Sigourney Weaver has confirmed that "Alien 5," which will be directed by "District 9" director Neill Blomkamp and is set to enter production once Ridley Scott finishes work on the upcoming "Alien: Covenant," will be ignoring the events of "Alien 3" and "Alien: Resurrection."
"It's just as if, you know, the path forks and one direction goes off to three and four and another direction goes off to Neill's movie," Weaver explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
This is not the first time that a later sequel ignored other films in an established franchise. "Superman Returns" is a direct follow-up to Richard Donner's "Superman" and "Superman II" while ignoring the events of the third and fourth films as well.
If this proves true then the fifth movie in the franchise may see the return of Hicks (Michael Biehn) and an adult Newt, who was originally played by Carrie Henn. Henn has notably left her acting career after doing "Aliens" and went on to become a teacher.
This will be a big departure from the third film given that "Alien 3" started with Hicks and Newt both dying when their escape pod crash landed on a prison planet. Should "Alien 5" ignore these events then the two characters will be alive and could play an important role in the film.
Many fans even speculate that Newt, who may be played now by a different actress, may become the new face of the franchise in case further sequels are green lit.
"Aliens," the 1986 James Cameron-directed sequel to the 1979 "Alien" which was helmed by Ridley Scott, will be celebrating its 30th anniversary on July 18 and as stated in the report, the whole cast and Cameron himself will be attending the celebration at the San Diego Comic-Con, where more information about the film may be released.
"Alien 5" will begin production after "Alien: Covenant" finishes and launches in theaters on Aug. 4, 2017.
