Ridley Scott Says the Disney/Fox Merger Puts Future Alien Films in Jeopardy

Certain things in the world of cinema always seem to remain as constants. Disney keeps making Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Sandra Bullock refuses to age. And the next entry in the Alien film series is always in constant flux and jeopardy.

Even the presence of original filmmaker Ridley Scott is no indication that another Alien film will get made at this point. Since the glory days of his 1979 original, it has been a bumpy, contentious road for this series, and Scott has seen his own star in Hollywood both shine and fade. Most recently, 2017’s Alien: Covenant managed to disappoint both fans and critics, many of whom seem to simply want a good old fashioned “bug hunt” rather than the story about A.I. and free will that Scott seems more interested in telling with his android character David, well-played by Michael Fassbender. The film was neither a critical or commercial success, but that hasn’t stopped Scott from wanting to make at least one more film in the series that would directly pick up where Covenant left off. This film, apparently titled Alien: Awakening, was originally meant to start production in early 2018, according to Scott, but now the acquisition of Fox by Disney looks to be throwing a new spanner in the works. According to Scott himself, the company’s insistence upon PG-13 films could be problematic.