Though a lot of fans have come to embrace Alien 3 over the years (or have softened their stance somewhat, at least), the movie was met with considerable backlash when it was released in 1992.
Originally conceived as more of a direct continuation of James Cameron's Aliens with a similar tone, 20th Century Fox ultimately decided to go much darker. Not only was Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) killed off in shocking fashion after a climactic battle with the "Dog-Burster" Xenomorph, but Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Newt (Carrie Henn) didn't even make it past the opening credits.
Hicks, Aliens' only surviving Colonial Marine, and Newt, Ripley's surrogate daughter, both die off-screen when the Sulaco's EEV crash-lands on a prison planet known as Fiorina 161. The badly damaged android, Bishop (Lance Henrickson), survives, but is later deactivated after being briefly brought back online by Ripley.
During a recent appearance on Biehn's podcast, Cameron didn't hold back when asked how he felt about Alien 3.
“I thought that was the stupidest [frick]ing thing. You build a lot of goodwill around the characters of Hicks and Newt and Bishop. And then the first thing they do in the next film is kill them all off, right? Really smart, guys. And replace them with a bunch of [frick]ing convicts that you hate and want to see die. Really clever.”
A few years ago, Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Chappie) was attached to helm a fifth Alien movie before plans fell through. The project would have served as a direct sequel to Aliens, disregarding the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection by reintroducing Ripley and Hicks.
Concept art did the rounds online, and there was a lot of support from fans of the iconic franchise, but when Ridley Scott decided to return to direct Alien: Covenant, the plug was pulled.
Blomkamp has previously expressed how disappointed he was that his idea for an Alien film never came to fruition, and it's clearly still something of a sore subject. During a 2023 interview with Uproxx to promote Gran Turismo, the filmmaker was quick to shut down a question about his now defunct movie and the direction the Alien franchise is heading in.