Three years after esteemed director Ridley Scott produced Prometheus, District 9 writer Neill Blomkamp is now in talks to direct Alien 5, which could be coming to our screens as early as 2017.
Blomkamp has certainly been a busy guy: he has recently released Chappie, portraying a dystopian future in which local police forces are run by robots. Now, with Chappie in cinemas and receiving critical acclaim, Blomkamp has his sights set on something all the more ambitious: the fifth installment in the Alien series.
Though to keen Alien fans 2017 may seem far away, Blomkamp has already been discussing his plans openly through podcasts, and one thing which he was keen to stress was that he would not tread on the toes of Scott’s forthcoming sequel to Prometheus, set to hit theatres next year.
It turns out that Blomkamp has already been having extensive talks with Scott in preparation for producing the new film, which will of course star the inimitable Sigourney Weaver, who will reprise her role as Ellen Ripley. Speaking with his wife Terri Tatchell on a podcast for Empire, Blomkamp said: “I changed the one thing that he [Scott] felt was bumping Prometheus a little bit. One thing that makes me feel good about it is that Ridley is producing it. He likes the idea of what I want to make.”
There is still very little than can be revealed about the upcoming movie, though it’s rumoured that there will be new plot twists to the original story created by Scott. Another potentially controversial issue is the film’s title, which we can confirm will not be Alien 5.
Blomkamp said: “I sent the title I wanted to Ridley. It’s kinda quite bold, but it gives away too much if I say the title. But in the event that it doesn’t work, I’m dead in the water.”
The Alien franchise has been a cultural phenomenon ever since we first saw the creature popping out of John Hurt’s stomach back in 1979. Today, almost three decades later, the movie is still cropping up in fan paraphernalia, and it’s more than just keyrings and t-shirts. In 2013, it was announced that developers at 20th Century Fox were in talks to create an Alien-themed amusement park.
Moreover, in the modern day, Alien has even had its effect on the online gaming world. Nothing could be more thrilling than avoiding certain death at the hands of the movie’s main protagonist, and some games developers at Mr Smith Casino have even gone the extra mile with an Alien-themed online slots game. Without a doubt, this ensures that the Alien brand reaches a plethora of different audiences, but will said audiences be happy with Blomkamp’s contribution to the series however?
Certainly, with contributions from Mr Scott himself, the fifth installment in the series is not doomed to fail, but will it triumph over the 1979 original? Watch this space.