James Cameron Isn’t Happy With The State Of The ‘Alien’ Franchise
James Cameronis skeptical about theAlienfranchise. In the 30 years since Cameron madeAliens, the series has repeatedly failed to live up to the high expectations set bySir Ridley Scott’s original film and Cameron’s sequel. The sixth installment in the franchise comes out this summer,Alien: Covenant, which Cameron will line up to see opening day, despite his reservations about anotherAliensequel.
The filmmaker sawPrometheustwice when it was released in theaters.
“I thought it was Ridley returning to science fiction with gusto, with great tactical performance, beautiful photography, great native 3D,“he said, although he didn’t think it added up logically. “There might have been a few things that I would have done differently, but that’s not the point, you could say that about any movie.”
Despite his appreciation for Scott’s film, he’s not sure this series has any gas left in it, but he says the jury is still out.
While discussing the unpleasant state of the world and a new show he executive produced for National Geographic,Atlantis Rising,Vultureasked him about his feelings onAlien: Covenant. His response:
The franchise has kind of wandered all over the map. I don’t think it’s worked out terribly well. I think we’ve moved on beyond it. It’s like, okay, we’ve got it, we’ve got the whole Freudian biomechanoid meme. I’ve seen it in 100 horror films since. I think both of those films stand at a certain point in time, as a reference point. But is there any validity to doing another one now? I don’t know. Maybe. Let’s see, jury’s out.
I don’t think it’s worked out terribly well. I think we’ve moved on beyond it. It’s like, okay, we’ve got it, we’ve got the whole Freudian biomechanoid meme. I’ve seen it in 100 horror films since. I think both of those films stand at a certain point in time, as a reference point. But is there any validity to doing another one now? I don’t know. Maybe. Let’s see, jury’s out. Let’s see what Ridley comes up with. Let me just add to that — and don’t cut this part off, please — I will stand in line for any Ridley Scott movie, even a not-so-great one, because he is such an artist, he’s such a filmmaker. I always learn from him. And what he does with going back to his own franchise would be fascinating.
Cameron has always been candid about theAlienseries. He thought they “screwed up the whole franchise” with theAlien vs. Predatormovies. He’s always believed they made a mistake right out of the gate withAlien 3by killing off Newt and Hicks, too. Many more mistakes in this series followed that decision, so Cameron understandably has some doubts about the franchise’s future. He did thinkNeill Bomkamp’s (Elysium) script for anAliensequel was “gangbusters” and “a very strong script,” but there’sa slim chanceof that movie getting made.
