news Neill Blomkamp No Longer Sure He’d Direct ‘Alien 5’ If Given the Chance: ‘It’s Completely Dead’

Every once in a while, concept art from Neill Blomkamp’s unmade “Alien 5” pops up online and sends fans of the space franchise into a tizzy. The “District 9” and “Demonic” filmmaker’s involvement with a proposed fifth “Alien” movie dates back over half a decade. Blomkamp intended to create a sequel to the original “Alien” franchise and break from Ridley Scott’s prequel films, which have stopped development following the financial disappointment of “Alien: Covenant.” In a recent interview with The Independent, Blomkamp was now uncertain he’d return to the unmade “Alien” project if given the chance.

“I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not sure that I would do that project. My assumption is that it’s completely dead,” Blomkamp said.

When asked to explain what happened, the director responded: “It was a case of both projects [Scott’s prequel and Blomkamp’s sequel] were moving forward at Fox simultaneously, and one of them was picked. Sigourney was unbelievably supportive and amazing. I have nothing but the best things to say about Sigourney. I’m such a fan of hers on every level. She was always into the project, but Fox just clearly doesn’t want it. I haven’t had anything to do with that for years.”

Blomkamp has moved on from the “Alien” franchise, although he hasn’t entirely stopped thinking about it. “I wonder if it’s possible to do an entire loop, where you’re really into it up until the point it gets shut down, then you lose interest and years go by and you loop all the way back around to being really into it again,” he said. “Maybe that’s hypothetically possible.”

With his latest offering “Demonic” now released, Blomkamp is currently writing the script for his long-awaited “District 9” sequel. While the director is open to exploring the worlds of his movies once again, he has no intention of tinkering with old visions and re-editing projects for director’s cuts.

“No, I don’t subscribe to that idea, myself,” Blomkamp said. “I think who you are when you make something and where it exists in the time it’s made is the thing that you made. I think what you can do is, you can come up with different ideas for concepts within those worlds, and maybe you can have different perspectives ‘cause you’re older. I definitely feel that way with ‘Elysium,’ for sure. I’d like to go back to ‘Elysium’ with new stories. But, when something’s done, something’s done.”

Head over to The Independent’s website to read Blomkamp’s interview in its entirety.
 
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