While District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s social media-enacted plans to make another Alien movie may be on hold for a bit, 20th Century Fox has a consolation prize for the filmmaker that they hope will keep him happy. Per Deadline, the studio is in talks with Blomkamp to write and direct an adaptation of the upcoming Thomas Sweterlitsch sci-fi novel The Gone World, which Chernin Entertainment is producing.
Specific plot details are under wraps, but the film is described as a sci-fi time travel procedural, which would at least be somewhat different from Blomkamp’s output thus far. Indeed, District 9, Elysium, and Chappie are all rather same-y feeling, so here’s hoping Blomkamp at least finds a new aesthetic for The Gone World. The film is being planned as a potential franchise for the studio, so while Alien 5 isn’t happening just yet, Blomkamp could find himself at the helm of his own sci-fi series.
Just as Chappie was about to hit theaters, Blomkamp took to social media earlier this year to share some concept art he had drawn up for an original take on an Alien sequel. At the time, he mentioned that meetings with Fox on the movie had never really gone anywhere, but bolstered by the strong response from fans, Fox reconsidered and put the film officially on track towards production with Ridley Scott producing. That Blomkamp is one smart cookie.
However, as Scott began preparing his own Alien film, the Prometheus follow-up Alien: Paradise Lost, the Gladiator director maybe got a little annoyed at Blomkamp’s film upstaging his own Alien movie, and Fox opted to postpone Alien 5 in favor of Scott starting production on the Prometheus sequel early next year.
It’s unclear if The Gone World will indeed be Blomkamp’s next movie, but regardless it appears the filmmaker is keen on tackling an adaptation of some kind for the first time. Here’s hoping that results in something markedly more compelling than Elysium or Chappie.
