In preparation for Alien Day (April 26th), we've got a bit of Alien-related news for you today. None other than franchise star Sigourney Weaver has done her best to reassure fans that the Neill Blomkamp-directed Alien film is still in the works, just on pause. The Untitled Neill Blomkamp/Alien Project was originally slated for a 2017 release, but Ridley Scott's Prometheus sequel, Alien: Covenant, bumped that project further down the calendar.

That doesn't mean it's gone completely, as Weaver unofficially confirmed during a VMware event. And she should know, since the film will reportedly focus more on her classic character Ripley rather than Scott's prequel films. Scott will still be producing Blomkamp's untitled picture, which will head into production after Alien: Covenant is finished.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Here's what Weaver had to say, courtesy of Aggresive Comix (via The Playlist):

"Well, I think it is. Ridley asked Neill not to make our Alien 'til after 'Prometheus 2.'  [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."

It feels like there's a weird schism between the world of Alien that creator Scott wants to explore, and the one that 20th Century Fox wants to colonize. Scott's Rated-R picture, which picks up 10 years after Prometheus, and finds the crew of the colony ship Covenant headed for a remote planet, sees Michael Fassbender reprise his role of the android David, while Katherine Waterston steps in as the female lead (Noomi Rapace will not return for the sequel). Demian Bichir, Danny McBride, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Billy Crudup and Callie Hernandez also star.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Blomkamp's picture, however, features Weaver returning as Ripley alongside Michael Biehn's Corporal Dwayne Hicks. The story will essentially act like the third and fourth Aliens installments never existed. In keeping with that, the untitled Aliens film could also feature a 27-year-old Newt with an eye toward the new actress acting as the heir apparent to Weaver's Ripley. Basically, Fox is looking to build a shared universe out of a classic sci-fi/horror franchise and is shuffling some things around to make that easier going forward. I'm all for more Alien films, as long as they make more sense than Prometheus.

For more from the world of Alien, take a look at some of our recent coverage:

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