Sigourney Weaver is willing to return to Alien series (on one condition)

Sigourney Weaver is a Hall of Fame actress, and was recognized as such at the 81st Venice Film Festival. Weaver was given the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement, which has led to a string of interviews and retrospectives on her career.

Naturally, one can't discuss Sigourney Weaver without mentioning the Alien franchise. The original 1979 film helped to boost her stardom, and the 1986 sequel landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Ellen Ripley, the woman who has fought Xenomorphs more than anybody else, remains her most iconic character. And there may be more to come for Ripley in the future.

Weaver hinges her Alien return on a good script

Weaver recently discussed her career with Deadline, and one of the main talking points was her involvement (or lack there of) with the recent Alien film, Romulus. The actress said that she wasn't asked to be in the film, but would be more than open to returning as Ripley in a future installment.

There is, of course, a catch. Weaver remains busy as ever, thanks to her involvement in the Avatar franchise, so she told Deadline that there would need to be a valid emotional and narrative reason to bring Ripley back from, well, the dead:

"I feel like she’s never far away from me, but on the other hand I have yet to read a script that said 'you have got to do this.'"

Weaver has been in talks to return since 1997

It hasn't been for lack of trying. We've also ran through all the proposed Alien sequels that have been scrapped over the years, and nearly all of them would have involved Weaver reprising her iconic role as Ripley. "It has come up a bunch of times," she admitted to the outlet. "I would consider it."

Weaver's interest, she admits, depends on which filmmaker would take over the franchise next. She enjoyed working with Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and even David Fincher, despite his decision to disown 1992's Alien 3.

"It’s not completely impossible," she concluded. "And certainly a lot of good filmmakers are inspired by the material." Hollywood already leaned into nostalgia for the first two Alien films for Romulus, and it proved to work at the box office. A world in which Ripley is brought back doesn't far off. We will just have to wait and see.