20th Century Fox
Rumors have it that the director of “Alien: Romulus,” Fede Alvarez, wants to bring actress Sigourney Weaver back for the sequel, but the method they plan to use might not sit well with fans.
As insider Daniel Richtman notes in a paid post on Patreon (via worldofreel), for “Alien: Romulus 2” the actress is planned to be digitally de-aged on screen—similar technology was used for Harrison Ford in the latest Indiana Jones movie.
There has been no official confirmation or denial of Richtman’s claims from the filmmakers yet. Weaver herself stated two years ago that she would not return to the role of Ripley and that her “work in space is officially finished” (although, these last words were contradicted by the news about the actress joining the Star Wars universe in the upcoming movie “The Mandalorian and Grogu”).
“There are plenty of young actresses who would take on such roles. I really wanted to act in Neill’s, but that ship has sailed,” Weaver mentioned, referring to Neill Blomkamp’s sequel that was canceled after several delays.
Sigourney Weaver played warrant officer Ellen Ripley in the original “Alien” by Ridley Scott, and then reprised her iconic role in the sequels “Aliens” by James Cameron (for which the actress received her first Oscar nomination), “Alien 3” by David Fincher, and “Alien 4: Resurrection” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Actress Kaeli Spani, who took on the leading role in last year’s “Romulus,” noted that before working on the film she “spent months watching Sigourney Weaver’s performance” and hoped that “something from the watched would seep into her too.”
The plot of the film “Alien: Romulus” tells about young people trying to survive on a neglected space station and unfolds between the events of “Alien” (1979) and “Aliens” (1986). Despite fairly controversial reviews, the film grossed over $350 million worldwide—making it the second highest-grossing film in the franchise, only behind “Prometheus” (a film Ridley Scott recently called a “failure”).
20th Century Studios announced a potential sequel last fall, and Fede Alvarez teased that the continuation would take the franchise into “uncharted waters.”