Sigourney Weaver Talks "ALIEN 3" And If We'll Ever See Ripley Again; "I Would Consider It"
Sigourney Weaver in 1979’s ‘Alien’
Everett Collection
“Alien: Romulus” is now in theaters and scaring folks silly but the main question is, where was Ripley? The film tells us a little about her whereabouts but the actress who brought Ellen Ripley to life, Sigourney Weaver, talks about the Alien franchise, what happened to David Fincher’s ALIEN 3, and if we could ever see her out in space one more time.
The folks over at Deadline have the exclusive interview and you can check it out there but from what we have gathered from the site is a few things. We all agree that ALIEN 3 could have been way better and has become something of a cult classic in some circles. The film is a bit of a downer as Newt and Hicks are both killed off-screen leaving Ripley to deal with another xenomorph one last time. The film takes place, chronologically, right after James Cameron’s ALIENS but is far more desolate and depressing. Weaver dives into what happened on the set and why it didn’t pan out the way Fincher wanted it.
“Well, I could feel that David had to get on the phone and fight every day for us to shoot what he wanted to the next day. And I’m sorry that he didn’t get a chance to make the script his own before we started,” Weaver explains. “That makes filmmaking very difficult.”
She adds, “I recall that Vincent Ward’s original script had been about monks in a monastery and Ripley was in a coma for half of it. So, I keenly felt the lack of studio support. That was a transition moment when studios stopped being about ‘let’s make great films’ and started being about ‘let’s not lose money.’ They had the great idea to put David Fincher aboard for his first film, but then not to support the guy was very idiotic. It helped shooting in England so we could get on with things to an extent.”
It’s no secret that David Fincher wasn’t happy about what Fox did to his film and has publicly let his frustration be known by disowning the film. Weaver had a few things to say in this regard as well.
“I heard recently that David has disowned the project and I’m sorry about that because I loved working with him, and I think we made a good film,” Weaver also says “I’m glad he got a chance to do his version. It was a great ensemble.”
The big question we’re glad Deadline asked was whether or not we will ever see Ripley back battling the xenomorphs one more time. Remember, at the end of Alien: Resurrection, the whole ship they were on crashes into Earth. Could we get an ALIEN: EARTH WAR adaptation to film?
“I feel like [Ripley’s] never far away from me, but on the other hand I have yet to read a script that said ‘you have got to do this.’ So for me, she is in this other dimension, safe from the Alien for the time being. I don’t really think about it, but you know, it’s not completely impossible, and certainly a lot of good filmmakers are inspired by the material.”
We want another Alien film with Ripley. The comics did her justice and her story came to a great ending. Yet, that was just in the comics and we all know that comics to film adaptations never compare to the original format. Weaver has one last thing to say to Ripley hopefuls tho.
“How much does the public really need or want another Ripley movie?” Weaver questions. “I don’t really sit around and think about it, but if it came up, I would consider it. It has come up a bunch of times, but I’m also busy doing other things. Ripley has earned her rest.”
Here’s hoping she gets that “I have to do this” script sooner than later. You can check out what Sigourney Weaver had to say about working with Ridley Scott as well as the hectic schedule for “ALIENS” at DEADLINE.
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