The Alien franchise is regarded as one of the most successful in the history of cinema that concluded arguably in an incomplete way. As a fifth installment was already in the works, which was entirely penned by the 2017 Justice League director Joss Whedon, failed to come to fruition for a number of reasons. This missed opportunity left the fans yearning for what could have been, as the director had an entire plan ready to go aimed at delivering the franchise the farewell it deserved. This would have also provided the audiences with the much-needed closure they eagerly sought, particularly after Joss Whedon’s own disappointment with the film that ultimately marked the end of the beloved series.
The Avenger’s director wanted the franchise to return to its roots, to its home, the Earth. Although he promised to shock the audiences with something completely new, it failed to garner the support of the executives involved. Here is all that is known about the long-lost Alien V.
Joss Whedon Did Not Want the Alien Franchise to Be Out of the World
Joss Whedon wanted the fifth part of the Alien film series to be based on Earth. As per alienmovies.ca, the director in an interview with SFX magazine elaborated on the ideas that he had in store for the part. He would have been completely in charge of the crafting of the script if the movie saw the light of the day. He stated,
“If I write this movie and it has my writing credits on it then it’s going to be on Earth….And it’s going to be VERY different from the last one.”
He then also further stated,
“The studio talked about Alien Resurrection as a kind of place holder….they said, ‘We want to do Earth or the big Alien planet, but we’re not convinced yet that this franchise has legs. So we want to do a smaller story’.”
With Alien 5, the director had the intention to bring closure to Sigourney Weaver‘s character, Ripley, after her significant absence from her home planet, the Earth. This return promised to give a definitive conclusion to the original movie series. Joss Whedon loved this saga dearly and his desire to wrap up Ripley’s storyline further proved how much he wanted to go back to the complex human connection, and tension-filled roots.
Why Alien V Never Saw the Light of the Day?
Although Alien V script had a lot of factors preventing it from moving into production. The primary reason for the sequel’s failure to see the light of the day was Sigourney Weaver’s disapproval. Whedon’s number one priority was to give the characters more dimension, which Weaver ironically argued that the return to Earth would significantly damage the franchise’s progress, and would strip the character of its intricacy.
Furthermore, the studio wanted to venture into a distant land where Ridley Scott’s Aliens were set to battle John McTiernan’s Predators, which James Cameron firmly discouraged. Despite losing Cameron’s support, the studio was adamant, leading to the release of Paul W.S. Anderson’s AVP: Alien vs. Predator in 2004 which further strayed from Whedon’s intended essence of the saga and therefore was deemed as the final nail in the coffin for the director’s concept. Ultimately, leading his beloved Alien 5 script to be shelved for an indefinite amount of time.
Source: SFX magazine (via ALIEN Movies Resource)
