Earlier this year, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp made serious waves when he posted a bunch of intriguing concept art for a hypothetical new Alien movie. Apparently, Blomkamp didn’t have any sort of deal with Fox when he commissioned the art, but that very quickly changed, and a Blomkamp-directed Alien 5 was suddenly a very real thing. Then, Chappie happened. Blomkamp’s latest film wasn’t exactly met with stellar reviews, and talk of him working on Alien has largely gone quiet, aside from murmurs that the movie is already mired in development hell.
Well, according to Bloody Disgusting, who have had an inside track on this story since the beginning, Neill Blomkamp’s Alien is still a thing, but is being held up by Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2.
“Alien 5 is still very much in the works, as Fox remains hot on the idea. Blomkamp continues to work on the script (only an outline existed previously) and refine the tale he is telling. Ridley Scott is still producing, but has insisted on Prometheus 2 being made first.”
Alien 5 may also have to be delayed due to Sigourney Weaver’s involvement in the Avatar sequels. As it looks now, Prometheus 2 will film in early 2016 and hit theaters in 2017, and Neill Blomkamp’s Alien will film in 2017 for a 2018 release date. In other news, what about those rumors that Alien 5 will ignore the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection? According to Bloody Disgusting’s tipsters, that may not be the case.
“Not sure if Michael Biehn’s assertions about it ignoring 3 & 4 are accurate. It’s basically far too early to tell on that front right now.”
Personally, I’m all for Blomkamp taking a little extra time to pull his Alien movie together. Generally speaking, I’m a big fan of his style and skill with action scenes, but, after Elysium and Chappie, it’s clear he needs to take a breath and really take some time to get the script right on Alien 5.
(Via Bloody Disgusting)
