The Alien franchise has always been very firmly rooted in sci-fi since Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 original, but the subsequent sequels, prequels and crossovers have ventured into different corners or parameters of the genre, with the results being decidedly mixed along the way.
Scott’s opening salvo was basically a haunted house flick in space, and still endures as one of the best entries in the history of both the sci-fi and horror back catalogues. James Cameron, meanwhile, took the reins for the sequel and reinvented the concept as the basis for a militarized actioner underscored by Vietnam parables, delivering one of the best action movies ever made in the process.
Alien 3 was beset by production and behind the scenes issues, but it still takes some admirable swings with the mythology even if a few of them don’t land as intended, while Resurrection took place 200 years after the first three in order to reconstruct Ripley from the ground up. Elsewhere, Scott’s Prometheus and Covenant were big on ideas but the execution was often found to be lacking, and the Alien vs. Predator crossovers were standard sci-fi actioners that wound up disappointing fans and critics alike.
A new rumor making the rounds yesterday claimed that Disney now view Alien as their next mega-franchise, which is an ambitious idea should it be one the Mouse House follow through on. The report also went on to say, though, that any future movies or TV shows will be full-blown action-horror efforts, which sounds as if any potential creative talent will be tasked with striking the middle ground between the first and second films. And given their respective status as two genuine all-time greats, that’s exactly where they should be aiming for.