Nearly 30 years after her last appearance as Lt. Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver is considering a return to the Alien franchise.
The 3x Oscar nominee, who made her breakout performance as Ripley in Alien (1979), recently teased at New York Comic Con that although she’s “never felt the need” to reprise the role, she’s read some pages of a screenplay that appeals to her.
“You know, [franchise producer] Walter Hill is a very good friend of mine and he wrote 50 pages of where Ripley would be now and they are quite extraordinary,” she said, according to People.
“So, I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I have had a meeting with Fox, Disney or whoever it is now,” added Weaver. “I have never felt the need [to reprise the role]. I was always like ‘let her rest, let her recover.’ But what Walter has written is, first of all, seems so true to me, as very much about the society that would incarcerate someone who has tried to help mankind, but she’s a problem to them so she’s sort of tucked away.”
Hill has served as a producer on the Alien franchise since it debuted in ’79, having also co-written Alien 3 (1992) with David Giler and Larry Ferguson.
Sigourney Weaver in ‘Aliens’ (1986) (20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection)
Everett
“I think it’s a very strong first 50 pages,” the actress said of Hill’s draft. “I’m thinking about working with Walter to see what the rest of the story would be.”
Weaver noted of the installment, “It would not be running around airshafts, it would be a very different kind of Alien. Scary, of course, the Alien does show up, inevitable. But I love what he’s done with the character. He really gets her strength and her anger and her humor, and it’s very hard to write, and surprisingly hard to write Ripley.”
The actress’ latest comments come as an about-face after she said in 2023 “that ship has sailed” following a failed installment by Neill Blomkamp. “I put in my time in space!” she said at the time.
Following her first showdown with a xenomorph in Alien (1979), Weaver reprised her role as Ripley in Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997). Last year’s Alien: Romulus was set between the events of the first two films.