8 Recently Teased Sequels That Probably Won't Happen

Not so long ago, the idea of original Alien director Ridley Scott returning to the series he started would have seemed like a surefire recipe for success. However, what the veteran director brought to his new Alien movies isn't necessarily what fans were hoping for.

First off, 2012's Alien prequel Prometheus attempted to lay the groundwork for the origins of the dreaded Xenomorph, but in the process got tangled up in a lot of esoteric chin-stroking which put off many viewers and critics. 2017's second prequel Alien: Covenant sought to redress that balance by adding more traditional horror elements, but the results proved even more divisive.

While the critical response to Alien: Covenant was largely positive (67% RT score), the box office paints a rather different picture. It took only $240 million worldwide; not bad for an Alien movie (it's actually the second biggest moneymaker of the series behind Prometheus), but not great for a film that cost almost $100 million to make.

Before the film opened, Scott had widely spoken of his plans to make yet more prequels paving the way to the events of 1979's Alien: initially the director suggested there'd be as many as four more, but by the time Covenant opened it was down to a less extravagant two, the first of which was initially poised to be in production by early 2018.

This has not come to pass; and with both Covenant's poor commercial performance and the whole 20th Century Fox/Disney deal, it doesn't look too likely that Scott's Alien prequel series will go any further.