Alien4 Rumour Page

 "This is rumour control...!"

This page is dedicated to rumours about Alien4. Nothing here is truly substantiated. If you have any additional information, please MAIL ME at: vos@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl.

• In the March issue of Cinescape, Joss Whedon stated that:
  • He is writing the script for Alien4. This seems to be true.
  • Ripley will return, as a clone.
  • The samples of which the Ripley-clone will be made are samples of the 'true' Ripley after she was impregnated.
  • The story will not take place on Earth, due to budget problems.
  • Aliens are genetically different from humans.
  • Joss hints that Ripley will 'have something different when she comes back.' An assumption is a genetic infusion, giving Ripley some sort of telepathic/empathic link to the aliens.
  • "Once something gets on the Internet, forget it!" (As to why he is jealously guarding the script.)
  
  
• In the February issue of US magazine, Sigourney Weaver states that her character may be brought back in the next film, and that she is talking with the studio execs about it. She seems amenable to doing another film.

• In a computer games magazine it is stated that a possible script for Alien4 would be something along the lines of Alien^3 being a virtual reality dream that the Company induced to see if Ripley was truly loyal. Unfortunately it didn't say anything else, and the name of the magazine is unknown.

• In the May issue of Cinescape '95, it is mentioned...
  "With SPEED scriptwriter on board, all the producers of the fourth installment of the ALIEN tale need is Sigourney Weaver's name on the dotted line, and they can begin production on the long-awaited next installment".
  It may not mean that the script is finished, but it seems to imply it. This also seems to confirm Weaver's participation in Alien4.

• From the British Sci-Fi magazine, STARBURST (no.200, 4/95)
  "With Sigourney Weaver in the lead and James Cameron behind the camera, ALIEN4 looks set to restore the genre's finest fear franchise - with more than a little help from twenty-something screenwriter Joss Whedon. Fresh from polishing the script of Kevin Costner's mega-budgeted Fantasy movie, WATERWORLD, Whedon resurrects Ripley with the time-honoured Sci-Fi premise of cloning, and that's not the only twist he has in store.
  He says, 'Is she all woman or is just a little something wrong? The whole intention is that when she comes back from the dead, she has to be larger than life.'
  Whedon cites the original ALIEN as the film that's had more influence on him than any other and promises that ALIEN4 will be extraordinary- 'I want to do an EVIL DEAD, where it's really mencing and never stops. I want every scene to contain something special.'..."

  1995(c) copyright STARBURST, Visual Imagination Publication

  Note: The STARBURST magazine has been found very accurate over the years.

• Sigourney Weaver was interviewed on UK's Radio 1 about two weeks ago and the question about performing in Alien4 was posed to her. She said she had not signed anything and knew very little other than they planned to clone her from her 'toenails'. She said she was interested in exploring the idea that she was brought back from the dead against her will.

• On Fri, May 25 David Giler was answering questions on AOL. I asked if SW has signed and if she was coming back by "cloning". He answered that she had NOT signed and that cloning was one option under "furious" consideration.

• In the first (May) issue of the British SF magazine SFX,there is a mini interview of Sigourney Weaver,in which she states that she has been approached for Alien 4.The same magazine says that she has been offered $5 million for the role.Sigourney says:
  "If they come up with a nice idea,I'd be more than happy to get back aboard."
  She also talks about the way she is "resurrected in the sequel:
  "They've imagined that the company manages to save a few fingers of Ripley from the furnace,so they use the DNA from these to clone her back"

• From Michael Dougherty:

  A friend of mine who works for Universal reported seeing an exhibit dedicated to Alien set up by 20th Century Fox at a recent licensing show in New York. It included a timeline which traces the Alien story from the original film, through its sequels and even through comic books and novels. The timeline stretched into 1997 where the entry "Aliens: Armageddon" appeared.
  The Fox executive was brief in their desciption of this project, but my friend was led to believe that it was actually the Aliens Vs Predator film, and not the Alien 4 that Joss Whedon has been writing.
  Nothing is 100% clear at this point, but I'll update you when I speak to him again soon.

• From SFX The Science Fiction Magazine, #1 juni 1995

  Phone: (01225) 442244 (UK)
  E-mail: sfx@futurenet.co.uk

  "ALIEN QUEEN" Sigourney Weaver talks about Ripley and Alien 4. Interview by Giuseppe Salza.
  [Editorial type stuff]
  [Stuff about Sigourney missing Ripley]
  ... things change, and now Weaver's happer to consider reprising the role: "If they come up with a nice idea, I'd be more than happy to get back aboard. If it's not for Alien 4, it could be for Alien 5."
  The Plan to bring Ripley back has been actively pursued for the past year by Walter Hill and David Giler, the two main creators of the Alien series. So how are they planning to bring back someone who's plunged into a sea of molten lead?
  "It's very intriguing," Weaver offers, teasingly. "They've imagined that the Company manages to save a few fingers of Ripley from the furnace, so they use the DNA from these to clone her back. But what I like above all is the idea that lies behind all this. Ripley committed suicide because there was no other way out. But in the future they can deny you this supreme act; they will bring you back to life even if you don't want if. If the script can develop this issue and be thought-provoking at the same time, we can talk."
  [Weaver enthuses about Alien series and Ripley]

  "PRODUCTION HELL"
  (Or movies we may see. One day.)

  ALIEN 4 (20th Century Fox).
  A long-touted script by Peter Riggs for an Aliens vs Predator movie has since been superseded by a Joss Whedon story in which the Aliens (at last!) come to Earth. Sigourney Weaver has been offered $5 million to reprise her role as Ripley. (See news story [ALIEN QUEEN] above.)

  This last item is Copyright (c) Future Publishing 1995
  Also look at: Future Net for Sci-fi news...!

• From Gigaplex:
  (from an interview with Sigourney Weaver)

  Q: How about another Alien sequel? 
  
  A: I think there will be Alien 4 without question. I don't
    know if I'll be part of it. Probably not. It would take a
    pretty imaginative script. But it is science fiction, so
    anything can happen. It would take the desire on the part of
    a very talented director to bring me back into the story in
    some startlingly original way. I want to do what is best for
    the series, and there's only so much misfortune a person can
    have before even an enthusiastic audience will say, ``This is
    getting a little hard to take.''
  
  Q: The Alien films have given so many people nightmares. As
     the star of them, you must have had your share. 
  
  A: I've only had one nightmare. I don't recall dreaming
    during the second one, but on the third one, I dreamt that I
    was on some sort of cruise ship, and the Alien was on board.
    I've never even been on a cruise ship! But anyway, we all got
    together and said, ``What are we going to do?'' And I was of
    no help at all. I ended up hiding under one of those deck
    chairs with a towel over my head. And I remember thinking,
    ``This probably won't work. It will find me.''
  
  Q: There's your sequel! 
  
  A: Alien 4: The Cruise. 
  

• In the October '95 issue of Cinescape in the "Exclusive Previews of Movies in Development" section it said that
  
  "Now that Joss Whedon has turned in his script to the Fox Big Brass and awaits their approval. How much longer do we have to wait for the next Alien sequel? We wish we knew."

  More information about Alien 4: Resurrection, which seems to be the working title for Alien4, can be obtained at Corona. There is a mirror of this page here.

  Latest info on 14 februari '96 (unconfirmed):
  They seem to have a director, his name is Boyle. They are after Winona Ryder for a major part, and they plan to start filming this summer for a spring of 97 release. This way, they can avoid Jurassic Park 2 (The Lost World) and the re-release of the remastered Star Wars and the other big hits.

  Amongst all the hype surrounding new UK release "Trainspotting" it is regularly mentioned that some or all of the creators have been approached/accepted an offer to make Alien 4. The people involved are likely to be:

  Director: Danny Boyle

  Writer: John Hodge

  Producer: Andy Macdonald (I think)

  These are also the people behind the highly successful 1994 release "Shallow Grave"

  19 februari:
  (From Corona wed page)
  Danny Boyle has declined the directorship of alien4, instead he is going to do another film along the lines of transpotters/shallow grave.

  19 March:
  Sigourney Weaver and Wyona Ryder have signed a contract to star in Alien4. Still no director in sight.
  Signourney Weaver was reportedly quoted in Mr. Showbiz at the Santa Bardara Film Festival as saying:
  "I am absolutely sure there will be an Alien5 , because I know how Alien 4 ends. I am the last person who thought I would do another one, but we have a wonderful script. They came up with the most the most provocative situation for Ripley to find herself in. It is very unexpected and will surprise a lot of people and will give me an interesting job".
  (Quoted from Mr Showbiz)

  A rumour is circulating that Wynona Ryder's character is an android assassin hired by the Ripley clone to destroy an alien on Earth.

  From http://found.cs.nyu.edu/michael/
  Wynona was brought in to play an android named Call. She's the leader of a group of mercenaries who overrun ships, kidnap the sleeping inhabitants in their cryotubes, and deliver them to the scientists to be used as hosts for the aliens. According to Entertainment Weekly she and Ripley team up to stop the aliens before the ship they're on reaches Earth. It's still unclear though if her character is going to be an antagonist or a protagonist since she supposedly WANTS the aliens to be set loose.

  May 1996
  Jean Pierre Jeunett is likely to be the director. It's been publicised in IME, and Branden Miller, head Marketing Midwest for 20th Century Fox, has stated this also.