It’s no secret that the Alien franchise is one of my all time favorite. Even as different as the first two films are I oftentimes see them as co-favorites in the series, as both do what they do extremely well and are the gold standard when it comes great cinematic storytelling. Alien 3, while flawed and obviously suffering from studio meddling, has held up better as the years have progressed. Being David Fincher’s first feature film, I can see his DNA all over the project, albeit in pieces and not as a single coherent work. If you haven’t seen the “Fincher” cut, it’s worth searching out. It’s much better than the theatrical cut.
We won’t even talk about the mess that is Alien: Resurrection, to say nothing of the two AVP offerings we’ve had, nor the latest two from Mr. Scott that did nothing to give us a return to what made the series great. See below as to my overall feelings on the latest two…
Needless to say, us Xenofites (I Just coined this term) have had a rough go of it as of late. And now we’ve just had more acid poured in our open wounds by way of a slew of previously unreleased concept art for director Neill Blomkamp’s never made Alien 5 project.
If you are unaware, way back in February 2015, it was announced that District 9 and Elysium director Neill Blomkamp was in pre-production on what was to be the 5th feature film in the Alien franchise. That news alone gave us fans great hope that the series would return to greatness, but then it was made known that his film would be a direct sequel to Aliens, ignoring 3 and Resurrection completely. It would feature Ripley returning, with Michael Biehn’s Hicks and Newt also back from the James Cameron helmed sequel.
Alien fans rejoiced!
Fast forward to summer of 2016, and signs were pointing to the project losing steam in favor of Ridley Scott’s sequel to Prometheus. 20th Century Fox ultimately decided to shelf Neill’s Alien 5 project in favor of letting Ridley move forward with which would ultimately be the shitfest known as Alien: Covenant (I’m not bitter at all, can’t you tell).
So here we are, in 2021, coming out the other side of a pandemic. And while I’m grateful that theaters are returning and I’m getting to have my cinema experience again. This release of concept art from this cancelled project is a tad bittersweet. Not since Jodorowsky’s failed Dune project has there been something with such promise, such potential. Ultimately never to become realized.
At least us fans have the amazing Alien: Isolation game that gave us a wonderful story and experience in the Alien universe. And there is even a sequel on the way.
Until then, take a look at what could have been:
Derelict 
As always, leave a comment with your thoughts. Until next time, LLAP!
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