Digital de-aging is all the rage in Hollywood right now. From Robert Downey Jr.’s surprisingly youthful turn in “Avengers: Civil War” to Carrie Fisher‘s brief cameo in “Rogue One” to Martin Scorsese‘s comments about “The Irishmen,” it seems that no franchise or filmmaker is immune the allure of using technology to bring actors back to their peak years. Fans, of course, are still a little more uncertain. While ‘Avengers’ proved that the technology is surprisingly efficient, it’s also decidedly unnatural, placing some of our favorite actors deep, deep in an uncanny valley from which their performances may never return.
Well, now you can add director Ridley Scott to that mix. According to a report at GeekTyrant, an upcoming “Alien: Covenant” issue of Empire includes one choice comment about Scott and how he thinks Sigourney Weaver might factor into future movies in the “Alien” franchise. Here’s the excerpt from the issue:
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Scott will, it seems, be holding back some of his gruesome notions for future installments: he is planning at least two more films before linking up with the original “Alien.” “Right now we’ve got a ten-page synopsis,” he reveals. ‘John Logan‘s doing it. And we know where we’re going with it.’ He is not ruling out the idea of using a digitally de-aged Sigourney Weaver to bring back Ripley: ‘You could do that,’ he allows. And Logan promises ‘different mutations’ of the Alien to come.
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While some would jump at the chance to have Weaver involved in the upcoming ‘Alien’ movies — whether you love or hate “Alien: Resurrection,” there’s no denying it didn’t provide Weaver’s Ripley with the degree of closure most fans were looking for —anchoring an entire movie on a digitally recreated character is a tough sell. My movie pitch? Get rid of the whole idea and have Weaver play Ripley’s daughter between the events of “Alien” and “Aliens.” The age would be right and you’d add the poignancy of someone looking for a loved one you know they’ll never find. Plus, then you could have Ripley descendants on a planet somewhere! I’m available for re-writes, Ridley, just say the word.
