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In the case of Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5, I turn you now to Regina George: “Stop trying to make Alien happen. It’s not going to happen.” But, seriously, it probably won’t.

The filmmaker offered a reality check to a fan eager to see his vision for the film, which he’s been talking about since before Chappie hit theaters. According to a tweet from Blomkamp posted this weekend, the chances are “slim,” which isn’t really all that surprising.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Yes, Blomkamp released unofficial concept art for a Ripley return over Instagram in 2015. Yes, he released more imagery last year teasing the return of Newt. Yes, Sigourney Weaver herself can’t stop talking about it — she said the story “forks” from the canon of the original films and gives Ripley an “ending,” she spoke about it during an Alien Day anniversary celebration, and divulged Ridley Scott said Blomkamp could move forward after the sequel to Prometheus.

Yes, Michael Biehn offered a brief story kernel about a fully grown Newt as the star. Some of these updates were even after Blomkamp revealed the project was put on hold indefinitely in 2015. After all that, it still seemed like one of those nice thoughts that might never lift off the ground.

It’s probably not a coincidence that the hold put on the project came around the time Scott’s sequel changed its name to Alien: Paradise Lost. The film is now called Alien: Covenant, which bares a tighter connection to the original films.

Blomkamp’s idea also didn’t seem to be something like Rogue One, an anthology film that told a new story, while remaining firm in its preset world. Since Weaver promised it would veer from canon, it’d be hard on a marketing level to explain how it ties into the previously staged films to a casual audience. (You’d be surprised how many people had trouble understanding where Rogue One fit into the grand scheme of Star Wars.)

Perhaps Blomkamp could helm one of Scott’s proposed sequels in the future. That’s a thought.

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Image via Sony Pictures
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Image via 20th Century Fox
Sigourney Weaver in Aliens
Image via 20th Century Studios