Sigourney Weaver, who will star alongside Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian & Grogu, appeared at this weekend’s NYCC and spoke about not ruling out a return to her seminal Alien character Ripley in light of a new script treatment written by producer Walter Hill.
“Walter Hill is a very good friend of mine, and he wrote 50 pages where Ripley would be now, and they are quite extraordinary. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I have had a meeting with Fox, Disney, or whoever it is now,” she told the crowd at New York Comic Con on Friday. “I said I have never felt the need. I was always like, ‘Let her rest, let her recover.’ But 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.”
Added the star: “She’s a problem to them, so she’s sort of tucked away. Anyway, I think it’s a very strong first 50 pages, and I’m thinking about working with Walter to see what the rest of the story would be.”
Weaver appeared on the Main Stage, where co-star Veronica Cartwright made a surprise appearance as Weaver mostly shared her memories and reflections on filming the genre-busting 1979 classic directed by Ridley Scott, as well as other entries in the franchise. For the actress, who has carved out her own corner in sci-fi with the help of Alien, joining the cast was about the strength of the story and not necessarily because of her genre appreciation.
“I’m an English major, so I just read for the story. If it’s a good story, I don’t care what genre it’s in. I never really thought about genres. I just thought of good stories,” she said. “Now genres are a much more well-defined thing, but I’m glad I didn’t really think about it. I’m glad I followed this story.”
She continued: “I thought it was a very concise script, 10 Little Indians, knocking them off one by one. If you don’t know what the Alien design is, it’s very hard to understand what this monster is running around, dripping acid. So I didn’t have any idea of the rather beautiful, exotic creature that the alien was ’til I met Ridley at the audition, and he brought out these incredible pictures from [H.R.] Giger and from Carlo Rambaldi. I realized I’d never seen anything like that in a movie, ever. That and Ridley cinched the deal.”
Would you like to see Weaver return to the role of Ripley? The Mandalorian & Grogu Arrives on May 22nd, 2026.
Image: Jason Mendez/Getty Images
