Neill Blomkamp may have failed to recapture the momentum he had a decade ago when he burst onto the scene in spectacular fashion with District 9, but he’s only 41 years old, so he’s still got a long career ahead of him. After all, Blomkamp’s debut feature is widely regarded as one of the 21st Century’s most original and inventive sci-fi movies, which raked in $210 million at the box office on a $30 million budget and went on to land four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
His subsequent efforts didn’t manage to hit the same heights, though, with both Elysium and Chappie rehashing many of the same ideas to much lesser effect, while his planned Alien sequel was canceled and he dropped out of RoboCop Returns. A resurgence could be on the cards, however, with Blomkamp’s supernatural horror Demonic arriving later this year, while he’s also confirmed that District 10 is back on the table and being written as we speak.
Not only that, but insider Daniel Richtman is claiming that Blomkamp’s abandoned Alien project is also in development once again, years after it was dropped by the studio when they decided that Ridley Scott’s prequels would be the focus of the franchise moving forward. As things stand, though, no feature films have been officially announced by new owners Disney or subsidiary 20th Century Studios, with the only fresh content confirmed so far for the franchise being the Hulu show from Scott and Noah Hawley.
Of course, nobody loves milking a series for all it’s worth more than the Mouse House, but this is just the latest in a long line of Alien movies that Richtman has reported to be happening over the last few months and as of yet, none of them have materialized. If Blomkamp’s take on the property is back in development, though, then it’s no doubt a while off given that District 10 is clearly taking precedence, and he’s also gearing up to shoot action thriller The Inferno this year.
