Back in February, it was confirmed that 20th Century Fox is moving forward withAlien 5, which hasNeill Blomkampset to direct andRidley Scottproducing. Unfortunately, we reported last month thatAlien 5has been put on hold indefinitely, so the studio andRidley Scottcan focus on making a sequel toPrometheus, now entitledAlien: Covenant. We first heard aboutAlien 5in January, whenNeill Blomkampshared concept art illustrations that featuredSigourney Weaver’s Ripley andMichael Biehn’s Hicks from the 1986 sequelAliens, withMichael Biehnrevealing himself in March that he may come back as Hicks. The actor recently spoke withIcons of Fright, where he revealed thatAlien 5will feature an adult version of Newt, played by Carrie Henn inAliens.
“I think when they put that out there and have pictures with me asHicksagain, people were excited and though I’m not into online stuff much, my kids saw a lot about it on Reddit. They were excited. They’re planning on bringing me and Newt back and at this point Newt will be around twenty-seven years old. I know that every actress in Hollywood is going to want to play this one, it’s really a passing of the torch betweenSigourneyand this younger actress who would play Newt. It would keep the franchise alive and the studios would make money, because that’s what the bottom line is now: money. That’s why you end up seeingTerminator5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10 andThe Fast and the Furious7, 8, 9, and 10. So when that happens, theAliensfilm, maybe that will be one more movie that I can make a mark with, plus, Neill is such a talented guy. When I sawDistrict 9for the first time, I was glued to my seat, going ‘wow.’ So I’m hopeful for that one.”
This is the first we’ve heard about Newt’s involvement inAlien 5, and it seems that whoever lands the Newt role will carry the franchise forward into the future. Carrie Henn made her acting debut as Newt in 1986’sAliens, and she hasn’t acted since, although she is currently attached to a project entitledTriborn, which is currently in pre-production. Newt was the only survivor from the Hadley’s Hope settlement on Acheron following a Xenomorph infestation at the colony, who grew close to Ripley inAliens. Shortly after Alien 5 was announced,Neill Blomkamprevealed that the story would be connected to the originalAlienand its 1986 follow-upAliens, although the director clarified that he isn’t trying to “undoAlien 3andAlien Resurrection.“Michael Biehnrevealed in his interview that the story will pretend that both of those sequels “never existed,” while also clarifying why this project was put on hold, in favor ofAlien Covenant.
“They’re talking about doing anotherAliensmovie, withNeill Blomkamp, and Fox came and announced it and Sigourney (Weaver) has come out and announced it. The basic idea is acting likeAlien 3and Alien 4 never existed, so if you go onNeill Blomkamp’s site, everyone can see all of the artwork for that. I knowRidley Scottis doing his movie first and is going to be the executive producer on this one, so I’m really looking forward to that. I know that Ridley’s focus is on the secondPrometheus(now titledAlien: Covenant) and I’m sure that he and Fox both don’t want that and Neill’s movie to come out right next to each other, because they’re kind of two different worlds, withAlien 5taking place thousands of years later, which is how they explained it all to me, but at the same time, they want to give them a similar feel. I know they’re putting the brakes on Neill’s movie just for a little while, but I really think that it would be embarrassing to Ridley and Fox and Sigourney if they just didn’t make the movie.”
Alien: Covenantwas recently given an August 08, 2025 release date, putting it up against Warner Bros.‘The Jungle Book: Origins. 20th Century Fox hasn’t announced whenAlien 5may hit theaters, but it’s possible that it may arrive in either 2018, 2019 or possibly 2020, depending on how long the studio may want to space out the two movies. What do you think about the news that Newt will return inAlien 5, along with Ripley and Hicks? Who do you think would be the best actress to play the 27-year-old Newt?
