Earlier this year, we reported on some awesome Alien concept art from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. Now, a new quote from Blomkamp suggests we might actually see this project someday.
In an interview with Uproxx, Blomkamp said after he was finishing work on his new movie Chappie, he began to think about his new project and came up with a cool idea for an Alien movie. Blomkamp said he's been wanting to work on an Alien movie for years.
Originally, this idea didn't involve Sigourney Weaver, but after working with her on Chappie, Blomkamp said he realized he could actually incorporate her. "So, I basically developed an entire movie and I did all of this artwork as well," he said.
Blomkamp developed this idea completely without Fox's involvement, and he said he put it out there because he wasn't sure if he would even make another movie after Chappie, let alone this movie. But he said there's now a "high possibility" that he goes back to work on the movie more, and in fact Fox is apparently into the idea. Blomkamp said the only reason the movie isn't happening is because of his hesitation but that if he called Fox today they would be completely on board.
The concept art includes Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley wearing a space jockey helmet, as well as Ripley standing with Hicks (even though the character was killed off in Alien 3). What could this movie possibly be about? Blomkamp refused to give up any of the movie's plot, stressing that it still might actually happen.
Sigourney Weaver was asked about the idea and while she didn't give up any details, she noted that she couldn't imagine who would do a better job, according to CinemaBlend.
If the Blomkamp project does happen, it would be the first Alien movie since 1997, not counting the Alien vs. Predator movies and Prometheus.
Speaking of Prometheus, what does this mean for that franchise? Prometheus 2 is still scheduled to be released next March, according to ScreenRant. This means there could be an Alien series and Prometheus series running simultaneously, though Ridley Scott has said he plans for Prometheus to become its own thing and not feature the Xenomorphs anymore.
But is Blomkamp up to the task of bringing the Alien franchise into the 21st century? His first movie, District 9, was both a critical and financial success. However his second outing Elysium performed well at the box office but received less favorable reviews. Can the director make a movie as great as District 9 again? His new movie Chappie hits theaters on March 6, so we'll find out very soon.
images via Instagram from Neill Blomkamp