The new one-to-watch sci-fi director Neill Blomkamp recently confirmed that a new film in the Alien franchise was next on his schedule. IGN was able to ask Blomkamp about his project during the IGN UK Chappie podcast.
Blomkamp is definitely excited to be doing an Alien movie, adding that he likes to keep his focus on the project ahead and not dwell on any criticism of his already completed work. “One, I’m relatively young, and two, on a personality level, I’m not susceptible as much to the whole fear of following up something. Even if it’s your own work, you know? Elysium not living up to what District 9 was… it doesn’t affect me in the same way it affects a lot of other artists. I’m willing to take big swings all the time until people won’t give me money. It doesn’t affect me like that. So my thing with Alien is that I don’t sit up at night being ‘Oh god, I wonder how I’m going to be able to follow in these great films’ footsteps.’”
IGN asked, since Blomkamp had said he wouldn’t be interested in doing a film in the Star Wars franchise for instance, why take on a film in a similarly established franchise. “Alien is the one thing that’s just… I actually think it’s the first science-fiction film I ever saw. And it’s my first memory of film. So it’s just emblazoned into my head in a way that… it would be a shame for me to not do it for myself. Even if it doesn’t live up to want people want, for my own self I need to at least try.”
Blomkamp adds that Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s direction of Alien and Aliens combined with the twisted Freud/Giger sexual terror imagery really drew him into the world.
He also talks a lot about the head game he’s been playing with fans and the studio through his Alien Instagram art; how the sort of films he loves call for 10s or 100s of millions of dollars of other people’s money and who expect a profit on their investment. Blomkamp also had some apprehension about working with someone else’s material that was as widely known as Alien.
IGN asked how Blomkamp’s Alien movie would fit in with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2; “I don’t think they’ll be running exactly side-by-side, but I don’t want to get into it too much – I will try to keep some of my cards close to my chest. But Ridley is producing it which is amazing too, he’s one of my favourite filmmakers, so I’m stoked.”
Check out the full interview here!
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