McBride discusses Alien: Covenant, Weaver talks Blomkamp’s Alien 5

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Actors attached to two separate ALIEN franchise installments have dropped some interesting quotes in recent interviews, shedding some light on their respective projects.

First up is the most surprising cast member of Ridley Scott's currently-filming ALIEN prequel / PROMETHEUS sequel ALIEN: COVENANT, Danny McBride (pictured above, on set with Scott). We're so used to seeing McBride in one certain, comedic way, it's sort of hard to picture him existing within a futuristic sci-fi horror movie. Talking to Rolling Stone, McBride shared some details on his character and what the experience of working on the film has been like: 

I'm the pilot of the spaceship Covenant, which is a colonization ship, searching for a planet where we might start life anew. I run the ship.

… most of the stuff is practical effects: when you're running from an alien it's really a dude in an alien suit coming after you! The sets are incredible and you're in them: We go through some inclement weather at one point on the spaceship and this whole gigantic set is on a gimbal, shaking up and down. You don't have to use your imagination."

While ALIEN: COVENANT heads toward its August 4, 2017 release, Sigourney Weaver is looking forward to getting her chance to reprise the role of franchise heroine Ripley in an ALIEN 5 being developed by director Neill Blomkamp. The fact that ALIENS characters Hicks and Newt are said to play a role in Blomkamp's story alongside Ripley, despite being killed off at the beginning of ALIEN 3, has led to a lot of speculation that Blomkamp's film will be ignoring ALIEN 3 and ALIEN: RESURRECTION.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Weaver confirmed that is the case: 

It's just as if, you know, the path forks and one direction goes off to three and four and another direction goes off to Neill's movie."

This is fine by me. We know what happens in the timeline/reality where Hicks and Newt died, but I want to see what happens when we go down this other path where they both survived.

I'm looking forward to Blomkamp's sequel with much more anticipation than I have for ALIEN: COVENANT, but COVENANT's alien action should be fun to watch while I wait for the return of Ripley, Hicks, and Newt.

Blomkamp and Weaver