If all things go according to plan over at 20th Century Fox, some time after Alien: Covenant slithers into theaters, Sigourney Weaver and Neill Blomkamp will be reteaming for a new entry in the Alien canon – one that will seemingly wrap up any loose ends for Ellen Ripley.
It’s a “gangbuster” script, according to James Cameron, though much of the excitement swirling around that shelved sequel can be traced back to Weaver and Blomkamp’s collaboration on Chappie, the divisive sci-fi that bowed early last year.
Coming off the back of District 9 and Elysium, critics felt the South African filmmaker succumbed to a classic cast of style over substance with the 2015 release. But as the actress revealed in an interview with Collider, Weaver couldn’t disagree more, admitting that she was “astonished” to find that Chappie had divided opinion.
“I’m astonished when I read the, ‘disappointing Chappie.’ If you’re expecting a big movie with huge special effects instead of this small movie about this robot who the inventor changes to be more of a human being than the human beings, then you realize that all of those reviews that said, ‘Well, there’s no special effects…’ It’s like … no. This is a very meaningful movie about a young robot who cares and feels, and is much more human. And they didn’t talk about any of the issues, they just talked about what it wasn’t. It’s like…dudes, think of what it is! See it without these expectations.”
What do you make of Sigourney Weaver’s assessment? Did Chappie really get unfairly panned by critics? As for Weaver and Blomkamp’s untitled Alien sequel, there’s not much to report outside of James Cameron’s recent praise. Alien: Covenant, meanwhile, is booked in for launch on August 7, 2017.