Giant Freakin Robot

Between Chappie opening this weekend (though to less than enthusiastic reviews and soft box office) and all the talk of his upcoming Alien movie, Neill Blomkamp has been all over the place (he’s even talked about the possibility of a sequel to his debut feature, District 9). Every time he sits down to talk about Chappie, Alien pops up and steals the spotlight, but in one recent interview he indicated that there could be more than just the one film.

All we really know for sure about Neill Blomkamp’s next project is that it is in fact an Alien film, taking place somewhere in the universe that Ridley Scott created back in 1979. According to some, it could be a prequel, or it could discount the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. It does sound like Sigourney Weaver is going to be back as cinematic badass Ellen Ripley, and Michael Biehn might be back as Corporal Dwayne Hicks. He appears in Blomkamp’s concept art and when asked, said he has been contacted (I guess it’s possible he could play a character besides Hicks).

In Blomkamp’s pictures, Hick’s face is half melted, presumably by the highly corrosive Xenomorph blood. While this looks pretty damn awesome, David Woodruff and his special effects company, Generation Effects Inc, cranked things up a few notches. He and his team did a makeup test based on the concept art, which shows what Hicks could look like in real life. We ran across these photos at Terminator Fans, and they’re awesome.

Neill Blomkamp has been stumping hard for his upcoming robot-centric actioner Chappie, but over the last few weeks, one subject has overshadowed his latest film, his next one, which will see the South African director take on the world of Ridley Scott’s Alien. Damn near every time he sits down with the press there’s some Chappie talk, but what everyone really wants to know appears to be news about his Alien project. There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Michael Biehn will reprise his role as Corporal Dwayne Hicks from James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens, and now the actor himself has addressed the topic.

The talk first started when Blomkamp released some concept art for this project at the beginning of the year. No one knew he was working on this, and it seemed more like something he was doing for fun rather than as a potential new film. Hicks figures prominently in the images, but it’s concept art, which is far from gospel, so we didn’t know what was up. Then all of a sudden this is official and happening and we have a lot of questions.

The other day there was a big brouhaha on the internet because of what Neill Blomkamp said about his upcoming Alien movie. In an interview he said, “I want this film to feel like it is literally the genetic sibling of Aliens, so it’s Alien, Aliens, and then this film.” Many took this to mean that he intends to discount the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. This definitely felt like an offhand comment at the time, but there was some backlash, and Blomkamp has now attempted to clarify what he meant.

When he first revealed the concept art he’d been working on earlier this year, many thought it was strange that, not only was Sigourney Weaver prominently displayed, but Michael Biehn’s Corporal Dwayne Hicks also showed up. Fans of the franchise now he dies in Alien 3, and this was the first time questions about how this fill will treat the timeline popped up. Then again, it was just concept art for a movie no one really expected to happen, and you can do whatever the hell you want.

Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie doesn’t even open until next Friday, but talk of his next film, a turn in Ridley Scott’s Alien universe, has already almost entirely eclipsed that (okay, not really, we’re still stoked to see the robot adventure, but he seemingly can’t talk to anyone without fielding a barrage of questions about his Alien movie). We don’t know much of what the story entails, but the writer/director did confirm that it involves the most important piece of the puzzle (even more so than the snarling, drooling, H.R. Giger-designed Xenomorphs): Ellen Ripley.

This shouldn’t be much of a surprise. One, it’s not really an Alien movie without her, and two, when Blomkamp released some of the concept art he’d been working on at the beginning of the year, she figured prominently in those images.

Now that Neill Blomkamp’s Alien movie is officially happening, we can start the rampant speculation about casting and plot and all the fun little details that go along with a project like this. As this is going to be a pretty big deal, you have to imagine that all kinds of people in Hollywood are going to be interested in joining the party, and one star has already thrown his hat into the ring. Comedian Louis C.K. says he wants to be cast and then killed off in the next Xenomorph adventure. We can totally get behind that.

It wouldn’t be a true Alien movie without franchise stalwart Sigourney Weaver (we don’t really count the Alien Vs. Predator movies), and we certainly hope that she’ll return. She worked with Blomkamp on his latest, Chappie, and reportedly was part of the inspiration for his idea for the film. We don’t know yet if she’ll be back (on potential report says this could be a prequel, so it’s hard to imagine how she fits in), but she talked about the possibility on The Tonight Show and dropped the bit about Louis C.K.