Sigourney Weaver Says Ridley Scott Dropped 'Alien 3' After Learning 'Alien vs. Predator' Was Developing

The “Alien” franchise is in state of flux at the moment. Ridley Scott went the prequel-ish route with “Prometheus,” while Neill Blomkamp is somewhat retconning the series with his upcoming installment set between “Aliens” and “Alien 3.” As fans know, Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley dies at the end of the David Fincher directed “Alien 3,” but what is less well known is that it was the actresses’ idea. As the script was developing for the franchise’s third movie, Weaver made it clear she wanted a minimal role for Ripley, and eventually landed on wanting her character to pass away. But besides giving Ripley a heroic exit, there was another reason Weaver has revealed for her character’s demise.

“…I heard that Fox was gonna do ‘Alien vs Predator.’ Which really depressed me, because I was very proud of the movies,” she told the Radio Times. “I’ve nothing against building a movie on a video game but at the time, it was, as [‘Aliens’ director] Jim Cameron said (I think) publically, ‘Why would you want to do that? It’s like making Alien meets the Wolfman.’ ”

The script for AVP began development in 1991, about a year before “Alien 3” would be released, but Weaver reveals that Scott would’ve returned to the director’s chair for “Alien 3” as well if that other movie wasn’t happening. “In fact, Ridley Scott was about to direct a third one, until [‘AVP] was announced, and he dropped out, because he also wanted to do an ‘Alien’ sequel,” Weaver says. In the early days of “Alien 3,” the plan was in the works for Scott to helm the picture, which would kick off a new trilogy, but as we know, he left, and Fincher took over what wound up being a troubled production.

READ MORE: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’

Meanwhile, in the early aughts, Cameron returned to work on the franchise, penning what would’ve been the fifth “Alien” movie that Scott would’ve directed, but the “Aliens” director also exited the movie after learning Fox was continuing to work on “Alien vs. Predator” (the movie, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, was released in 2004). Eventually, Scott has found a way back into the franchise with “Prometheus,” the kernels of which began with origin story ideas he initially shared with Cameron.

While Weaver is not officially booked yet for the Blomkamp’s film, she is certainly excited by the prospect. “I love the fact that’s Neill’s fulfilling his childhood dream of what he hopes will be the popcorn movie, the ‘Alien’ popcorn movie that he wanted as a kid to see,” she said.

Can we get one more kickass adventure with Ripley? We’ll find out soon enough.

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