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Sigourney Weaver doesn't think sci-fi films 'get enough respect'.

The 65-year-old actress - who is, perhaps, best known for playing Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise - has hit out at critics of the genre, but thinks attitude towards such films will change in the coming years.

Weaver, who stars in new movie Chappie, said: "It is a genre that I think doesn't get enough respect when you consider how many issues sci-fi brings up that we need to deal with."

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Asked why the genre is so often overlooked for Academy Awards, she told Digital Spy: "I think part of it is the Academy is mostly people like me who are over a certain age and they're still probably looking for the more conventional movie.

"I think all that's going to change because some of the work being done in sci-fi is some of the most interesting, provocative work out there."

Meanwhile, Weaver and Chappie director Neill Blomkamp are set to reunite for a new Alien movie.

(Image: 20th Century Fox)

The director said the film will feel like the 'genetic sibling of Aliens', meaning it will disregard Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection and will instead carry on from the James Cameron-directed Aliens.

He explained: "I want this film to feel like it's literally the genetic sibling of Aliens. So it's Alien, Aliens, and then this movie."