Alien Nation Remake Happening, Our Scoop Confirmed

Our original scoop is confirmed and an Alien Nation reboot is currently in development. We could see a return of the Newcomers.

By Doug Norrie | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

alien nation

If you were a show or movie from the 1980s then you have to be liking your chances for making a comeback in the near future in the way of a reboot. That’s just the way of things with Hollywood these days with everything old becoming new again at some point. And now, our initial exclusive scoop is confirmed that another property is heading for a remake. That’s right, We Got This Covered via Insider Daniel Richtman is reporting that Alien Nation is in development and that we might see these ETs and humans integrated on a whole other level. 

The news that Alien Nation is making a comeback has been floating out there for a while now with a number of different starts and stops on the project over the years. But it looks like now we are in full *go* mode with the reboot happening in the form of a feature length film. It would be happening through Disney after the company purchased the rights to the brand in the 21st Century Fox merger. Whatever form it takes, this story will be updated for a new generation of viewers who might not be all that caught up on the original storyline. 

alien nation

Alien Nation first came out as a movie back in the late 1980s and was a noir science-fiction story on its base level. There were sci-fi concepts running through it obviously, but it did focus a little more on being a human story at its core. In this world, a group of aliens has crash-landed on Earth and become integrated into society fairly quickly. They look mostly human save for their hair being replaced with an off-colored pattern across the dome that helps the viewer distinguish between the two groups. The aliens, though they were slaves on their home planet, are stronger and more intelligent than the humans leading to an interesting interplay. 

The original movie starred James Caan and Mandy Patinkin as a human and Newcomer (the name for the aliens) as cops solving a crime in Los Angeles. The somewhat surprising commercial success of the film helped spawn an Alien Nation television series that lasted all of 22 episodes on Fox. The show delved more into the society overtones of the humans and aliens living together and the struggle each group faced in the assimilation to a new normal. 

alien nation

The Alien Nation series was canceled after a season but there was still an appetite for some of the stories as the brand had earned a fairly loyal fanbase. Five television movies would come out over the next three years which continued to tell stories in this world. 

Again, we are short on real, solid details around this Alien Nation remake and there are even some early and conflicting reports about whether it will be a series or feature film. Heck, it could end up being both. But it will be a cool return to this world which still feels like it left some stories on the table.