Bad News, Alien 5 Is On Hold

Ever since the revelation that Prometheus 2 was going to be called Alien: Paradise Lost (a wholly awful idea), it felt like Neil Blomkamp's alternate Alien 5 was on borrowed time. Yes, the idea of a sequel to Aliens that redressed the timeline was always an appealing idea (whether you believed Blomkamp to be the right man for the job or not), but anything taking the shine off Ridley Scott's own project was never going to be directly tolerated for too long. And now, the director has confirmed via Twitter that the film is on hold "pending Prometheus 2"... There was a significant amount of excitement about the project, with Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn reportedly attached and the concept art looked great. and it's somewhat curious that Blomkamp only recently unveiled the pulse rifle that would be returning to the franchise - so maybe there's hope there that this won't go the way of the other director fantasy projects that end up on the scrap heap. So where does it go now? Is there something to be read in the fact that Scott's last film - The Martian - was exceptionally well received, and Blomkamp's struggled badly? Would the Chappie director be served well by going away and doing something that perhaps changes the perception of his ability? Probably. What do you think of this news? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.