Neill Blomkamp's Alien Sequel Concept

Liam McPoyle

Blomkamp announced yesterday that this is on hold pending the release of Prometheus 2.

He is moving on to "other projects"

Bacchus

So this is in development hell now? It's not a good sign if it gets shelved so easily. P2 hasn't even a script yet does it? So we're talking about 2/3 years until this will start up again, if at all. The last thing this needs is problems at the production level which this setback is a big red alarm for.

Mickeroo

That's it done I'd say, would be surprised if it ever gets made now.

Mr Freeze

That's toast I would say, I thought it was further along than Prometheus 2 too.

Can't help but feel the studio just parked/scraped Blomkamp's Alien film in favour of Scotts.

I think the franchise would be better off in Blomkamp's hands for a while, after seeing how Prometheus turned out.

don ramo

i though Prometheus was a pretty good film overall, sure it has issues, i wouldnt deny it, but it was a fine film for the most part, ive watched it 3 or 4 times now, and still enjoy it each time,

it was always planned as a trilogy of films, so the ending didnt annoy me as much as it seems to have annoyed others,

the big problems with these films is that their mid budget types of films, that dont really require 150+million budgets, but they have to make them for this price in order to guarantee a release, and a good marketing budget, 30-40 million films can sit on shelfs for years, and with the big budget then everything goes over the the top to much of everything, and it just ruins the film in the end, think of how many films youve seen the last few years that have 20-30 if not more minutes of padding out, that you could just take away and it would me no change to the overall story,

thats what effects these types of films in my opinion, big budgets that have to be used one way or the other, this has been blomkamps problems since district 9, make a great film on a tightish budget (30M), and then get handed a 100+ budget for elysium, and it showed he wasnt ready, good film, but lacking in parts,

and anyway, just make something else, there must be something out there worth making, i dont get how you go from district 9, to making alien sequels

Tony EH

The ending of 'Prometheus' is the least of it's issues. It's not an issue at all for most people, in fact. It's in the stupid script where the problems lie.

Characters doing dumb things to move the story along, implausible actions, technological anachronisms, curious casting choices, dubious Frankenstein "science", dying in silly ways, not running to side (:pac:), etc.

It lets the film down very badly and all of them could have been avoided quite easily.

That being said I'm delighted that it's Scott's vision that we'll see and not Blomkamp's, because I have no faith at all that that would have been anything but a "fan film" retread of 'Aliens', probably would have looked like 'District 9' with Xenomorphs and succumbed to "Blomkampism" like every other film he's done.

Blomkamp is a fine director, don't get me wrong, but there's just something missing and his films have been progressively disappointing.

Mr E

An interesting piece of news came from Sigourney Weaver herself.

I'm not sure if this should be spoilered, but I'll do it anyway (it relates to how the new sequel fits into the Alien canon)

“It’s just as if, you know, the path forks and one direction goes off to three and four and another direction goes off to Neill’s movie,” Weaver revealed, confirming that Blomkamp’s sequel actually won’t be a fifth installment at all and will serve as a direct sequel to James Cameron’s “Aliens.”

After two acclaimed entries in the franchise, the series’ reputation and mythology plummeted with David Fincher’s “Alien 3” and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Alien Resurrection.” By side-stepping these sequels, Blomkamp and company will have the opportunity to build solely off of the best entries in the franchise.

I think this is a great idea.

Bacchus

Mr E wrote: »

An interesting piece of news came from Sigourney Weaver herself.

I'm not sure if this should be spoilered, but I'll do it anyway (it relates to how the new sequel fits into the Alien canon)

“It’s just as if, you know, the path forks and one direction goes off to three and four and another direction goes off to Neill’s movie,” Weaver revealed, confirming that Blomkamp’s sequel actually won’t be a fifth installment at all and will serve as a direct sequel to James Cameron’s “Aliens.”

After two acclaimed entries in the franchise, the series’ reputation and mythology plummeted with David Fincher’s “Alien 3” and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Alien Resurrection.” By side-stepping these sequels, Blomkamp and company will have the opportunity to build solely off of the best entries in the franchise.

I think this is a great idea.

Would have preferred 3 to remain in the timeline for this. It has a bad rep and killed off Newt and Hicks but it capped off the trilogy and Ripley's story nicely. Unless Weaver is back for this new "Alien 3" (is she?) then Ripley's story is left incomplete, with her, Newt and Hicks just drifting through space.

I'm all for abandoning the subsequent sequels and Predator tie-ins though

Tony EH

Are they still trying to revitalise this gibberish?

I thought they killed this stupid idea. :rolleyes:

Frank Bullitt

Im so confused by this, is it happening or not then?

Agent Coulson

I thought there was newer thread however the search on the new Boards is horrible/

It's dead in the water.

Alien 5: Neill Blomkamp says film is ‘completely dead’

Neill Blomkamp has provided an update on the status of Alien 5, which he has long been attached to direct.

Blomkamp’s film, which would have been a sequel to James Cameron’s 1988 sequel Aliens, was put on “temporary hold” at the request of Alien director Ridley Scott.

In 2017, Ellen Ripley star Sigourney Weaver, said: “Ridley asked Neill not to make our Alien ‘til after Prometheus 2; he wanted his movie to shoot and be released first.”

Now, in an interview with The Independent, Blomkamp has revealed the film is officially not happening.

“My assumption is that it’s completely dead,” the District 9 director said.

Reflecting on the situation, Blomkamp continued: “It was a case of both projects were moving forward at Fox simultaneously and one of them was picked. Fox just clearly doesn’t want it. I haven’t had anything to do with that for years.”

He had nothing but nice words to say about Weaver.“

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/alien-5-neill-blomkamp-b1905390.html

pixelburp

I had presumed it doubly dead when Disney acquired the rights (I still can't believe we live in a reality where The Mouse House own the rights to that franchise [Presuably Dan O'Bannon's own ownership reverted after his death?]).

With Noah Hawley's FX show getting the greenlight, perhaps Disney figured the Alien franchise wasn't a fit for cinema anymore, now that its impact had been eroded by a succession of awful sequels and spin-offs. Hawley's pitch for the series sounds great TBH, and it could never properly work on modern mainstream cinema.

Plus, I had also presumed Blomkamp had finally blown through the last of his clout and blank-cheque status anyway; earned after his success with District 9. Maybe the upcoming Demonic will earn him a little more.

Acosta

It was a shame they chose to make that awful Prometheus sequel instead.

Tony EH

I'm delighted its dead. It was a terrible idea.

johnny_ultimate

Blomkamp made one alright three star film well over a decade ago, and a bunch of mediocre to terrible films since. I wouldn’t be particularly confident in his capacity to do anything interesting with something like Alien or indeed any franchise, so not surprised things like this haven’t gotten any traction.

TheIrishGrover

I will never forgive Scott for his killing of Blomkamp's concept in favour of what.... Bheh.

Homelander

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117777168#Comment_117777168

I actually think he'd do a good job with an existing franchise that he just has to build on. He's a great for big ideas and concepts but not great on the execution. Films like Elysium and Chappie were visually excellent and the design was top notch, but they just fell down in the ultimately very uninspired plot behind all the panache and original narratives.

I watched Elysium the other day again, I didn't overly like it at the time and watching it again only reinforced that feeling. It struck me not as a mediocre film, or passable entertainment - which it is obviously - but a film with many strengths that could so easily have been a good or even film. Chappie is the same though personally I thought that was a better film than Elysium.

Something like Alien, he doesn't really have to work that much out. District 9 is truly an excellent film but his work on the Halo shorts as well are really well made and do the material excellent justice......that Microsoft themselves have completely failed to capture in all their awful Halo mini-series/web-series/etc.

I really would have liked to see his take on something like Alien, Terminator or Robocop. Simple premise movies with an established lore that would benefit hugely from a great eye for design and action.

Entertaining as they are or can be, all these franchises, with the likes of Genisys, Dark Fate, Alien Covenant, are now in the generic Hollywood sin-bin and share little DNA with their original/earlier incarnations.