Prometheus. The title card art evokes the original title. In fact, if you threw the image in front of me I would have beamed with the excitement that the excellent 2014 survival horror video game Alien: Isolation was getting a sequel. But, I'd be wrong.

I don't know what Ridley Scott has in store for his prequel trilogy, but I am interested in seeing if he will right the ship with the next film. The title treatment already looks more Alien than all 124 minutes of Prometheus that I have to check my hype levels. I have learned not to get my hopes up for this series, but maybe Alien: Covenant will fix the franchise in the same way Alien: Isolation redeemed the xenomorphs in video game form after Aliens: Colonial Marines threw it all away.

I want to see Blomkamp's take on Aliens, but if I have to see Ridley Scott's next instalment first I can deal with that. I think.