Century Fox considered producing a fifth film in the  "Alien" franchise instead. James Cameron (I) (qv), who wrote and  directed _Aliens (1986)_ (qv), had written a script and even  approached Sigourney Weaver (qv) to star and Ridley Scott (qv)  to direct, both of whom expressed interest. When the studio decided  to use the Alien/Preadator crossover story instead, Cameron, Weaver  and Scott all distanced themselves from the project, and later,  declared they would never work on either franchise again.