James Cameron Making A New Alien Movie?
After three and a half decades away from the franchise, a new rumor suggests James Cameron might be involved with Disney's revival of the series.
This article is more than 2 years old
James Cameron has made some tremendous action masterpieces over his career, with The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, and Titanic. Cameron has made two of the highest-grossing films of all-time and has pushed the boundaries of how special effects and technology can be used in filmmaking. For the last few decades, Cameron has been focused on the world of Avatar, and since the release of the first film, has been working on the film’s four sequels. But a new rumor suggests that Cameron might be going back to his first sequel – Aliens – and returning to that world for the first time in over thirty years.
We Got This Covered is reporting that James Cameron has been approached to be involved with another film in the Alien franchise, although the site doesn’t say where this rumor was heard, or what Cameron’s involvement in the film would be. Also, keep in mind, the same “insider” stated that Cameron was also planning a return to the Terminator franchise as well a few weeks ago. However, with Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox and now owning the rights to Alien, it certainly makes sense that if they were going to revive this franchise, they would try to bring Ridley Scott and James Cameron into discussions on how to go forward.
Disney also has a solid relationship with James Cameron, with the studio producing the upcoming Avatar films, and even creating the world of Pandora in Disney parks. Even before the purchase of 20th Century Fox, Disney had the world of Alien represented in the parks with The Great Movie Ride driving right through the Nostromo. If Disney were to return to this world, Cameron’s involvement seems rather easy to accomplish.
As to what James Cameron’s involvement would be in a new Alien film, it seems like that would be minimal. With Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 finished filming, and prepping for December 16, 2022, and December 20, 2024 release dates, respectively, there’s likely tons of post-production work to get done. Although it is certainly possible that Avatar 2 could be delayed even further, considering the film was originally aiming for a 2014 release. But beyond these first two sequels, James Cameron is also working on Avatar 4 and Avatar 5. With a new Avatar film planned for every two years starting in 2022, Cameron is going to be too busy to take on a new Alien film as well.
In recent years though, James Cameron has allowed other filmmakers to direct projects that he has written or worked on for years, considering he’s too busy with Avatar. Before its release last year, Alita: Battle Angel had been in production since 2003, until Robert Rodriguez took over as director. Cameron would still receive credits as producer and writer. After 28 years away from the franchise, Cameron also returned to Terminator with Terminator: Dark Fate, which put Cameron in creative control of the series. Cameron also received a story by credit for this film as well.
Disney does seem interested in their own take on Alien, even announcing earlier this week that Marvel would be releasing a new Alien comic. If Disney were planning on revitalizing this franchise, James Cameron is already working within the studio and would be just the right person to get this series on track again. Most likely, Cameron would act as producer and possibly give story ideas, but with his head stuck in the world of Pandora, it doesn’t seem likely at all he will be directing xenomorphs any time soon.
