20th Century Fox have bit the bullet and announced they plan to make Blomkamp's idea a reality, with the director apparently already kicking off the pre-production process, but don't start binge watching your Alien Quadrilogy (sic) boxset and sourcing the Dark Horse comics in anticipation just yet. At the end of the day, no amount of fan love will see a movie all the way to the screen. There's the making of an entire movie between now and sitting down in a darkened cinema for a xeno-fest in a couple of years time, and there's no limit to the number of stumbling blocks the movie faces. Blomkamp's inability to escape the shadow of District 9 (Chappie's done admirably at the box office, but nothing special) does call into question his ability to craft a big box office hit, but the big problem is the property itself. Alien used to be regarded as sure-fire box office gold, but nowadays its fanbase is minimal (at least in terms of box office impact), meaning Fox are going to want to do as much as possible to make it appeal to a wider audience. That's only going to amp up the aforementioned studio interference, and as Blomkamp's used to working with total creative freedom, you can guarantee there'll be stubbornness and sparks. Not too much of a stretch to see it sinking. This certainly wouldn't be the first time Blomkamp's invested plenty of time into a project only for it to be for nought - he spent a whole two years developing the nonexistent Halo movie, an equally high profile project that he reportedly had a cohesive idea for. Don't be surprised if history repeats itself. Are you excited for Blomkamp's Alien? Or has Chappie soured your expectations? Have your say down in the comments.
