Blomkamp once stated in an interview that he works on a project or picture before pitching it to a company. That way, he will be well-prepared and have a lot of ideas. He has it in him, and he is arguably the best choice for a sci-fi film. Neill Blomkamp offered his idea for a new Alien picture to Sigourney Weaver while filming Chappie, which stars Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, and Sigourney Weaver.
He also showed her the film’s concept art, which he had commissioned himself. A few months later, on February 18th, 2015, 20th Century Fox announced that Blomkamp had been hired to direct the next Alien 5 picture.
Blomkamp intended to tie himself to Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, thus he chose to omit the events of the franchise’s third and fourth films. Ellen Ripley and Hicks were to be played by Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn, respectively. Blomkamp also wants to bring a grown-up Newt back to the movies.
Both Hicks and Newt were killed off early in David Fincher’s Alien 3, and neither the fans nor James Cameron was pleased with the decision. Cameron had put a lot of time and effort into creating the two characters, and it was a waste to kill them so quickly. He, on the other hand, admired Blomkamp’s concept and sounded enthusiastic about the project.
So, while Blomkamp wanted to appreciate all previous directors, he also wanted to take his film in a completely different route. However, the project was doomed from the start and never saw the light of day. Rather than continuing with Blomkamp’s Alien 5, the studio chose to release Ridley Scott’s second prequel Alien Covenant, which was released in 2017.
Nonetheless, the intriguing concept art was created by Geoffroy Thorens, and Blomkamp himself took to social media to share a series of thrilling photos exposing story clues and other relevant trivia. The storyline would have centered around Weyland Yutani Corporation discovering an Engineer Juggernaut ship with hordes of Xenomorph eggs inside, based on what we learned from the photographs.
They would next experiment with these Ovomorphs, creating Trematodes, or monsters that injected facehugger embryos into their hosts. It is possible that this is just speculation, but you never know. Without further ado, let us have a look at the amazing concept art and try to figure out what each one is trying to tell us.
Factory
This image titled Factory shows an Engineer Juggernaut in some human factory, possibly owned by Weyland Yutani Corporation. The interesting thing about this image is that the ship is covered in the same gelatinous liquid that is used by Xenomorphs to cocoon their prey for later impregnation.
Right underneath the ship, we can see many people working and examining it. Come to think of it, was it the Xenomorphs that found this ship, or did Weyland find it? Our best guess is that Weyland found the Juggernaut filled with Xenomorph eggs, and Weyland Yyutani decided to use them in their weapons experiments. This is kind of hinted in another image where scientists are working with Ovomorphs.
Whatever may be the case, Weyland Yutani Corporation seems to have its dirty little hands on the Engineer Ship, and things may go real bad if someone doesn’t intercede. I mean, we all know that the firm has a penchant for messing with subjects and technology that they don’t fully understand.
Lab
To confirm our earlier assumption, we have a lab full of Xenomorph eggs that are connected with wires and receptors. Weyland is clearly studying the Ovomorphs to execute a sinister plan. However, the purpose of the man holding a gun and the woman working near the glass containment is unknown.
But we do know that he’s not a scientist and looks more like someone who knows how to handle a gun. Could it be that he’s Hicks and the other person is Ripley, trying to destroy the Ovomorphs before they hatch? If you’ll notice carefully, the glass containment has two Ovomorphs kept inside. Interestingly, these are not connected with any receptors, and the containment seems to be broken.
City
This one was titled city and shows the panoramic view of a city, probably one from Earth because it has many high-rise buildings, and all of them don’t seem as if they were built to serve military or commercial purposes. But the center of attraction here is the colossal skyscraper that looks like the headquarter or base of some enormous project or organization.
It is quite a possibility that the Juggernaut from the earlier entry was placed in here. I mean, just compare the size of this building with that of the other buildings; it simply dwarves them. But don’t worry, we have a better view of the building in the next entry.
Building
In this close-up view of the same main building, we can see it in its real magnificence and glory. Had Neill’s film taken off, he would have used some impressive CGI to portray it. Furthermore, close to its base, there seems to be a landing pad, probably to be used for dropships and other jets, but it could very well be something else entirely.
If we take a closer look at the engineering of this structure, it seems that the two parts are symmetrical in design and may even be mobile so as to come together and join each other to form a solid structure. We are able to make this assumption because another image shows a small-scale replica of the building.
Weyland
So, this image is titled Weyland and features a smaller model of the super-structure from the previous entry. To have a better perspective of the scale, let’s compare it with the trees on either side and the humans at the center. It seems like Weyland has covered an entire patch of landscape to create something like a greenhouse so that they could study organisms, probably Xenomorphs or something else, in a more natural habitat.
The source of light on the ceiling is bulbs and not sunlight, so we can establish that this is an absolute enclosure intended to keep something contained. It’s already established that Neill Blomkamp wanted to do something different with his Alien film, so it is possible that Weyland is in the process of executing a grand but risky plan. Since this structure has appeared in three different images, it certainly holds great importance to the movie.
Montero
Another interesting location among the pictures revealed in 2015 is a satellite called Montero. It’s definitely closer to the surface of Earth because of the blue outline of the celestial body underneath it. The artificial space object’s structure tells us that it is unlikely for it to be a passenger vessel because there seems to be no place they could fit in. So, it must be one of Weyland’s satellites.
Anchor
Location-wise, this image showing an Anchor in the middle of some ocean seems to be of importance because, in another picture, we are given hints that a Xenomorph was loose on this Anchor. Notice the storm that’s engulfing the structure because that’s the clue that the next entry is related to this one.
Alien Queen
So, this image here shows the Xenomorph Queen in great detail, and she’s clearly about to attack a target from whose perspective the image was created. Now, if you’ll notice here, there’s water splashing in the background behind the iron railings, but it is not rainwater. So, the Alien Queen is probably present in the Anchor itself. Another proof of the same is the lightning striking right behind her.
However, how she got there is beyond anyone’s guess. We probably need to contact Neill to find that out. By the way, she appears in a few other images as well, and they are more exciting than this one here, so hold tight.
Now that we are done with the major locations and our primary antagonist let us look into the major character reveals.
Planning
This one here is titled Planning and shows an older Ripley and Hicks making a plan about something. The interesting feature about this image is that the two of them are looking at a holographic model of the Building from earlier entries. Furthermore, this image establishes the fact that Neill’s film retcons the stories of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection because, in Alien 3, Hicks died early in the beginning.
In fact, Neill mentioned in several interviews that he was not trying to undo what was shown in the third and fourth films of the franchise but only wanted to connect himself with Scott’s Alien and Cameron’s Aliens. Now, that might have been his way of not disrespecting the works of David Fincher and Jean Pierre Jeunet. It’s also wonderful to see that Ripley’s life comes a full circle.
Hicks
This image gives a close-up of Hicks, and we can clearly see that the left side of his face has been burned away; this is the result of Cameron’s Aliens, where he shoots a Xenomorph in an elevator, and the Xenomorph’s acidic blood spills all over him, burning his face. Also, there’s a USCM tattoo on his left arm.
Jax
Alien films are incomplete without a few synthetics, right? So, here we have a synthetic named Jax. This one’s clearly an upgraded model of the synthetics that we have seen so far. He’s wearing more of a uniform and is bald, unlike most other synthetics that we’ve seen so far. It could be possible that Weyland has started to give their organic robots a more uniform yet deadlier outlook.
I mean, he definitely reminds me of Hitman from the games. As is evident, Jax is connected by wires to something in the background, and he’s possibly waiting to get activated while Ripley examines him.
Killson
This one here is another synthetic named Killson while he’s killing a mercenary or a Colonial Marine. Did you ever notice that all synthetics in subsequent Alien films have been named alphabetically? Scott’s synthetic was called Ash, while Cameron’s was called Bishop, then we had Call and David.
Neill seems to follow this trend, and his synthetics are called Jax and Killson. But what’s more exciting is that Killson looks very much like Hugh Jackman in appearance. Now, we know that Neill was working with the Australian superstar in the 2015 film Chappie when Alien 5 was initially confirmed. Moreover, Sigourney Weaver worked in Chappie. So, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Wolverine had joined the Alien universe.
Jax Arming Comanche
Another image featuring Jax shows that he’s using a power loader to plant missiles on something called Comanche. It could be a small assault aircraft or just another high-end weapons system.
Johnson Knocks Jax
The next one shows that someone called Johnson has knocked the synthetic Jax. However, Jax looks different from what he did in the previous image. In this one, not only are his clothes different but he’s got hair as well. The setting here matches his appearance from the previous image, and it is possible that Johnson attacked him to stop the arming up of Comanche.
Gland Removal
Here, Hicks is performing surgery on an injured synthetic, and from the hair and clothes, one can assume that it’s probably Jax from the earlier entry. The image is titled Gland Removal. Now the purpose of such a surgery could be to alter the internal engineering of a synthetic to make him go rogue towards his evil parent organization and side with Ripley and Hicks, who are trying to save the facility and probably Earth from a Xenomorph infestation, courtesy of Weyland’s experiments.
Ripley Arms Up In Dropship
This one looks cool, an older Ripley arming herself up to face some big, bad Xenomorphs, or maybe some other bad guys. Nevertheless, she looks badass and the image title reads Ripley Arms Up In Dropship. Naturally, we now have the assurance that Ripley probably came to Earth on a drop ship from outer space.
But these guys travel for like several years to their destination, so if she’s traveling in a drop ship to reach another destination, she’s definitely not in any kind of hypersleep. This signals that Neill wanted to keep some element of time travel or wormhole, etc. However, this is mere speculation.
Melting
In this image, Ripley takes a walk down memory lane to see a human melted by Xenomorphs so that he could later serve as a host. The location of this event is unknown, but it may be set inside the Juggernaut.
Mercenaries
Two images show Ripley and Hicks with several mercenaries. One of them clearly has the South Korean flag printed on his left arm, while another man has a black, yellow, and orange flag, which could possibly be the flag of Belgium. So, it is probable that Weyland Yutani hired mercenaries to serve the corporation on Earth, much like Colonial Marines take care of interstellar operations.
Ripley vs. Xenomorph Queen
The image titled Weyland had the smaller replica of the building from the image titled City. If we look closely, we can see that there are two smaller columns on either side of the replica. Now, in three images titled Elevator, Hunting, and Fire Area, we can see a Xenomorph Queen coming out of the elevator to attack Ripley, who is now wearing an exoskeleton that’s engineered based on a Xenomorph Queen herself.
This would have been the coolest upgrade that any person in the Alien Universe could possibly get. I mean, it would practically be a battle between two Queens. What more could one ask for? This was clearly a big reveal back then, and Neill would have done a great job at executing his vision.
From films like Elysium and District 9, we know how seriously the South African director takes his exoskeletons. If we consider Chappie, the film didn’t perform as well as his other two films, but the effects he employed in Chappie were brilliant. And, Alien was to be Neill’s dream project; he has stated in many interviews that he grew up watching the film and was his first movie memory.
Trematode
But a few images released in 2015 show something more exciting and thrilling than Ripley’s Xenomorph Queen Exo Suit. Well, Neill was to introduce what is known as Trematodes. Just like the Hammerpede from Scott’s prequel film, Neill was to introduce a new organism that led to the birthing of a face-hugger. The general lore is that a Queen lays Ovomorphs, from which facehuggers hatch.
These facehuggers then orally impregnate a host to implant a chest-burster embryo, which then bursts out of the chest of the host to develop into an adult Xenomorph. However, Neill’s film was going to alter this reproductive cycle. According to the images, an extraterrestrial organism called Trematode would make its way inside a host from one of its body parts. It could practically be any body part, ranging from neck to stomach.
After entering, the Trematode would then lay eggs or embryos into the host, which would develop into small facehuggers. In the image titled Facehugger Birthing, we can see that small facehuggers were coming out of a man named Miller, who was previously impregnated by the Trematode. This was a welcome move from Neill Blomkamp, and some would say it was bold and radical.
I mean, just like Ridley Scott transformed the method of impregnation in his film covenant in which he used spore-like formations, Neill Blomkamp would have brought something new and fresh to the table. Now, as far as the birthing of Trematodes is concerned, one of the images titled Trematode shows a man being attacked by it, and right beside the man is a hatched Ovomorph.
So, is it possible that Weyland Yutani had managed to engineer the Ovomorphs so that they resulted in Trematodes instead of Facehuggers? It is also possible that the corporation had managed to make these reptilian beasts follow commands because yet another image shows a Trematode attacking Hicks in an enclosed compartment. But I suppose we will never know for sure what the truth was.
Having said that, fans are still hopeful that Alien 5 might just happen someday and Blomkamp would be at the helm of the project, but that seems rather unlikely. Now that Disney owns the franchise, it is unsure if they’d want to go ahead with making a justified Alien film with all the violence, gore, and H. R. Giger’s sexual overtones.
Fox and Ridley Scott decided to take a step back on Alien 5, probably because of the poor critical response that Blomkamp’s Chappie received. Apart from this and the rumors that Blomkamp’s vision of Alien 5 was way too radical and novel, we can not really see another reason why Alien 5 never came to life.