Neill Blomkamp has announced that he will be at the helm of a much anticipated Alien reboot. It had been rumored for months, with Blomkamp teasing fans by releasing related concept art on his Instagram account.
In 2009, Blomkamp’s freshman feature District 9 took audiences by surprise with it’s emotional narrative, thematic allusions, and refreshing sci-fi action on a modest budget. It was critically well received, earning a nomination for Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards. His current project, Chappie, hits theaters on March 6th, 2015.
The main Alien series has been largely dormant since 1997, though making brief appearances in the Alien vs. Predator series, as well as Ridley Scott’s own quasi-prequel Prometheus. It has also recently seen success as a video game, with Alien: Isolation (set canonically between Alien and Aliens) garnering critical acclaim. Apparently ‘Prometheus 2’ is still in development with Ridley Scott, so the two related series will run concurrently.
With Blomkamp’s stellar history in science fiction and Sigourney Weaver’s expression that she would like to reprise her role as Ripley, we could be looking at the rare successful Hollywood reboot! ‘Prometheus 2’ isn’t coming until 2016, so I doubt we’ll be seeing ‘Alien 5’ until then at least, possibly 2017.
UPDATE: 20th Century Fox has confirmed, and Ridley Scott will be producing.
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