After Ellen Ripley last appeared in David Fincher’s Alien 3, Sigourney Weaver teased a possible return to the Weyland-Yutani world at the Alien reunion panel at New York Comic Con.
“[Alien” producer]Walter Hill is a very good friend of mine, and he wrote 50 pages about where Ripley is now, which is pretty extraordinary,” Weaver said onstage during a conversation moderated by Josh Horowitz. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I’ve had meetings with Fox and Disney…I never felt the need to[recast the role]. It was always, ‘Let her rest and recover.’ What Walter wrote rings so true to me as well, about a society imprisoning someone who tried to help humanity, but she’s a problem to them, so she’s hiding in a way. I think the first 50 pages are very fulfilling. I’m thinking of working with Walter and seeing how the rest of the story goes. ”
During the panel discussion, the audience was surprised by the appearance of Weaver’s Alien co-star Veronica Cartwert, who played Joan Lambert in the 1979 film. As Weaver and Cartwright reflect on the franchise’s nearly 50-year legacy, Cartwright discusses how the film was underappreciated by studio executives and the reaction of audiences when Alien was first released in theaters.
“They didn’t give (the cast) a premiere,” Cartwright said. “I went to the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and saw it by myself, and when the chestburster (scene) happened, people got up from their seats and walked out of the theater. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was really very impressive.”
“Alien” recently hit the small screen with Noah Hawley’s FX’s “Alien: Earth” show, which wrapped its first season last month. While Weaver waits for the return of Alien, she’s off to a galaxy far, far away for next summer’s Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu.
