Alien

Mach Two · 05-03-2020 04:57PM #1

Anyone know if there is a new Alien movie coming out for 2020.

Slydice · 05-03-2020 06:11PM

Hrmmm... I've not seen any marketing
- and this year is probably pretty full at the moment
- and the Covid-19 virus has prompted James Bond to move it's release date to later in the year
- so it'll probably be even more crowded if they were to try a surprise announcement for later in the year

There are two takeaways I've gotten from a quick check on the wiki:

possible revival of the Blomkamp film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(franchise)#Future

In February 2019, James Cameron stated that he was working on reviving Blomkamp's project.
possible third Ridley Scott film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alien_(franchise)_films_and_television_series#Future

In late May 2019, it was reported that Ridley Scott is working on a third prequel, which is currently being written

but definitely some films in the future: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(franchise)#Future

After the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, it was officially confirmed at the 2019 CinemaCon that future Alien films are in development.

pixelburp · 05-03-2020 06:21PM

Nope. I hope not. The franchise is dead.

There was a Neil Blomkamp movie in pre production for a while, and was meant to be a direct sequel to Aliens (ignoring Alien 3 onwards) but that was mothballed a year or two back.

With Disney now owning the IP (Yeah, think about that), I got the impression the Mouse House has shuttered a lot of adult franchises that were on the way down. IIRC when the Fox merger happened, Disney killed approx 250 active productions

Edit: oh so perhaps not, if Slydices post is to be believed. We'll see I guess.

Mach Two · 07-03-2020 01:10PM

I hope a few more are made as the story seems incomplete.

Homelander · 07-03-2020 01:43PM

The last one was fairly crap, watchable but a pretty bad movie and terrible follow up to the very decent Prometheus.

I was very interested in the Bloomkampf one, but zero interest in a new Ridley Scott one, the man's pulling a George Lucas with these prequel films.

Prometheus was a little disappointing but still a very good movie, but whatever the last one was called was horrible.

CatFromHue · 07-03-2020 02:40PM

Mach Two wrote: »

I hope a few more are made as the story seems incomplete.

I'm the same but still have big reservations.

There's plenty of story to explore, there's a good few books written for example, but the origin of the Alien I don't think is the way to go.

Earth Hive with the Earth getting wrecked, abandoned, and then reclaimed would be enough for a few films.

The Devil is always in the detail though.

pixelburp · 07-03-2020 02:45PM

Mach Two wrote: »

I hope a few more are made as the story seems incomplete.

The problem with the Alien franchise has been too much story, not an absence. The latter two basically robbing the cosmic horror of the xenomorph and turning it into a generic Frankenstein monster.

1o059k7ewrqj3n · 09-03-2020 08:44PM

I've given up on Alien since the last two films, I thought they were woeful and let down the last mystery of the franchise about the space jockey. If you are yearning for some good Alien stories check out the audiobooks on Audible - River of Pain and Out of the Shadows. They got Rutger Hauer to do the voicework in one of those and also a lady who sounds amazingly like Sigourney Weaver.

mikhail · 10-03-2020 02:13PM

Steyr 556 wrote: »

I've given up on Alien since the last two films, I thought they were woeful and let down the last mystery of the franchise about the space jockey. If you are yearning for some good Alien stories check out the audiobooks on Audacity - River of Pain and Out of the Shadows. They got Rutger Hauer to do the voicework in one of those and also a lady who sounds amazingly like Sigourney Weaver.

I've never used an audiobook, but that sounds interesting. Do you get an mp3 file or something, or do you need a specialist player?

1o059k7ewrqj3n · 10-03-2020 02:58PM

mikhail wrote: »

I've never used an audiobook, but that sounds interesting. Do you get an mp3 file or something, or do you need a specialist player?

Download the Audible app. I did it on a Amazon Fire tablet but I know they have it for iPhone and PC too. I remember I joined for a month and got a free audiobook so I choose one of the Alien stories but they may have changed that deal.

JupiterKid · 10-03-2020 03:05PM

Alien fan here too, and whilst Prometheus was grand, nothing will ever compare to the Ridley Scott 1979 original and the even better James Cameron sequel in 1986.

Amazing films that set a new standard in sci-fi horror. Leave the Alien franchise be.

11-03-2020 12:05AM

Prometheus was not too bad but Alien : Covenant was shyte.

Way too much Fassbender android going on in that one.

might as well have been called Alien : Android.

stuff like this ffs

https://youtu.be/-JXgQ4UwPFc?t=68

Tony EH · 11-03-2020 01:10AM

The 'Alien' series was fine as three films. It should have been left at that. It's a grand story as a trilogy. The Ripley trilogy. We follow her and her troubles with the Xenomorph up until her death in 'Alien 3'.

Every time they're tried to add to it, they're fucked it up.

AllForIt · 11-03-2020 01:31AM

Mach Two wrote: »

I hope a few more are made as the story seems incomplete.

I agree. I'd like to see a third one to finish it off. Where was David planning on taking the ship with the infected cargo!

I agree both Promethus and Covenant were more about android than alien but Fassbender was good. The first time I watched both those movies I was really disappointed but watching for a second time years later I enjoyed them much more for what they were rather than what I was expecting them to be. They were better than Alien Vs Predator and Alien Resurrection anyway.

11-03-2020 02:25AM

AllForIt wrote: »

I agree. I'd like to see a third one to finish it off. Where was David planning on taking the ship with the infected cargo!

I agree both Promethus and Covenant were more about android than alien but Fassbender was good. The first time I watched both those movies I was really disappointed but watching for a second time years later I enjoyed them much more for what they were rather than what I was expecting them to be. They were better than Alien Vs Predator and Alien Resurrection anyway.

I would agree that Prometheus does hold up to another watch easily and was well done mostly although I didn't care for the Theron character but Covenant is just ridiculous for many reasons - e.g. the way the 2 final form aliens are fully grown after 5 minutes for example.

pixelburp · 11-03-2020 09:06AM

Prometheus' plot was gubbins but I maintain a love for it, purely because it was grand, grotesque and slightly ambiguous. It felt in keeping with the spirit of the original Alien, with the goopy, organic feel of its non-terrestrial worlds; while still maintaining some semblance of mystery about the whole xenomorph. I know there are valid criticisms to make about its reckless scientists, or characters' inability to run serpentine, but Prometheus was a gorgeous, borderline art-house (yeah, I said it) production with a blockbuster budget.

So of course, purists hated it, general audiences hated it, meaning Scott went and made a "proper" Alien movie, that spelled everything out in black & white.

Tony EH · 11-03-2020 12:43PM

Yeh, it's nice to look at, but it was one of the most idiotic movies that's been produced in a long time that did a lot to destroy what was good about general story in the first place. But, it's stupidity aside, the biggest problem about it was that it robbed of the original of its mystery and made humanity the most important centre of the story.

Even its one good idea, that we get to meet our maker and he doesn't give a shit, they botched.

The less said about Covenant, the better.

mikhail · 11-03-2020 12:55PM

I seem to be the only one who hated Prometheus but found Covenant merely not good. Maybe Prometheus just exhausted me of bile.

1o059k7ewrqj3n · 11-03-2020 01:04PM

Have any of you played the Alien: Isolation game? I'd love to but my PC is rubbish and I've no consoles as of late that can play it.

From the videos I've seen it looks very intense and the environmental design is beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPTEeX9ZE9Y

Church on Tuesday · 11-03-2020 02:09PM

glasso wrote: »

Prometheus was not too bad but Alien : Covenant was shyte.

Way too much Fassbender android going on in that one.

might as well have been called Alien : Android.

stuff like this ffs

https://youtu.be/-JXgQ4UwPFc?t=68

Oddly enough, this is how Scott more or less sees the franchise going forward; an android story with Alien playing out in the background.

Prometheus was a pretty film to look at and there are elements to the film which are fascinating to ponder but ultimately it was over ambitious and failed.

Covenant was almost fan service as a result to above but badly missed its mark and the crossroads into what it now solely David territory.

11-03-2020 02:45PM

Steyr 556 wrote: »

Have any of you played the Alien: Isolation game? I'd love to but my PC is rubbish and I've no consoles as of late that can play it.

From the videos I've seen it looks very intense and the environmental design is beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPTEeX9ZE9Y

Alien isolation is an old game at this stage will run easily on integrated graphics at 720p resolution on an intel 3 laptop. I.e. will run on a budget laptop

pixelburp · 11-03-2020 02:50PM

2014 is "old" now??? lol

Isolation came out on Nintendo Switch recently, and is arguably the best non-PC version available. The game generally is a masterstroke of tension and suspense, and really captures the proper terror a single xenomorph can imbue. As said, the environmental design is superb too, capturing the 1970s future-tech aesthetic of the early movies while being part of the moment-to-moment experience.

11-03-2020 02:53PM

pixelburp wrote: »

2014 is "old" now??? lol

Isolation came out on Nintendo Switch recently, and is arguably the best non-PC version available. The game generally is a masterstroke of tension and suspense, and really captures the proper terror a single xenomorph can imbue. As said, the environmental design is superb too, capturing the 1970s future-tech aesthetic of the early movies while being part of the moment-to-moment experience.

eh yes a 6 year old game would be classed as an old game tbh. especially in terms of graphics demands which is what the context was as the poster was bemoaning his low-end pc ....

anyway poster give it a go - it's very well optimised as a game and not demanding in any way as most of it is based in small indoor environments which is easy to handle - even an "old" intel i3 from 2014 with only 4gb ram can run it in a playable run - see video here. I'd have to ask around if that is classed as an old laptop :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrq6LlO7r1E

11-03-2020 03:04PM

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Oddly enough, this is how Scott more or less sees the franchise going forward; an android story with Alien playing out in the background.

Prometheus was a pretty film to look at and there are elements to the film which are fascinating to ponder but ultimately it was over ambitious and failed.

Covenant was almost fan service as a result to above but badly missed its mark and the crossroads into what it now solely David territory.

I can see how the android angle and the creators provides a lot more scope for exploration really as opposed to a tunnel-vision killing machine but I think that it's too divisive for too many insular fans!

when you think about it there is only so much variety you can do with a killing machine - not that much at all.

that said Covenant was just really badly done.

I would have no problem with the continuation of the David story to finish off that storyline- it's set to end up being the direct prequel to the first movie in terms of story I think as that "incident" happened at a former colony.

Church on Tuesday · 11-03-2020 03:36PM

glasso wrote: »

I can see how the android angle and the creators provides a lot more scope for exploration really as opposed to a tunnel-vision killing machine but I think that it's too divisive for too many insular fans!

when you think about it there is only so much variety you can do with a killing machine - not that much at all.

that said Covenant was just really badly done.

I would have no problem with the continuation of the David story to finish off that storyline- it's set to end up being the direct prequel to the first movie in terms of story I think as that "incident" happened at a former colony.

Apparently Scott wanted/wants another 4 films before the story would dovetail into the original Alien...

11-03-2020 03:45PM

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Apparently Scott wanted/wants another 4 films before the story would dovetail into the original Alien...

fair enough but as they are on the way to set up an actual colony seems a stretch to do 4 movies!

unless they veer off on some other tangent.

it's one of those cases imo (a bit like terminator, although not totally the same obviously as that is more of a closed time loop) where the nature of the original story is a bit self-limiting and yet move away from it and you're shot down by the original fans

Church on Tuesday · 11-03-2020 04:06PM

glasso wrote: »

fair enough but as they are on the way to set up an actual colony seems a stretch to do 4 movies!

unless they veer off on some other tangent.

it's one of those cases imo (a bit like terminator, although not totally the same obviously as that is more of a closed time loop) where the nature of the original story is a bit self-limiting and yet move away from it and you're shot down by the original fans

I know it's crazy.

Scott will be lucky if he even gets the chance to make a 3rd prequel with the Disney takeover; it's time to finish this story now and take the franchise on another story if need be, like a spin off perhaps that is NOT AVP :mad:

pixelburp · 11-03-2020 04:10PM

Or. They just let the franchise die. 8 films is a handsome output for any franchise (even if the quality wasn't always that great). The Law of Diminishing Returns has been in effect since number 2.

It won't die, cos it's Disney and modern pop culture capital is based off nostalgic endorphin hits, but there's always hope.

Homelander · 11-03-2020 04:24PM

glasso wrote: »

eh yes a 6 year old game would be classed as an old game tbh. especially in terms of graphics demands which is what the context was as the poster was bemoaning his low-end pc ....

anyway poster give it a go - it's very well optimised as a game and not demanding in any way as most of it is based in small indoor environments which is easy to handle - even an "old" intel i3 from 2014 with only 4gb ram can run it in a playable run - see video here. I'd have to ask around if that is classed as an old laptop :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrq6LlO7r1E

Ah jesus, that looks like "720p" with render scale reduced to make it effectively around 360p, and the framerate is horrible, 20fps at times. While I agree it's not the most demanding game, you would need something way better than that to actually enjoy it!

11-03-2020 04:44PM

Homelander wrote: »

Ah jesus, that looks like "720p" with render scale reduced to make it effectively around 360p, and the framerate is horrible, 20fps at times. While I agree it's not the most demanding game, you would need something way better than that to actually enjoy it!

I disagree. played it originally at 720p and it still looks good.

fairly sure they had not implemented dynamic resolution scaling back in 2014 for this game so would not hit 360p on pc if you select 720p

on any recent i3 you will never drop under 30 fps. that's a 6 year old i3 with really old integrated graphics hd 4000 in that video. it's just not a demanding game. anything like hd 5500 (2015+) and it will be a fair bit better.

30 fps is plenty for this type of game - it's not a competitive first person shooter

the original poster doesn't sound like he was going to go out and buy a new pc for this - he can most likely enjoy it on what he currently has.

even on the switch it runs at 30fps and 720p in portable mode.

11-03-2020 04:53PM

e.g. an i3 with intel hd 5500 and only 4gb ram from 2015 -

average 40 fps!

no dynamic scaling https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Alien:_Isolation#Video_settings

hard to argue that that doesn't look pretty good...

just one of those rare cases where a game that looks good can run well on low-end hardware.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqdGkTZ59nM

Alien

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