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Writer/Director confirms Alien Nation reboot is still in development… but not quite the same

January 26th, 2021 by Marc Comments

 

It’s been over four years since we heard any new details on the Alien Nation remake/reboot (here) and it was assumed that, when Disney took over 20th Century Fox – who were developing the new movie – that it was dead in the water.

Based on the hit 1988 movie starring James Caan as a racist cop paired with an alien partner (Mandy Patinkin) after their people crash-landed on earth and became members of society, the movie had enough of a cult following to spawn a TV series and several tv movies – overall, it was quite a big deal and seemed like it was crying out to be redeveloped at some stage in the future and, as they say, the future is now.

Now, director Jeff Nichols, who was originally hired at Fox to write and direct the new take on the franchise, has been chatting, along with cinematographer Adam Stone, about the project and it seems that Disney, always looking for new content for Disney+, have approached them about resurrecting the idea… only now, rather than as a movie, they want a ten-episode series.

“[We] spent three years building up an entire alien civilization and this set-up and all the characters. We were set to make it as our next big challenge, a $100 million studio film. Then Disney bought Fox and killed it, which was a little soul-crushing, to say the least,” Nicholls said.

“They came in and asked if I would be interested in turning it into a series, potentially. So I have taken the script and broken it into ten episodes, and it’s under consideration right now. Who knows, the powers that be are deciding that.”

I was a big fan of the original movie and the spin-off series and TV movies, so I’m all in for this but I hope it’s set in the same universe –  a soft reboot so to speak, rather than a full reboot.

Interesting to note that Nicholls is also working on a spinoff movie from the A Quiet Place franchise with him writing based on an idea from creator John Krasinski, so he’s a busy man.

What do you all say?

Let me know your thoughts, gang.

Source: Playlist

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….