Sigourney Weaver says she is hopeful about reprising her role in a new Alien film.

The Hollywood actress, who starred as Ellen Ripley in the original 1979 sci-fi horror and three sequels, said she had discussed a fifth film in the series with director Neill Blomkamp.

Sigourney, 66, told an audience at Comic-Con International in San Diego that Blomkamp had pitched the idea while they worked on the 2015 movie Chappie.

Sigourney Weaver and Bill Paxton attend the Aliens: 30th Anniversary panel at Comic Con
Sigourney Weaver and Bill Paxton attend the Aliens: 30th Anniversary panel at Comic Con (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

She said: “Four months later, I got a script that was so amazing and gives the fans everything they are looking for — plus innovates in a lot of ways.

“(Blomkamp) has work to do, and I have work to do. I am hoping when we finish those jobs, we will circle back and start to do it.”

Sigourney told 6,500 fans gathered in San Diego Convention Centre’s Hall-H that she had no interest in an Alien film set on Earth because she thought “Earth was boring.”

Aliens director James Cameron, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and cast members Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn, and Paul Reiser
Aliens director James Cameron, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and cast members Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn and Paul Reiser (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

She appeared on a panel celebrating the 30th anniversary of Aliens, the second film in the franchise, along with the movie’s director James Cameron and co-stars Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Michael Biehn and Carrie Henn.

Ridley Scott, who directed the original Alien film, is currently working on a second prequel called Alien: Covenant – a follow-up to 2012′s Prometheus.

Sigourney last portrayed Ripley on screen in the 1997 film Alien Resurrection, the fourth movie in the series that ended with a clone of Ripley arriving on Earth. She is about to start working with Cameron again on his sequels to Avatar.