Rumor: 2 'Alien' TV Series Are In The Works, One At Hulu

With Disney’s purchase of 20^th Century Fox going through later this year, perhaps no franchise is at a greater crossroads than the “Aliens” series. Director Ridley Scott tried to revamp the series with his “Prometheus” trilogy, but the second installment of the series, “Alien: Covenant,” was essentially a huge disappointment, grossing less than 1979’s “Alien” and 1986’s “Aliens,” even when unadjusted for inflation ($74.2 million domestically). While it grossed $240.9 million worldwide (almost less than half of “Prometheus”), 2017’s ‘Covenant’ and Scott’s exploration of artificial intelligence and creationism threaded within a horror movie, was met with mixed reviews. Scott moved on to other films, Fox was “re-assessing” the series after ‘Covenant,’ and his “Prometheus” trilogy (which could have even been a tetralogy) looks like it’s dead.

But there still could be life left in the xenomorphs somewhere. HNEntertainment, who reported the existence of a live-action ‘Alien’ series in development last year, still not corroborated anywhere yet though, is doubling down. The site now says there are two ‘Alien’ series in development and one over at Hulu, which is owned by Disney. Ridley Scott is rumored to be involved in the Hulu version of the alleged series, and there are no there are no details on the other. The assumption is Scott’s Scott Free production banner will produce, but that’s also true of pretty much every single Ridley Scott project, no matter what it is.

No other details have surfaced yet, so you’re going to have to file this under rumor for now. But let’s face it, Disney and Fox, or whatever Fox becomes, will not let an I.P. like ‘Alien’ idle. Eventually, something will come along, and with streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu becoming new avenues for Disney intellectual properties, it’s not out of the question to imagine ‘Alien’ taking a break on the big screen and living on the triple-A of streaming for a few years.

Director James Cameron, who is reviving his “Terminator” franchise with “Deadpool” filmmaker Tim Miller (Cameron is producing), was recently asked about what he makes of “Aliens” and if he had talked to helmer Neill Blomkamp, who had developed an “Alien 5” at one point. His answer, “I’m working on it,” which is nothing concrete and unclear if he meant, working on getting back to the series, or talking to Blomkamp. But it seems like Cameron has intentions to get back to that brand somehow.

How does this affect the “Alien” series if the rumor pans out to be true? Unclear at the moment. All one can do is wait and see at this point.