Sigourney Weaver has indicated she may reprise her iconic role as Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise after reading a 50-page script by producer Walter Hill. Speaking at New York Comic Con on Friday, the 76-year-old actor called the pages “quite extraordinary” and revealed she has already met with studio executives at Disney and Fox.
Weaver, who originated the role in Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien and last appeared in 1997’s Alien: Resurrection, had long resisted returning. “I was always like, ‘Let her rest, let her recover,’” she said. However, Hill’s take changed her mind: “What Walter has written seems so true to me as very much about the society that would incarcerate someone who has tried to help mankind.”
The script imagines Ripley, who died at the end of Alien 3 and was later cloned, as a prisoner. “She’s a problem to them, so she’s sort of tucked away,” Weaver explained. She is now considering working with Hill to develop the rest of the story, though she stressed, “I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”
Weaver had previously dismissed the possibility of another Alien film, telling Total Film in 2023 “that ship has sailed” after the cancellation of Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5. Her change of stance marks a significant development for fans eager to see Ripley return.
