Alien

Mach Two · 05-03-2020 5:57pm #1

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

Slydice · 05-03-2020 7:11pm

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 7:21pm

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 2:10pm

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

Homelander · 07-03-2020 2:43pm

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 3:40pm

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 3:45pm

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 9:44pm

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 3:13pm

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 3:58pm

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 4:05pm

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 1:05am

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 2:10am

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 2:31am

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 3:25am

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 10:06am

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 1:43pm

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 1:55pm

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 2:04pm

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 3:09pm

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 3:45pm

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 3:50pm

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 3:53pm

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 4:04pm

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 4:36pm

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 4:45pm

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 5:06pm

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 5:10pm

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 5:24pm

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 5:44pm

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 5:53pm

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

CatFromHue · 12-03-2020 1:43am

Alien and Aliens are very logical films, in that the decisions the characters make tend to make sense (Ripley not wanting to let the crew back on the ship in Alien only to be over ruled by Ash. Then later on we find out why Ash over ruled her). I think even Alien 3 was like this too.

In Prometheus and Covenant there's just loads of decisions the characters make that doesn't make sense.

RandomViewer · 12-03-2020 1:56am

JupiterKid wrote: »

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.

Cameron's Aliens is probably the best action film ever made. The science is minimal, the creatures are just animals the action and suspense is awesome.

RandomViewer · 12-03-2020 2:01am

CatFromHue wrote: »

Alien and Aliens are very logical films, in that the decisions the characters make tend to make sense (Ripley not wanting to let the crew back on the ship in Alien only to be over ruled by Ash. Then later on we find out why Ash over ruled her). I think even Alien 3 was like this too.

In Prometheus and Covenant there's just loads of decisions the characters make that doesn't make sense.

Alien three was too claustrophobic and the pacing was inconsistent, 4 was terrible ,French art house director. Alien vs Predator would have been much better if they'd spent some of the FX budget on a script

12-03-2020 2:36am

I'm the only one that liked 4?

Not all of it but it was similar to aliens 1986 which is one of my all time favorites.

As another year stated, Earth hive or one of the Perry books would make a good movie. Hive might be a bit slow for a movie in it's own but mixed with nightmare, female war, etc. Could work

Tony EH · 12-03-2020 9:40am

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

I'm the only one that liked 4?

Maybe.

'Alien resurrection' is just a wretched film though. Awful characters, inconsistent tone, stupid story and dreadful attempts at comedy.

Don't know WTF they were thinking giving that film to that director.

But if you like it, you like it.

Mind you, Ridley Scott proved that he wouldn't have done much better.

pixelburp · 12-03-2020 10:38am

Well I mean there's always one I guess, but the consensus would be that Alien Resurrection was a total turd of a film. The choice of director was creative, but misplaced. Jeunet's a good director, but wasn't the right choice (I may be misremembering but I believe he didn't even speak English at the time)

Always find it an amusing side-note that that script was penned by Joss Whedon; his fans like to forget that one

Tony EH · 12-03-2020 11:34am

pixelburp wrote: »

Well I mean there's always one I guess, but the consensus would be that Alien Resurrection was a total turd of a film. The choice of director was creative, but misplaced. Jeunet's a good director, but wasn't the right choice (I may be misremembering but I believe he didn't even speak English at the time)

Always find it an amusing side-note that that script was penned by Joss Whedon; his fans like to forget that one

The problem is he has a particular style. A style that simply isn't suited to something like an Alien movie and it resulted in an awful effort.

As for Joss Whedon, the less I say about him the better. Mr. fucking meta.

1o059k7ewrqj3n · 12-03-2020 2:25pm

I was young enough when it came out and enjoyed Alien Resurrection, then as I got older the differences between the first 3 made me view it as less than worthy of being an Alien film. In the last few years though I've warmed to it again, in comparison to what followed it is, to me at least, an Alien film.

There's some tone shifts but the basic concept around the Alien and not ****in androids makes it for me. The Newborn was pretty cool too.

mikhail · 12-03-2020 4:36pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Always find it an amusing side-note that that script was penned by Joss Whedon; his fans like to forget that one

So does he. I've heard him talk about it. He's not happy with how it turned out. His original ending was cut too, for budget reasons.

12-03-2020 4:51pm

mikhail wrote: »

So does he. I've heard him talk about it. He's not happy with how it turned out. His original ending was cut too, for budget reasons.

don't think that it (Alien: Resurrection) being muck can be put down to the ending!

Mic 1972 · 12-03-2020 5:03pm

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

Yep, trying to pull a Blade Runner and failing

Church on Tuesday · 13-03-2020 4:30pm

RandomViewer wrote: »

Cameron's Aliens is probably the best action film ever made. The science is minimal, the creatures are just animals the action and suspense is awesome.

Not just animals though, they retain the intelligence from the original Xenomorph in that they are shown to be able to cut power and think strategically.

mikhail · 13-03-2020 6:15pm

glasso wrote: »

don't think that it (Alien: Resurrection) being muck can be put down to the ending!

No, and Whedon has to take a share of the blame, but I do wonder what the film would have looked like if he'd directed it too.

vriesmays · 13-03-2020 9:01pm

The best Alien movie:

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

pixelburp · 20-03-2020 6:22pm

Relatively recently I came across Patrick (H) Willems' videos, I think via this forum actually; I don't find him intentionally or overly contrarian, even if he sometimes goes to bat for ostensibly "bad" films (for instance, he argues for the positives to be found in the Schumacher films).

Specifically, today YouTube suggested one of his older videos about ... Alien Covenant. And while it scarcely changes my mind, he does make some fair points all the same that kinda re-contextualises the film a little. That Covenant was as much a Mad Scientist Horror Movie as Aliens was a War Movie. Also interesting that Scott himself acknowledged the 3rd act "twist" wasn't even trying to fool the audience.

Also, his videos are funny if only for his involvement of his parents (including the Irish Mammy):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIftf6S3hvI

Kylta · 21-03-2020 12:06am

I'd rate the four original alien films
Aliens.(2)
Aliens (4)
Alien (1)
Alien (3)
Prometheus and Covenant are suppose to be prequels, I dont they they work because the were made far to years after the original. But hey doesnt Sigourney Weaver kick ass a lot better than Linda Hamilton in the terminator franchise

Skerries · 22-03-2020 8:32pm

that rating makes no sense ????

Dontfadeaway · 24-03-2020 1:40pm

I enjoyed Prometheus but Covenant was bad and even looked cheap in a lot of places. My main issue is the David/Walter story, I don't care about it.

Alien

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