According to Joshua Izzo, the former licensing director of 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company has prepared an Alien vs. Predator is “fully completed” since acquiring 21st Century Fox in 2019.
Last month, Izzo appeared on the podcast Perfect Organism for Alien Day (which he founded in 2016). “Currently sitting at Disney, at 20th Studios, 10 episodes of the Alien vs. Fully finished Predator produced by me. “Done. It’s in the box. It was mixed; it’s finished. It’s produced and told by Eric Calderon and Dave Baker, two incredibly talented guys.” Apparently, the anime is set after the events of Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Alien Resurrection (1997).
Izzo, who worked at Fox before Disney’s acquisition, initially introduced the project as an animated series. “I said [to head of consumer products Jeffrey Godsick]“Hey, listen, I’d like to introduce this idea of an Alien and/or Alien/Predator and/or Alien animated movie that is streamed on DVD that we I, the consumer products division, can sell based on that,” he explains. “Let us be the masters of our own destiny rather than waiting in theaters whenever a movie decides to come out,” explains Izzo. At the time, Fox had yet to announce 2018’s The Predator, while 2017’s Alien: Covenant had just begun development.
After being approved by Godsick, Izzo presented the complete storyboard and concept for the series to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The project turned into an animated film when an unnamed director was brought on board and presented a whole new story to the series. According to Izzo, the director said he previously worked on Halo Legends and Harlock: Space Pirate. (With that in mind, unconfirmed rumors claim that the director is none other than Blade Runner: Black Lotus’ Shinji Aramaki.) The plan is for the 10-episode Alien vs. Predator aired on television in Japan and was released on three DVDs in the Western market.
History of Alien vs Predator
Fox’s Alien franchise began in 1979 with the classic horror film Alien by Ridley Scott. James Cameron’s sequel, Aliens, followed in 1986. Alien 3 released in 1992, followed by the aforementioned Resurrection in 1997. Scott eventually returned to direct an Alien prequel series, which began with Prometheus in 2012 and continued with the aforementioned Covenant in 2017. Meanwhile, Predator started its own franchise at Fox in 1987. It was followed by Predator 2 in 1990 and Predators in 2010. The aforementioned fourth film, The Predator, was released in 2018 as the last Predator film under the Fox franchise.
Alien vs. crossover sub-franchise. Predator really started in the world of comics. AVP was first published in 1989 by Dark Horse Comics, which owns the license to both Fox properties. Paul W.S. Anderson has finally directed a live-action Alien vs. Predator, released in 2004. Fox finally came up with a sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, hits theaters in 2007. That said, regarding each Alien and Predator franchise, at best the classics of crossover movies are questionable.
Aliens and Predators under Disney
When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019, it rebranded 20th Century Fox — the company’s now-defunct film division — to 20th Century Studios. In the process, Disney also acquired a number of Fox-controlled movie and TV IPs, such as Cameron’s Avatar, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and, of course, Alien and Predator. In 2022, Disney-owned 20th Century Studios released Prey, the fifth main series Predator film, which serves as a prequel to all of its previous installments. The series premieres exclusively on Disney’s majority-owned Hulu. Prey proved to be a huge success with critics as well as audiences, receiving even stronger reviews than the original Predator film from 1987.
There are also future plans for the Alien series under the Disney label. In late 2020, an Alien TV series was announced as part of the FX series on Hulu. Then, in early 2022, it was reported that Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) was invited to write the script for a new Alien feature film — which, like Prey, will premiere exclusively on 20th Century Studios’ Hulu. Additionally, Scott is developing a third Alien prequel film as a direct sequel to Covenant. Meanwhile, the Alien and Predator comic book licenses have moved to Disney-owned Marvel Comics. All that being said, it remains to be seen if Disney has any plans for the Alien vs. Predator finished to see the light of day or not.
Source: Perfect Organism, via IGN