James Cameron plans a bold update for his iconic 40-year-old sci-fi thriller.

Some directors just can’t resist tweaking their own creations. George Lucas is perhaps the most well-known for this, constantly revisiting his Star Wars saga with Special Edition re-releases and subtle adjustments over the decades. However, James Cameron is also a notable perfectionist; he’s released multiple director’s cuts of films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Abyss, and in 2023, he defended the contentious AI-upscaled 4K versions of True Lies and Titanic.

Now, it seems Cameron might be working on a new version of the iconic 1986 sci-fi horror classic, Aliens. This project sounds intriguing, as Cameron has hinted at the possibility of converting his action-packed sequel to Alien into stereoscopic 3D. Known for his advocacy of 3D technology, Cameron’s Avatar franchise played a significant role in revitalizing 3D filmmaking, and he has also produced passion projects like the 3D documentary Ghosts of the Abyss.

In a recent interview, Cameron mentioned that Aliens in 3D could be on the horizon while discussing his new 3D concert film, Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D). He stated, “Aliens is a creature of its time. We are thinking about converting Aliens [to 3D], because I know now that the tools are so much better than they were for creating depth maps. We’re probably going to wind up converting Aliens, which will be a fun experience. That film seems to be evergreen. People still go back to it a lot.”

Cameron has previously tackled 3D conversions for films like Titanic and Terminator 2. He even directed a 3D mini-sequel to the latter, T2-3D: Battle Across Time, which was a short-lived attraction at Universal Studios. So, if anyone is equipped to maximize a 3D conversion of Aliens, it’s definitely Cameron.

As for when Aliens 3D might come to fruition, that depends on Cameron’s busy schedule, which currently includes work on Avatar 4 and 5, as well as Ghosts of Hiroshima, a film about the atomic bombing of Japan during World War II.