Sigourney Weaver: I'm over being busy

Sigourney Weaver doesn't want to be on a killer schedule anymore.

The American actress is often lauded as the queen of science fiction thanks to her career-defining role in the Alien franchise.

She's back in new sci-fi flick Chappie, a story set in a future world where crime is policed by robots. The movie co-stars Hugh Jackman and Dev Patel, and while Sigourney still loves to work, she does miss the downtime.

"Maybe it will take a robot in our society to get us to slow down and do something fun like play cards or do a jigsaw," she mused to British newspaper Metro. "My husband [Jim Simpson] has just stepped down from the Flea Theatre, which he started about 20 years ago, and he's so excited. He says, 'I'm not retiring, I'm just entering my second childhood.' I think we're going to learn a new way of living because we won't both be on a killer schedule. I still will be for a while but we'll have a different quality of life."

Included in her busy schedule are the next three instalments of Avatar. James Cameron's first film was released in 2009, winning three Oscars and setting new standards for CGI and 3D.

The next three parts will be released consecutively over two years, starting in 2017. While production hasn't yet started, 65-year-old Sigourney can't wait for it to kick off.

"Jim [Cameron] has outlined the basic story to me and I've seen a lot of the artwork which is quite exciting and I have a fabulous part. But until I actually get the script, it's like a surprise ball - you're not really sure what's in it. But I know that in a year at least, probably in the fall, I will begin to do it.

"It's very ambitious. I can't imagine doing all three simultaneously," she added.