Neill Blomkamp to Direct ALIEN Sequel

The "Alien" franchise is getting a lot of attention lately thanks to "District 9" director Neill Blomkamp. Blomkamp posted some interesting concept art on New Year’s Day that he described to be artwork for an "Alien" movie that he was no longer working on, although at the time he wasn't officially attached to any project from that franchise. What was intriguing about the concept art was that it featured Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn in what looked like a direct sequel to the second film in the series, "Aliens".

Not long after that it was revealed that Blomkamp will indeed direct a new installment in the "Alien" franchise and it will be his next project. According to Variety, the film will be produced by Ridley Scott and will take place after the events of the upcoming "Prometheus 2". Whether or not the concept art was Blomkamp's pitch to 20th Century Fox is unknown at this point, but it seems likely, and the encouraging online response to those images probably helped the director convince the studio.

Neill Blomkamp recently offered some explanations about the new movie:

"I want this film to feel like it is literally the genetic sibling of Aliens, so it’s Alien, Aliens, this movie. It’s a Freudian kind of nightmare. That element to me is what is so appealing, to try to put the audience on the edge of their seat the whole time in a traditional ‘monster stalking you/dark corridor’ way. And then when you mix in the life cycle and the design elements of the Alien, it’s just a powder-keg of creativity to me."

This statement immediately fueled an online frenzy that Blomkamp intends to ignore "Alien 3" and "Alien: Resurrection" and tie in directly to the first two films. However, Blomkamp somewhat softened his approach in a later interview :

"My favorites are the first two movies. So I want to make a film that’s connected to Alien and Aliens. That’s my goal. I’m not trying to undo Alien 3 or Alien: Resurrection, I just want it to be connected to Alien and Aliens."

Sigourney Weaver already seems to be on board for the sequel and is eager to give fans a real ending to Ripley's story:

"I always wanted to complete this story and it wasn’t really until Neill and I started talking that I said, ‘this is why we waited however many years its been."

I'm sure updates will keep pouring in like crazy from now on, so stay tuned for more. Until then, check out Neill Blomkamp's concept art images for the "Alien" sequel after the jump.

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