How to Properly React to the Confirmed Neil Blomkamp Alien Movie
Wednesday, Neil Blomkamp, director three of the famed District 9, the sophomore slump Elysium and the upcoming, “I really can do it again” attempt, Chappie, seems to have courted 20th Century Fox into handing him the reigns on a future Alien movie. He confirmed as much through Instagram and Twitter.
The Instagram picture sits in line with the art he posted a couple of weeks ago about the project. His vision for the film includes the return of Ripely and Hicks. She may end up donning some kind of Xenomorph suit.
We wrote up our own piece on Blomkamp’s concept art for a new Alien movie. In that flurry of tweets he remarked that the film wasn’t happening, despite some effort toward conceptualization. Turns out, if you throw something at the internet and the internet catches with glee, big papa production company is going to take notice. And it didn’t even require a Kickstarter campaign.
Rest assured, it’s been confirmed from a variety of sources that this movie will not be Prometheus 2. That project still rests firmly in the hands of Ridely Scott, the guy responsible for the entire Alien franchise and the weird attempt to explain it all called Prometheus.
So what do we do with this news? From the internet’s collective reaction, people think Blomkamp is a natural fit for the franchise. He does sci-fi, he does aliens. Most of all, he’s put out some of the most visceral special effects in the history of cinema, and I say that without a hint of hyperbole. If you aren’t already convinced by District 9, check out this Halo short he produced during that tenuous time when he might have actually made the full video game adaptation.
Judging from this footage, Blomkamp isn’t afraid to veer away from the expected visual tone of a series. Chances are his derivation from the Halo epic warrior poses into a more believable, on-the-ground footage cinematography, was ultimately a factor in him dropping off the project. The way his Alien movie is coming along though, it looks like that kind of hurdle has already been jumped. That the Alien franchise has always focused on a group of survivors, rather than some epic space-faring tale, puts this deal in a rational light.
Aside from internet videos, you might as well jump right back into the Alien series, starting with a smart anthology purchase. There’s a lot of options out there. Here’s the best one:
Amazon also has a combo pack with the anthology and a Prometheus blu-ray.
There’s a great deal of extra content in the pack, including a Director’s Cut of the first film, voice-overs by a huge number of people, including directors Ridley Scott and James Cameron, storyboards, image galleries and on and on. It’s worth the asking price.
On the video game side of things, which I’m prone to examine, there’s just one recent game to pay attention to, and that’s Alien: Isolation. As the title suggests, the focus here is completely on creating the atmosphere of the first film, rather than attempt to emulate the space marine insanity of the second film as so many games have lazily attempted to do. Isolation is a master class in suspense and terror, though it does take a certain kind of engagement from the player. You’ll need to want to be scared to enjoy it. It also stars Ellen Ripely’s daughter as she tries to uncover the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. The story is considered official canon for the universe.
The final bit of preparation you should do is watch a couple of Blomkamp films. None of the Alien films have been like any of the others, which is a unique thing in the world of movie franchises. All of the Transformers are virtually the same exact thing. The Fast and the Furious may have transformed itself into the Ocean’s Eleven of car movies halfway through, but Dominic Toretto’s refusal to change is what keeps that series going. Alien, on the other hand, has never held on to a director for more than one film, and has never rested on just one idea. That’s a great, great thing, especially when you bring someone with as much explosive creativity as Blomkamp.
Granted, Elysium was a horrendous, star-studded bust, which means it’s up to Chappie to reignite our faith in the man. One easily overlooked fact about his past movies: He and his wife, Terri Tatchell, wrote District 9 together. He wrote Elysium on his own. Tatchell is back for Chappie. If his third film proves even half as successful as his first, the Alien movie shouldn’t go forward with Tatchell’s involvement. The franchise, after all, is about a woman doing a man’s job. Chappie releases on March 6.
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