Still bitter about Prometheus, Alien fans?
Neill Blomkamp’s Instagram account won’t make it better.
As io9 notes, the innovative director of District 9 spent last night dishing out swoonworthy concept art for his vision of an Aliens sequel—one that probably won’t ever see the light of day.
It’s not certain whether Blomkamp is moving on due to other interests or whether Fox actually rejected the project. What is certain is that the concept art in these Instagram posts, which include a reunited Ripley and Hicks plus a look inside the evil Weyland Corp, are far more exciting than, well, anything about Ridley Scott’s full-scale franchise reboot.
Yep, that’s a classic Alien on a lush, palm-dotted planet with what seems to be a glimpse of a facility behind it. Inside the facility, what appears to be a dismantled alien ship.
Looks like Weyland Corp is up to its old tricks again, exploring alien technology and probably racking up plenty of bodies along the way. Thankfully, Ripley and Hicks—yes, Hicks!—are back to protect us:
We’re not sure what brings Ripley and Hicks back to us, but they’re clearly not as we once knew them. Instead, they seem to have fallen victim to the Weyland Corp’s tendency to dabble in hybrid alien genetics. Here’s Ripley wearing a (totally badass) fused alien mask:
Hicks meanwhile is back from the dead, and a bit worse for wear:
The art above by digital artist Geoffroy Thoorens is a fascinating look at Blomkamp’s vision for the series, which seems to be a continuation of the saga of Ripley and her struggle to circumvent all the ways in which the Weyland Corp tries to use her for political purposes.
Such a scheme would be near and dear to the heart of Blomkamp, whose District 9 dealt with human/alien interaction and carried strongly political overtones in a post-apartheid South Africa.
As he noted, his vision would be a romp inside the original universe Scott and James Cameron depicted in Alien and Aliens.
As io9 points out, an unverified Twitter account purporting to be Blomkamp’s claims Fox “didn’t really even know” he was working on the reboot.
https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/550854689042882560
https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/550854806160424960
But in his final word on the subject (so far), he notes that he might return to the world.
Given how great the concept art is, we can only hope he does. Even if Fox won’t let him bring his vision to life, we can all have fun (or, you know, make ourselves miserable) imagining the Alien reboot that might have been.
Photo via Instagram
