Sigourney Weaver last stepped into the shoes of Ellen Ripley more than twenty years ago in ALIEN: RESURRECTION, but that hasn't stopped fans from demanding that Weaver return to reprise the role in a new ALIEN film. There have been several opportunities for Weaver to return to the role in the past, and it was revealed just last week that ALIEN franchise producer Walter Hill had put together a 50-page treatment for a new ALIEN film which Weaver had read.
Unfortunately, it didn't sound as though Sigourney Weaver believes that audiences need to see Ellen Ripley again. "I don’t know," Weaver said. "Ridley [Scott] has gone in a different direction. Maybe Ripley has done her bit. She deserves a rest." That said, Walter Hill isn't discouraged, telling SyFy Wire, "Sigourney, as she has from the very beginning, is being too modest about her proven ability to pull off the idea — which is to tell a story that scares the pants off your date, kicks the ass of a new Xenomorph, and conducts a meditation on both the universe of the Alien franchise and the destiny of the character of Lt. Ellen Ripley." It's a brief tease for a project which likely won't come to pass, but I'll take it. Hill's production company also confirmed to SyFy Wire that the 50-page treatment was written alongside fellow ALIEN producer David Giler, and that the latest draft was dated from March 2020. They also released an image of the treatment's title page, which includes the original film's tagline (In space no one can hear you scream) as well as a new variation, "In Space no one can hear you dream," plus quotes from Edgar Allan Pie (All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream) and William Tecumseh Sherman (War is hell).
Previously, the closest we had gotten to Sigourney Weaver returning as Ripley was a project from DISTRICT 9 director Neill Blomkamp, but Ridley Scott seemingly killed the film when he moved forward with ALIEN: COVENANT. Although we may have seen the last of Ripley, Ridley Scott still seems keen to continue the ALIEN franchise with another prequel.