Alien Explorations: Alien 5: Neill Blomkamp and Alien 5

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Neill Blomkamp: Ps this has nothing to do with the studio. I just feel like I might do something else instead. In which case why not show some work- (https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/ Jan 1st 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: Um... So I think it's officially my next film. (#alien http://instagram.com/, Feb 18th 2015)
Uproxx: Where did this Alien concept art you posted come from?
Neill Blomkamp: Basically, what happened was, when Chappie got heavily into post-production, I could take my foot off the gas a bit. I was thinking about what I wanted to do next and I’ve been wanting to make an Alien film for like years and years.
Uproxx: But you’ve never really said that before.
Neill Blomkamp:No. (http://uproxx.com/10th February 2015)
Coming Soon.net: First, we have Blomkamp, who we asked what the deal was with that concept art, whether it was something he was playing around with or something he was actively developing? (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: It was sort of both, Fox didn’t know that I was developing it, so in that sense, it was completely unsanctioned and just basically for fun. To me, it wasn’t for fun. To me, that was what I wanted to do next, and I spent a lot of time doing it, and there was a lot of effort that went into. Like when I could take breaks between Chappie’s post-production winding down as VFX got under control. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: The issue was more like whether I feel like directing another film at all, Not really whether Alien is the right or wrong film, if that makes sense. (Sigourney) knows about it and part of it was just inspired by speaking to her on set when we were filming Chappie, and getting her thoughts on Alien and what she thought of the movies that came after Aliens and what she felt about Ripley and what was incomplete for her about Ripley. There was so much fuel in what she was telling me. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Uproxx: People have heard you say that you don’t want to make an existing franchise type movie after what happened with Halo, before District 9.
Blomkamp: That’s still true, by the way.
Uproxx: So that’s why it’s surprising that you want to do Alien.
Blomkamp: Speaking to Sigourney Weaver, when we were doing Chappie, she set off a bunch of thoughts in my head — I had come up with an idea that didn’t have Sigourney, it was a different idea. But I spent all of the shooting time with her, it was like, holy shit, that could actually be really interesting. When I came back to Vancouver, I had an entire year to work on Chappie. And when I wasn’t needed in the edit, I could think about Alien. So, I basically developed an entire movie and I did all of this artwork as well.
Uproxx: Is this an abnormal way to go about this?
Blomkamp: It’s totally abnormal. But it’s for the reason that you bring up, if it’s going to happen, it has to be on my terms. So, I came up with it and I’m bringing this to you. It’s not like, “Would you like to do Spider-Man 36?” I still love it, I love the idea of the movie and I produced way more art than I put out. (http://uproxx.com/ 10th February 2015)
Blomkamp: Alien and Aliens are probably my favorite films so was I was like, ‘Sh*t, I wouldn’t mind messing around in that world for a bit’ so I just sort of self-funded the artists to work on the artwork. I did way more artwork than I released, probably ten times more and did a lot of writing. I have a pretty cool film just in case it happens. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Uproxx: The art was very specific, it looked like a complete story. Ripley is wearing a space jockey helmet.
Blomkamp: It was a whole story. Then I just wasn’t sure if I was going to do another film, like, at all.
Uproxx: Why?
Blomkamp: Sometimes Hollywood just sort of gets to me. I love movies, but Hollywood itself is a difficult animal to negotiate. So, then I was like, if I don’t do any, I should put some of this artwork out and that’s exactly what happened.
Uproxx: Is that you giving up on possibly doing an Alien movie?
Blomkamp:It’s not really giving up on the idea.(http://uproxx.com/, 10th February 2015)
Comingsoon.net: We asked if he had any kind of meeting with Fox about these ideas after sharing the artwork, but so far, he says hasn’t. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Blomkamp: Fox was blindsided by it, which wasn’t my intention, I just wanted to share artwork with people that liked the franchise. I don’t know whether it’s going to happen or not. We’ll see. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Uproxx: People on the Internet responded really well to that artwork.
Blomkamp: There’s a high possibility, a high degree of chance that it happens that I go back and try to get Alien made.
Uproxx: In case it never happens, why is Ripley wearing a space jockey helmet?
Blomkamp: I can’t tell you! It might happen! It’s cool though; it’s really cool … I’ll decide soon.
Uproxx: Someone at Fox should listen to you about this.
Blomkamp: That’s not the problem, actually.
Uproxx: What’s the problem?
Blomkamp: Me. I’m the problem. Fox, they would make it. Like, tomorrow. They would make it.
Uproxx: So if you called right now and said, “OK, done.”
Blomkamp: Yes. Then it would happen.
Uproxx: Would it be your vision, or do they have their own ideas?
Blomkamp: No, I think it would work out.
Uproxx: Then just do it.
Blomkamp: I know, I just have to mentally agree with that.
Uproxx: Then what’s the problem here? I assumed there were obstacles, like maybe Ridley Scott wasn’t on board.
Blomkamp: No, no, it’s not politics.
Uproxx: Then let’s do it.
Blomkamp: [Laughs] OK.(http://uproxx.com/, 10th February 2015)
Comingsoon.net: He did add that there is a possibility of him putting out his ideas of a comic book if it doesn’t happen as an official movie. That brings us to Weaver, who we spoke shortly afterwards, and we asked if she knew about how she inspired Blomkamp to start developing an Aliens project on his own. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Sigourney Weaver: He kept sending me these brilliant designs and ideas and everything. We’ll see what happens. (http://www.comingsoon.net, 10th February 2015)
Comingsoon.net: We asked if there was more to Ripley she was interested in exploring.
Sigourney Weaver: It’s not that so much is that we just left it at such a creepy place, sort of stranded above Earth. I was quite happy to move onto other things and I didn’t want to go to Earth. I didn’t want to manufacture a sequel and I felt like we were starting to do that. If something happens from this, it would be very organic and very original, and because of that, it would make me want to do it. If it was someone as talented as Neill, I’d certainly listen. (http://www.comingsoon.net 02.10.15)
Neill Blomkamp: There's a high possibility it could get made. Fox is totally willing but I don't 100% know what to do next (Total Film, April 2015, p89)
Neill Blomkamp: Um... So I think it's officially my next film. (http://instagram.com Wednesday 18th February 2015)
But on Wednesday Blomkamp confirmed the tentpole was back on track at Fox.
“So I think this is officially my next film,” he confirmed on Instagram.
It’s unclear whether Weaver is still attached to the movie.
According to insiders, the new “Alien” takes place years after the “Prometheus” sequel. Scott is producing both films through his production company Scott Free.
“Prometheus,” also distributed by Fox, was “loosely based” on the “Alien” franchise and earned over $400 million worldwide. But the 3D movie opened to mixed reviews, and Fox hopes Blomkamp, who last directed “Elysium,” can take the franchise to the next level.
Born in South Africa, the 35 year-old Blomkamp is repped by WME. (http://variety.com Wednesday 18th February 2015)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So how did you arrive at wanting to do this Alien movie? And did it have anything to do with having Sigourney Weaver play a supporting part in Chappie?
NEILL BLOMKAMP: It did have to do with having Sigourney on Chappie. It’s just something that I’ve always wanted to one day be a part of. Those first two [Alien] films are probably my favorite films ever made. I didn’t know if it would ever happen. I just always wanted to participate in it if I was able to.
Over the years, I came up with a story for a film in that universe that I wanted to make. And then when I talked to her about her experience making those films and what she thought about Ripley and everything else, it informed and changed the film I wanted to make into something different.
It just sort of stuck with me. A year later, when post-production was winding down on Chappie, I started fleshing out the idea for a film that would contain Sigourney. Fox never knew. I just worked on it when I could. Before I knew it, I had this really awesome film with a lot of artwork and a lot of backstory. And then I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not. So I just kind of sat on it for a while.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You mean, you showed your treatment to Fox and they sat on it?
NEILL BLOMKAMP:No, Fox was keen from the moment I showed it to them. They didn’t even know I was working on it. I just wanted to make sure that—any big studio film, I want to know that it’s the right choice for me. So I just kind of sat on it for a while.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I would imagine after the Halo experience, you’d be wary of joining a big franchise like that. Plus, it seems like you personally get frustrated with the whole Hollywood studio system. So something like this could have the potential to really aggravate you.
NEILL BLOMKAMP: Yeah, but it feels cool now. So far, Fox seems really, really cool. So I’m really excited. The movie itself is so wicked.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So do you have script? A treatment? How far along is it?
NEILL BLOMKAMP: Mmm, I can’t say! I can’t get into it too much.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: In terms of the writing, was that concurrent to shooting Chappie in 2013?
NEILL BLOMKAMP: No, that was way later. It was in post-production on Chappie, the second half of 2014.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Anything else we can say about this? Presumably, it takes place after the events in Prometheus.
NEILL BLOMKAMP: No, no. I want to keep it on hyper-lockdown. It’s early yet. It’s Chappie time. (http://www.ew.com/a 24th February 2012)
Simon Mayo: This discussion about you doing another Alien, is it true, and the crowd will go crazy, it's like an evasion, so you know it's going to come up, what can you tell us officially?
Sigourney Weaver: well, I can tell you that Neill Blomkamp is a huge fan of the Alien series, and , and wore the tape and wore the tapes out watching them, and if he is interested and serious as he seems to be about writing and directing, er, another final Alien, er, so we can take that poor woman out of drifting in space for the last time, i think that would be a very interesting prospect.
Simon Mayo: So, that's a yes then
Sigourney Weaver: Well, no, I think there's a long way to go, I'm delighted the fans are, the fans are happy, I think the work that Neill has shared with me is incredibly impressive and I, I think it would be great to see it happen but, it's, you know to me still, we're still dreaming about it, talking.(Kermode and Mayo's Film review, 24th February 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02kqyj6P)
Blomkamp also told The Guardian that he would “categorically” rule out any return for the cloned version of Ripley, further hinting that the new film will ignore later Alien instalments. (http://www.theguardian.com/film/26th february 2015)
Sigourney Weaver: I would love to take Ripley out of sort of orbiting around in space, and er, give a proper finish to what was such an excellent story, so when someone like Neill Blomkamp suddenly said, "well, I'm interested in finishing the story", I thought, my little ears perked up
Nell Blomkamp: I want this film to feel like, like it is literally a genetic sibling of Aliens, so it's Alien, Aliens, this movie
Sigourney Weaver: Well, we started chatting on the set of Chappy almost right away about his love for these movies, and then he started to send me the artwork over the last year, and and a lot of story ideas
Neill Blomkamp: It's a Freudian kind of a nightmare. That element to me is what is so appealing, you know to try to put the audience on their edge of their seat the whole time in a traditional monster stalking you dark corridor way, I love that, and when you mix in all of the design elements and the life cycle of the alien, you know, it's it's it's like a powder keg of creativity for me.
Sigourney Weaver: I am delighted that he is interested in doing this. I think it is a great series, it deserves a proper ending, I know the fans would love that, and er, so I hope it works out.. (Skymovies 25 Feb 2015)
Sigourney Weaver: I think that we left a series that's quite loved literally hanging in the air. I, I, didn't like the way it was going and I felt we were, and I think it's hard to manufacture a good story just because, you know, because it, they want to make another one, so I, I guess I, I always wanted to complete the story, and it wasn't really 'til Neill and I started talking that I thought "this is why we waited however many years it's been" and I'm very excited, because he, he loves movies, and he wore the tapes out, you probably don't even know what tapes are, but we used to watch movies on tapes, and , and he broke the tapes watching them so much so.
Neill Blomkamp: My favorites are the first two movies and so I want to make a film that's connected to Alien and Aliens, that's my goal. I'm not trying to undo Alien 3 or Alien Resurrection, I just want it to be connected to Alien 1 and 2.

Sigourney Weaver: Well, I saw them all last year, and then, then , when he finally put them on instagram, I was very excited to see, he actually... there are many more he hasn't shown which are secret

Neill Blomkamp: If it's driven by the director, right like it's my idea that I put out, then it's, it feels like the right way to make that kind of movie, you know, to not be hired and then have them make you make the film that they want, so yeah, it's good
Sigourney Weaver: I think that's something er, that were, we're just beginning to gel, that we're beginning to flesh out and I'm afraid the public will have to wait, but it will be very organic, and I'm looking forwards to being her again. She's a... she's a very interesting character and I er always felt it was a great privilege to play her. (Allocine 26th February 2015)
Jonathan Ross: So the director's name is Neil Blomkamp (Blommkamp)
Sigourney Weaver: Blomkamp. (Bloomkamp)
Jonathan Ross: Blomkamp (Bloomkamp) There is talk he might be reviving the Alien franchise
Sigourney Weaver: He's a big Alien fan
Jonathan Ross: Well, aren't we all. Well, I'm assuming you are a bit of a fan as well
Sigourney Weaver:
I suppose so
Jonathan Ross: Erm, how would you rate the movies of the four movies so far, there was Alien, there was Aliens, there was Alien 3 and there was Alien brackets 4 resurrection
Sigourney Weaver: That's like asking me which of my children I love the best
Jonathan Ross: which one do you love the best
Sigourney Weaver: well I only have one
Jonathan Ross: so it's nothing like asking which one of your children you love best. But if you have three others, two of whom were a big shit, which two would you like best?
Sigourney Weaver: I like each one for different reasons
Jonathan Ross: Yuh, but which ones do you like the most, of the most different reasons, which reasons do you prefer
Sigourney Weaver: If Neil Blomkamp does the last one, I will like that one
Jonathan Ross: You think it will be that one, And And is this happening. Can you say if this is happening or not. You don't know
Sigourney Weaver: You know, he's done a lot of the artwork, and he seems to be writing the script
Jonathan Ross: And do you know, I know you can't say, and we wouldn't want it spoiled would but, do you know which way he might be taking it because that, because that's a very fancy party you're going to (referring to image of Ripley in pilot alien gear) or you'er getting involved with the alien there.
Sigourney Weaver: Yes, erm, I'm not sure what it means, but er, I'll have to find out.
I hope it doesn't mean I'm going underwater
Jonathan Ross: That looked, yeah, but which one would, was it number four where you spent a lot of time under water
Sigourney Weaver: A lot of time under water
Jonathan Ross: That must have been, and you were actually doing that yourself.
Sigourney Weaver: Yes, we all had to do it ourselves, and we had to go into this cavernous set filled filled with sharp objects where there was no light and we had this crazy stunt guy named Ernie who, we were down there and we had masks and we had air but as soon as they said action, we had to leave everything so he'd go, five, four, three, two, masks off, masks off, go go go go go go, and he got, and he got your so frightened and out of breath right away and you'd keep swimming and you can't see anything, as far as you could for as long as you could and you went like this (waving a finger across her throat) and hoped some guy with air would come and find you in the dark
Jonathan Ross: wow
Sigourney Weaver: and we did this for five weeks
Jonathan Ross: how many, how many actors did you use
Sigourney Weaver: well, not everyone showed up for work every day. No no, it was, it was exciting. I think in Avatar 2, we're going to have some underwater sequences. And then I get to be underwater with Jim Cameron which will also be fun
Jonathan Ross: We we should, we'll get back to the Avatar in a minute, but here's the thing about Alien is, when you first Alien more when it came out, it changed the face of cinema, it changed the face of that kind of movie and it certainly changed the face of how an audience regarded women in those films because you, because you were the first sort of tough kick-arse action female star that I could think of in a big western movie
Sigourney Weaver: And it was sort of an accident because they just thought, well let's make the girl the survivor because no one will ever think that she's going to be, she's going to do it
Jonathan Ross:Was Ripley a part originally written for a man
Sigourney Weaver: It was, they were all men, all men's parts
Jonathan Ross:Wow, it's an incredible movie. So you mention Avatar, Avatar well, what a movie Avatar was, what a piece of work that was, and once again, very much of the moment, very unexpected, and now with Jim Cameron, you're doing, not just, you not just make a sequel, you're making two more or even three more
Sigourney Weaver: We're making three more simultaneously
Jonathan Ross:Wow that must be, how do you get your head around that kind of schedule
Sigourney Weaver: I'm going to find out very soon
Jonathan Ross: When do you start
Sigourney Weaver: Er, I think at the fall
Jonathan Ross:And presumably the time line picks up where the first film left off
Sigourney Weaver: No, I don't play the same character
Jonathan Ross: Ah, well you've kind of disappeared at the end of that movie
Sigourney Weaver: I went into the sinosimplastic vernibulam or something
Jonathan Ross: wow, because that's the kind of sensor network of the big plant beast or whatever thing
Sigourney Weaver: Yes, whatever or wherever I went, I went somewhere
Jonathan Ross: But that, but that, the premise of that, when you first er, read that, you must have saw some of this, he's got to really pull this off or this is going to be silly because you've got so much going on in it and if it wasn't in the hands of someone so competent and confident and brilliant as him, it could have been a disaster couldn't it.
Sigourney Weaver: Well, I always had great confidence in Jim, you know he always does to me are things that are impossible like build the submarine that will take him down into the botttom of the Marianna trench or something like that
Jonathan Ross:Yes, he's always, he's down in the under sea area quite a lot
Sigourney Weaver: He says he makes movies actually to be able to afford to build the submarines and design them and, and use them
Jonathan Ross:And is he generous with his subs, has be invited you one one of his under sea journeys?
Sigourney Weaver: He has invited me. I, I'm a little claustrophobic, I've decided not to tax our friendship with what might happen to me after we've been going down five hours and have another five hours to go before we go down and see anything
Jonathan Ross: Does he really for got ten hours down like that
Sigourney Weaver: Well, he really, you know the bottom of the Mariannas trench is, I don't know, twenty, twenty hours probably
Jonathan Ross: Why on Earth would you want to go down there?
Sigourney Weaver: There must be something going on there that we don't know about.
Jonathan Ross: Must be the world's greatest swingers party
Sigourney Weaver: Exactly
Jonathan Ross: Erm, well Chappie is out Friday, Ladies and Gentlemen, Sigourney Weaver is as always sublime in it, but I can't wait to see the Avatar movies, I can not wait to see Alien 5 which as you said is going to be better than the two you don't like, so erm, ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous Sigourney Weaver. (Jonathan Ross Show, 28th February 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: I think I’m the right person because I don’t look at the situation like now I have to live up to these movies and all the fans are looking, It’s the inverse in that now I get to make the third film of the first two, which I think never happened. I think they made the first two and then went off the rails with these other ones. I wanna try as a fan to fill in that gap. It all stems from being probably one of the most ego-less directors in Hollywood and I think that that plays a big role. If you’re inward focused and narcissistic and thinking about your fans then that’s when weird shit starts happening. If you stay grounded then you can make stuff that actually is balanced and has something to say. I don’t want to give much away but what I can say confidently is that Alien and Aliens are my favourite films and where it went after Aliens was incorrect to me as a fan. I didn’t want that world, I wanted the first two and that’s what I want to go back to. (http://www.dazeddigital.com, 2nd March 2015)
Interviewer: How pleased are you as well that Neill is going to be continuing with the Alien series, and has he asked you to be in it?
Sigourney: Of course, we've talked about it, since, since I got on the set of Chappie almost immediately. I can't think of err, a better director to take this on. He loves these movies, he understands. he knows what the fans want. He's such a great storyteller, erm, and he has such great instincts and he trusts his instincts so, it couldn't be in better hands, and so I'm delighted for the series, and for Ripley who won't be hanging around space for the rest of eternity
Interviewer: The first one I guess was scifi horror, the second one was sci-fi action
Blomkamp: Yeah
Interviewer: Which sort of direction are you leaning and are you trying to balance out it out a little bit between the two films
Blomkamp: Yuh, I am actually, I mean, I wanted, I wanted it to be the third of those three movies so I, I'm going to try my best, to make it , live up to, those two, and you're right, I mean, the elements, actually, the most appealing elements to me, they, they're both my favourite film, but the thing about making the film in that world so appealing to me is the idea of that your job as the director becomes a job of like Freudian terror , right. You're trying to go down dark passage ways with the chance of something coming around the corner and terrifying us, some primal neolithic cavemen getting hunted by a lion level, that's my goal, and that's just an appealing goal. Cameron did it with more aliens and more guns, and Ridley did it with slow burning , you know, unbelievable tension, so yeah, I'm excited.
Interviewer:What do you think is that an Alien movie needs perhaps didn't have in the last few.
Sigourney: You know, I don't know, I think that's part of the lovely surprise still to come
Interviewer: Part of the concept art we saw a while back, was that a case of you, you had done this and Fox didn't know about it at all or were they aware that when it comes up on Instagram, this was kind of
Blomkamp: No, Fox, Fox didn't know. Fox really didn't know. I mean, I , I , I had a sense that they would want to make it, but I didn't, er, you know. The issues were never with Fox, the issues, the issues were like, do I want to go and attempt to be making a film in this, at this level, with this camp with this history. That was the debate.
Interviewer: I saw Sigourney in Chappie, she's in your concept art for Alien, Michael Biehn as well, will we see both those in the film or is the film changed since your original thinking
Blomkamp: Mmmm, no, hopefully we will see them
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ 2nd March 2015
Total Film: I've got to ask you about Alien, like. Do you feel kind of nervous taking on like this kind of franchise that you love so much.
Blomkamp: No, no, I, I erm, I don't, right now whatever phase I am in my career, I don't feel that , er I don't feel that. Like the idea of, erm, of artists that get caught up in, if they've had previous success and then they're like I'm so scared to put something out now, what if it doesn't live up to it, you know, I don't feel that, and in terms of taking on stuff like Alien, I don't feel the negatives either. I think, I think if you're ever going to do good work, you have to just like, go out and, like you know, swing long large swings and be committed and love what you're doing, so erm, I, I, I feel the good pressure, meaning, as a massive fan of those movies, I want to make a film that I as a fan would love, and I think that I am ill suited to other franchises, I think that there are many other franchises where I would want to turn it upside down and like totally just screw with it and Alien isn't one of them. Alien is like, I want to do my best to sort of honour the lineage of the first two movies and give fans like myself what I think we deserve from where it went off the rails
(www.gamesradar.com/neill-blomkamp-talks-alien-exclusive/ 3rd March 2015
IGN: Are you scared or excited to be making an Alien movie?
Neill Blomkamp: Excited. For whatever phase I’m in in my career now, I think two things are in play. One, I’m relatively young, and two, on a personality level, I’m not susceptible as much to the whole fear of following up something. Even if it’s your own work, you know? Elysium not living up to what District 9 was… it doesn’t affect me in the same way it affects a lot of other artists. I’m willing to take big swings all the time until people won’t give me money. It doesn’t affect me like that. So my thing with Alien is that I don’t sit up at night being ‘Oh god, I wonder how I’m going to be able to follow in these great films’ footsteps.’ It’s more like I’m a fan of Alien, I’m a fan of Aliens, and Alien 3 onwards went in a direction I didn’t want. I just get the chance to tell my version of how I think it should have happened. It’s just pure excitement.
IGN: Around the time of Elysium I asked you if you’d like to direct a Star Wars movie and you said you weren’t interested because you had too many ideas of your own that you want to make.
Blomkamp: Still true.
IGN: So why make an Alien movie, which is part of another established franchise?
Blomkamp: I pursued them to the point that Fox didn’t even know that I was working on them. That in itself is just unique. You should always be working on something that the studio doesn’t even know you’re doing. And that way you’re like ‘I wanna do that.’ By the time it’s done. And they can decide. I think when you get hired to do something, you’re in dangerous territory. The truth about projects that are my own… the thing that’s annoying about films is that they take three years to make. It’s a constant thing that I face all the time, which is that whatever you commit to, you’re going to be out of the game with everything else, and you’re going to be doing this one thing for that amount of time. That’s a very true thing, so that would still be my answer to almost everything, it’s just that Alien isn’t almost everything. Alien is the one thing that’s just… I actually think it’s the first science-fiction film I ever saw. And it’s my first memory of film. So it’s just emblazoned into my head in a way that… it would be a shame for me to not do it for myself. Even if it doesn’t live up to what people want, for my own self I need to at least try.
IGN: What drew you to that world?
Blomkamp: I think that the combination of what Ridley [Scott] did and the usage of Giger’s Freudian sexual terror imagery and the set-up of the first film and then what [James] Cameron did with the second film – just the perfect storm of what those ingredients were, and for my own visual style and what I like, it was just this weird, perfect unity of everything, you know? I think that’s really what it is. I can’t think of anything that comes close to it in terms of an existing franchise. And my other favourite character – though I don’t want to participate in this world – is Batman. I think the Chris Nolan Batman films are incredible. For me – for my own aesthetic and taste, I think they’re amazing. That’s a separate thing, that’s kind of character-driven. Alien is a unique thing for me – it’s a unique storm of perfect ingredients.(http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/03/04/how-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp-got-the-alien-gig)
IGN: How will this fit in with the Prometheus sequel that’s going to get made? Will they happen side-by-side?
Blomkamp: I don’t think they’ll be running exactly side-by-side, but I don’t want to get into it too much – I will try to keep some of my cards close to my chest. But Ridley is producing it which is amazing too, he’s one of my favourite filmmakers, so I’m stoked.
IGN: Have you played Alien: Isolation and if so what are your thoughts on the game?
Blomkamp: I think it’s amazing. Even from the first screen grabs, just the quality of the art direction and how it looks. I’m such a visual person that the narrative of stuff is neither here nor there for me sometimes. It’s literally about imagery. And when I saw the images I thought ‘Sh*t, they can’t be that good.’ And then I played it and to me it was that good. It’s so good. It’s ridiculous. It’s actually interesting because it raises an interesting design question for me which is that when Alien was made it was cutting edge. ‘Mother’ was cutting edge, and a green CRT monochromatic monitor was cutting edge, you know what I mean? And it’s like Aliens: The Director’s Cut, with Reel 2 re-inserted, when you’re on the colony planet and he’s getting print-outs on dot-matrix paper with holes down the side – that sh*t was real man. On the planet, in that future, that was cutting edge. So it’s an interesting debate if you look at it from my stand-point, which is do I make my cutting edge… is it cutting edge, or is it actually closer to the first two. Because I wanted to be like it has the same parent. It’s a genetic offspring of the first two movies, and Alien Isolation made me question that quite a lot. Because they got it so perfect with all of the late 1970s early ‘80s tech, it’s really cool.
IGN: So which one - Alien or Aliens?
Blomkamp: It was Aliens. Aliens was my favourite film – it’s not even a choice between the two. Aliens was my favourite film ever made. But I just saw Alien – which was a close second. I just saw Alien in a theatrical projection in Vancouver, which I’d never seen before. It’s only ever been… I was born the year it came out in theatres. And seeing it in a theatre, it may have jumped ahead because it’s just that good, but it’s a really tough one. (http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/03/04/how-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp-got-the-alien-gig)
Interviewer: Neill signed on for the New Aliens, there are a lot of rumours, and a lot of fans would love to see you be a part of the project, any news on that front?
Sigourney: Well I , he, I think that's the only way that he'll do it. There are two factors he needs: Ripley and the Aliens
Interviewer: Is Ripley coming back?
Sigourney: Exactly
Interviewer: You're on the carpet tonight for Chappie but tomorrow you jump straight into Aliens.
Blomkamp: Ah, very close to tomorrow, yeah. probably, probably like next week, yuh.
you must be excited about that?
Blomkamp: I am, I'm really excited, yuh
Interviewer:and is Sigourney Weaver going to join the cast?
Blomkamp: yuh She’ll be in, She’ll be in the cast. I mean, She is, you know, she is the Alien franchise, to me, so yeah. (http://www.etonline.com/ March 05, 2015)
“I can’t think of a better director,” Weaver told Variety at the New York City premiere of Blomkamp’s latest film, “Chappie.” “He’s a real fan. I think he’ll be true to the world and take it in unexpected directions. It’s got a lot of sinew in it. It will certainly stand up to the others and probably break a lot of new ground as well.”
Weaver appears in “Chappie,” a film about a police droid who is able to think and feel, as a ruthless weapons manufacturer. She said Blomkamp expressed his admiration for the first two films in her iconic sci-fi series, Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and James Cameron’s “Aliens,” while they were shooting.
“Suddenly it seemed so obvious that this would happen,” said Weaver. “We’ve been in touch the last year and he’s shared wonderful artwork.”
Blomkamp is one of the leading science-fiction directors working today, whose brutal visions of the future also include the film “Elysium,” so he would seem an obvious choice for the gig. Nevertheless, he said that the world of “Alien” is a departure for him.
“I would love to make something in that world because the films use terror and dread and filmmaking techniques that are different than what I’ve dabbled in before,” he said.
(https://variety.com/2015/ March 5th 2015)
Sigourney Weaver: I would love to take Ripley out of orbiting around in space and give a proper finish to what was such an excellent story. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ 5th March 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: 2014 was a really weird year for me because I usually know quite decisively what I want to do, and in the process of post-production on Chappie, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I had a bunch of different ideas for different films. My favourite, on a gut instinct, artistic level, was Alien, by a long way.http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43633, 6th March 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: But I had this inhibiting mental roadblock about wanting to work on my own stuff – and not being held accountable, whether it’s by a studio or by fans, or whoever, I just wanted to be left alone to do my stuff. That’s kind of a big deal for me.http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43633, 6th March 2015)
Neill Blomkamp: Every film I do, I genuinely believe it’s the last I’ll do. I didn’t think I’d make another film, let alone a big studio one. But it came from a place of love, and I was like, ‘If I’m a fan, then other fans should see the stuff.’ Here’s one person’s take on it, you know? So Fox didn’t know.(http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=43633, 6th March 2015)
Telegraph:Speaking of Ripley, you were recently named as the director of the next Alien movie. And Sigourney’s going to be in that, right?
Neill Blomkamp:Yeah, hopefully. Yes.
Telegraph:Are you looking forward to working with her again?
Neill Blomkamp: Yes. I really like working with her anyway, and to do so in that capacity, where she just knows the character [of Ripley] so well … it'll be good, I think.
Telegraph: And how are you feeling about directing Alien 5?
Neill Blomkamp:I’m excited, big time. It's still a while off, and there's still a lot of work to be done. But yes, I am very excited.
Telegraph: But is it pure excitement? Or is there a part of you that’s going “Oh my God, help!” at the thought of getting involved in such a massive franchise, with such a dedicated fan base?
Neill Blomkamp:No, I think it's just excitement. There are a lot of franchises that are around in Hollywood right now that I really don't like, you know? And a lot of parts of Hollywood that I don't dig right now. But this [Alien] is the one universe, the one world, that I have always had a love-affair with. This, and Batman. I love Batman as well, but after what Nolan did with it, there's nowhere really to go, in my opinion.
So, no, I don't “feel the pressure” of doing a film in the Alien universe. I feel an opportunity to make what I think fans want to see. Hopefully.
Telegraph: Are you planning to put your own spin on the Alien universe, or create something more in-line with the original films?
Neill Blomkamp: Probably my favourite part of filmmaking is building a world, and designing the stuff in it. And the design in both of the first two movies is just … ridiculous. Just so, so good. I think that my job is to give the fans the “third film of the first two”. That's kind of how I view it. I feel like, while the first two films are incredible, the other two films don't toe the same line. They changed things up a little bit, and I don't want to do that. I don’t want to give fans something they don't want. I want to give them the first two films. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk, 6th March 2015)
Bogart the explorer: Hello Mr Blomkamp, my name is Bogart the explorer from Paperbug TV, how's it going
Blomkamp: Hey man
Bogart the explorer: I'd like to congratulate you for landing the directorship role in new aliens movie. I heard you're a big fan of the franchise so, how was that, how was that working with, with er, Sigourney Weaver, the Ellen Ripley.
Blomkamp: Ah, it was pretty cool,, I mean, you know, obviously I'm a massive fan of her and I'm a huge fan of Aliens, so I didn't know I was going to end up directing the film, I mean, I, I just spoke to her like a fan and I wanted to know how she felt about the movie and what she thought about Ripley, and that kind of set off a bunch of thoughts in my head about the, erm, a movie could actually get made (Paperbug TV, March 6th 2015 )
Interviewer: There's maybe another Alien movie directed by Neill Blomkamp with Sigourney Weaver reprising Ellen Ripley
Dev: Wooh
Blompkamp: Yes!
Dev: Ow!
Interviewer: I'm geeking out so badly right now
Hugh Jackman: I'll tell a little story from the set
Interviewer: Yes please
Hugh Jackman: Before you get into that. That Neill who is very very cool and not phased by anything, the moment that Sigourney walked on set, he was literally like, "That's Ripley, that's Ripley, I mean an hour long, it, you were a bit of a fan boy
Neill Blomkamp: Yeah. yeah, yeah. It's true. it's true. I mean it is, I was saying to Sharl like recently how, erm, things, I'm , I'm really non reflective, and I don't spend a lot of time thinking, I , I, I don't really take enough time to be sort of thankful for things in general and it's kind of ridiculous that, that, you know, even aside from Alien, just Sigourney being involved in this film, where, you know, you're like a struggling artist trying to get into films when you're young, when you're younger, you know and it's like just getting any film made is difficult, but to have someone in it that was, you know, connected to one of my favourite pieces of art ever, I sort of , I need to, I need to be in touch with that more, and I'm not really, I'm kind of mowed through things too much. So, Yuh, Alien is insane in that, you know, as a possibility
Interviewer: Erm, how big a possibility is it
Neill Blomkamp: Very very big, very big
Interviewer: When you mean, a possibility, I think it's happening
Neill Blomkamp: yeah well that's true, that's true. I just, I don't want to get ahead of myself
Sigourney: Let's just put it this way, that we found the host and it's been embedded
Neill: It's gestating
Sigourney: It's gestating
Interviewer: Okay, good
Sigourney Weaver: But, what I remember about the first day, because of course, even though I have worked with many wonderful directors, I've had a very long career, the first day for any actor, playing a new role, you're still terrified, and you still, you know, it's new ground, you don't get any rehearsal, so you're sort of jumping in and so I remember arriving on the set and first of all we were actually shooting in "Denelle", it is a weapons corporation and this huge factory with all these scouts, which is the name of the robots, all these scouts kind of going around and what I remember and makes me especially glad that we're going to do Alien together, is I remember going "Woah" because the vision of the movie was so complete and so real and so big and so awesome and I just felt, you know, it's so wonderful for an actor to feel in good hands as we all were with Neill
Neill: Good (Entertainment Sirius XM 12th March 2015)

Blomkamp: Yuh, I don't want to get into it too much but I, it's, I do, it's true, I want to make that film as my next film, I think I, I think, I will, everything is now kind of agreed to, erm, so I'm really excited and I wanted to feel like the first two movies, you know. I know the first two are different in tone but they're my favourites and I want this to be of that family. (BFMTV.com, 17th March 2015)

Ridley Scott:Neill's film will be going on a separate tangent, side tangent, side track, which will be named, I don't quite know what it's going to named, Alien something, with Sigourney, I'm a producer and that will go out after mine. We're going to see how we're gonna drive that bus. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTnKXfDyNVU&feature=youtu.be)
Sigourney Weaver: Well, I *think* it is. Ridley asked Neill NOT to make our Alien til after Prometheus 2. He (Ridley) wanted his movie to shoot and be released first. But it’s an AMAZING script, and Neill and I are REALLY excited about doing it. We’re doing other things until we can get going on that. I’d be really surprised if we DIDN’T do it, because it’s such a great script, and we love working together. So, it’s just going to take a little bit longer to get out to you, but it’ll be worth the wait.(http://aggressivecomix.com/blomkamps-alien-film-update-from-ripley-herself/)

Alien 5: Neill Blomkamp and Alien 5

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