When it comes to great ‘90s action movies, Starship Troopers was unlike anything else. Director Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s sci-fi military novel was full of violence, drama, massive bugs, and some of the best satire of the decade. Nearly 30 years later, Neill Blomkamp is hard at work preparing an adaptation of his own, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what the District 9 filmmaker has in store for us.

Not a lot has been revealed about the upcoming sci-fi movie, but what’s been shared makes me believe it won’t be anything like Verhoeven’s wild, campy, and biting critique of militaristic societies. And though I’m stoked to see what’s going to happen with the franchise, at the same time, I have so many questions.

Would you like to know more?

The 1997 Starship Troopers Movie Is One Of My Favorite Sci-Fi Flicks And Satires

Though I didn’t totally get Starship Troopers when I first saw it at a friend’s sleepover back in the fourth grade, I’ve loved that odd, campy, and ultraviolet movie for the better part of 30 years now. Since then, it’s become one of my all-time favorite sci-fi flicks and, honestly, one of the best satires to ever hit the big screen.

I love Verhoeven’s attack on fascism, his lampooning of overly confident military leaders, and the way he and the cast found a way to do it all while also convincing a large portion of moviegoers that this was going to be a “man vs. bug” type affair. Though that’s true in the fact that the United Citizen Federation takes on the Arachnids in bloody combat, there’s so much more to the movie.

But What Will This New Adaptation Be Like Since It's Taking A More Accurate Approach To The Original Book?

Okay, you can imagine how excited I was to read a Variety report in March 2025 that Neill Blomkamp was going to be writing and directing a Starship Troopers reboot. I was so stoked to hear that the guy behind one of the best movies from the 2000s (District 9) was going to be turning his attention to one of my childhood favorites. However, I read a few lines down that this upcoming book-to-screen adaptation would be more faithful to the source material than the 1997 movie I grew up watching.

For those who aren’t aware, the previous adaptation took some liberties with the source material. All the major plot points were there, but Verhoeven made sure to sneak in some not-so-subtle digs at the original book and its supposed championing of fascism and societies where everyday citizens don’t have access to voting or procreation rights unless they complete federal service, aka fighting in the military in some capacity. Will any of that social commentary be in this new version, or will we be getting a more grounded and gritty sci-fi thriller?

I'm Sure The Action And Creature Effects Will Be Great, But What About The Tone?

If Neill Blomkamp’s Starship Troopers is taking a more straightforward approach to the story, does that mean we’re not going to be seeing all those great fake ads throughout its runtime? You can’t have Starship Troopers without the classic “I’m doing my part” propaganda videos, right? RIGHT? And that brings me to a bigger question: what’s the tone going to be like?

Like other great Paul Verhoeven movies, this 1997 space-traveling military flick was silly above everything, which doesn’t really seem to be something that Neill Blomkamp has done a lot of in the past. Don’t get me wrong, the man’s not making boring, drab, or overly dark sci-fi thrillers without social commentary, but I’m genuinely interested in seeing how he pulls it off.

Though I’m not sure about the tone, I have full faith in Blomkamp and his team to create some eye-popping creature effects that would make Phil Tippett proud. I’m not worried about the action either, as the filmmaker has proven time and time again, even in non-sci-fi films like Gran Turismo, that he knows how to craft an exciting set piece.

Are We Going To Be Getting More Awesome Mech Suits From Neill Blomkamp?

There’s a lot to love about Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi movies, but one thing I always come back to is the filmmaker’s use of mech and mech suits. The Exosuit from District 9, the Kruger Hulc Suit from Elysium, and even the design of the titular character in Chappie all looked great. So, are we going to get similar types of suits and robots in his new Starship Troopers movie? God, I hope so!

Just imagine the invasion of Klendathu with some wild ass robots, grunts wearing exoskeletons, and other crazy tech running around squashing (and getting squashed) by giant bugs from the other end of the universe. I know I have some reservations, but shut up and take my money.

Lastly, Is This Going To Happen Or Do We Have Another Alien Or RoboCop Situation On Our Hands?

So, do I think Rick and Jim will have a happy reunion and run along the beaches of Thailand as they make up for lost time if my theory is right? No, but I also don’t think their long-anticipated meeting will end in bloodshed. Yeah, Rick is packing a gun, decades of suppressed trauma, and some anger that’s boiling over, but we’re talking about a show that is full of red herrings.

However, I could be wrong about the bloodshed, about Rick and Jim’s relationship, and the direction of this incredibly intense and engaging storyline. I guess I’ll just have to tune in and watch the final two episodes of The White Lotus Season 3 to find out. But hey, that’s not so bad…

I’ll be checking all the normal places to find more information about Starship Troopers in the coming weeks and months because this is one reboot I just can’t wait to see.

Moving through the 2025 movie schedule, there are plenty of sci-fi titles that will bring us to worlds new and familiar. Of course, there are still other lands that fans look to see represented on the big screen again, as evidenced by the fact that Sony’s been trying since 2011 to reboot Starship Troopers. Yet another attempt is being mounted with District 9 director Neill Blomkamp at the helm, and in light of this announcement, I think a very special casting choice needs to be considered right upfront.

Neill Blomkamp Is Perfect For Sony’s Latest Starship Troopers Reboot

Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 original is both a biting satire, but also widely considered a movie so “cheesy” it’s awesome, and I don’t think anyone would be able to capture that genius before its time. Which is probably why it’s a good thing that Blomkamp’s gig as the writer/director behind this project is headed back to the source.

As the announcement made by THR cited, author Robert Heinlein’s 1959 novel was packed with other elements that, while present in the Verhoeven version, weren’t as fleshed out. Hiring the mind behind District 9 and Elysium to tell a tale where being a warfighter is required to be a true citizen is a choice feels ripe to freshly mine this material.

I’m sensing that Starship Troopers is about to be a much more serious project, eschewing screenwriter Edward Neumeier’s tongue-in-cheek jabs at fascism and nationalism for something more gritty and hard-hitting. That’s perfectly fine, as the 1997 variant that played things more colorfully can easily be streamed by anyone with a Prime Video subscription.

That being said, I think there’s one casting choice that could pay tribute to the past, while totally nailing a more dramatic future.

Casper Van Dien Needs To Come Back To Starship Troopers… As Michael Ironside’s Character

One of the themes in Starship Troopers is basically how the military-industrial complex loves to engage in endless warfare. It’s not a new theme, but with the right approach, it hits just as hard as it did in the old days.

With that in mind, and also considering veteran Roughneck Casper Van Dien’s affection for that original picture, I think it should be him to play the character of Jean Rasczak. The man who taught Johnny Rico and his buddies that, “everybody fights, no one quits,” Robert Heinlein’s own source text built in a finale callback to that character that echoes this sentiment.

I mean, I can't be the only person who feels more than a little conflicted when watching the ending of 1997’s Starship Troopers, right? Try watching this clip and thinking that victory is on the verge:

Yeah, not even composer Basil Poledouris’ rousing score can totally override my sense of dread. So with a new Starship Troopers on the way, casting Casper Van Dien as Jean Rasczak extends that message by preserving it in a callback that only enhances the futility of war.

Wow, I did not expect to get that philosophical here. After all, there’s still a chance that much like Neill Blomkamp’s Robocop legacy-quel and his promising, but discarded Alien 5 pitch, this new spin of the wheel might not go all the way. I’m not trying to be negative, but rather I’m protecting my heart from potential disappointment.

If we’re going to go bug killing on Klendathu again, it had better be for the right reasons, and with a plan. Hiring the creative force that almost adapted Halo with Alex Garland and Peter Jackson’s assistance surely sounds like a proper step in that direction. But we’ll have to wait to learn more as this battle is so distant that the Mobile Infantry is waiting for "Reveille" to start the day.

When certain movie concepts are announced, there’s a moment of sheer disbelief that such an idea could yield an approach that would work. Two such projects on the 2023 calendar have a common genre binding them: video game biopics. Rather than creating a whole cloth narrative based on an open ended game like Tetris or Gran Turismo, filmmakers have opted to instead tell true stories that are adjacent to such gaming properties. In the case of the latter, director Neill Blomcamp’s new film is another project that’s taken what seemed to be a fool’s errand and found a novel way to produce a rousing success. 

Once again, as in the case of Tetris, real life comes through with an inspiring story that feels like a miracle. This time, it's the journey of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) from gamer to professional race car driver that provides the engine that drives things home. The movie follows Mardenborough as he qualifies for a spot at the Gran Turismo Academy and has to compete with a bunch of hot shot drivers who are after the same thing: scoring an opportunity to become a true blue, Nissan-sponsored sports hero.

Doubt surrounds Jann, as his father (Djimon Hounsou), his competition, and even the people he could be working for (David Harbour and Orlando Bloom) all have their doubts in his abilities. Through hard work and determination, this young man will attempt to do what some see as impossible, or in some cases unsafe, in pursuit of a high-velocity dream.

Gran Turismo has a healthy appreciation for both its real-life racing story and the game that inspired it.

While Gran Turismo is about a true story inspired by game designer/professional driver Kazunori Yamauchi’s legendary racing simulator, Neill Blomkamp and co-writers Jason Hall and Zach Baylin have found a way to occupy a unique crossroads with the film. While never straying from the story of Jann and his driving ambitions, the filmmakers find a way to also pay fitting tribute to the Playstation game series that made it all possible. 

Story devices like embellishing reality with video game overlays, as well as bookending the movie with in-depth looks into how the Gran Turismo simulators are made, give audiences an appreciation for the Sony legacy title. So rather than coming off as a paid promotion for this still-going digital franchise, there’s a purpose to showing off the lengths that the artists go to in order to strive for realism.

That fact only strengthens the actual story of Jann Mardenborough. Trying to prove to the world that the Gran Turismo simulator has prepared him for handling actual performance machines in real world scenarios, Jann’s knowledge proves crucial when it comes to certain junctions in his career. By showing off the dedication of game developer Polyphony Digital and its attention to detail, we believe Archie Madekwe and his conviction as Mardenborough is absolutely correct.

Drawing influence from movies like Rocky and Top Gun, Gran Turismo is thrilling without tipping into blockbuster melodrama.

The team behind Gran Turismo have fully acknowledged that both Rocky and Top Gun are firm influences in the narrative they wanted to weave. It’s an appropriate crossroads to aim for, as the dogged determination of Jann Mardenborough plays to the former, while the danger of the motorsports echoes the latter. Both halves are served well, especially with a lack of the overblown melodrama that can find itself cranked up in the name of theatricality. 

One scene in particular blends both of those halves into a moment that could have been milked for heightened effect. Rather than following the playbook, the script  depicts something like a wreck on race day with almost silent reverence. The score dials down, the action slows, and characters are seen questioning what’s about to happen; and then the full gravity of the scenario kicks in. 

Gran Turismo assembles a roster of actors that know what’s required. You’d think that David Harbour’s mentor/”washed up racer” would be louder and angrier, and that’s something that even Harbour can ground in his skill set. Instead, Harbour's Jack Salter plays disappointment more sternly, with an eye on what needs to happen next. When Salter eventually does get loud, it packs the right sort of punch that’s needed.

Another important example of this sort of restraint at work is the storyline that sees Jann and his father Steve frequently butting heads over the racing dream. Djimon Hounsou plays that parental concern with measured intensity that never moves into a shouting match. Steve Mardenborough has his own ways of trying to convince his son he should do something more “practical,” but neither party turns it into anything more than a hard lined disagreement. 

Another unlikely game-based biopic success has been achieved with the excellent Gran Turismo.

It cannot be stressed enough that Tetris and Gran Turismo were two movies that, upon announcement, inspired quite a few jokes. Again, creating a whole cloth narrative from these titles isn't simple. The fact that both of these projects took a hard pivot into true events influenced by these games only proves that with the right concept, anything really is possible at the movies.

In Gran Turismo, there’s plenty of racing excitement if you’re a moviegoer looking for spectacle, with the right amount of heart and drama that anchors this story into its non-fiction roots. The movie exists in a continuum that recalls films like Days of Thunder and Ford v. Ferrari, showing what it takes to live a life that’s always on the edge of high-velocity disaster. Neill Blomkamp shows that he has a knack for presenting both reality and fantasy with a unique polish. Knowing when to hold back and when to go full throttle, Gran Turismo paces itself in a way that most other tentpole movies and biopics strive to achieve. 

Director Neill Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo is not your standard video game movie. The game it’s based on is a racing simulator that doesn’t feature any kind of plot for filmmakers to try and adapt, so the creatives behind the project had to take a special approach. Instead of opting for the purely fiction route, the film instead tells the fascinating true story of Jann Mardenborough – a British gamer who had never competed in a motorsport before being selected to attend the GT Academy and becoming a professional racing driver.

It’s a much different approach than what we’re used to seeing from Hollywood when it comes to bringing video games to the big screen, but it’s also worth noting that it’s also quite different than most biopics we see. This is because the real Jann Mardenborough was not only an important behind-the-scenes consultant on the Playstation feature, but also one of the production’s primary stunt drivers.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to dive deep into the world of the Gran Turismo movie when I visited the production’s edit bay and got to sit down with Neill Blomkamp for an extended look at the project. While watching footage and discussing the filmmaker’s work, one question I asked was about Jann Mardenborough’s involvement. While some based-on-a-true-story films prefer to keep their subjects at arm’s length, that was definitely not the case here, as Blomkamp explained that the professional driver was a key resource for him during development and filming. Said the director,

In a million years, I wouldn’t have guessed that Jann Mardenborough’s psych up music would be the smooth saxophone stylings of Kenny G, but that was the answer that Mardenborough told Neill Blomkamp, and that’s a detail that did end up making its way into Gran Turismo.

Continuing, the filmmaker explained that it wasn’t just about tiny details either. In addition to informing the screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin on a “much more structural sort of truthful biographical level as well,” the production also found a way to get the film’s subject actively involved in the making of the movie. As Blomkamp explained, one of the challenges that the production had to deal with during development was finding a stunt double for star Archie Madekwe – as it was tough to find both someone with the right look and the necessary skills:

While that search was happening, Blomkamp noted, he was being asked by Jann Mardenborough if there was some way for him to cameo in the video game blockbuster… and then everything clicked. Said Blomkamp,

It’s certainly not a typical thing for an actor playing a real person to be doubled by the person who are playing, but that’s a weird and fun bit of trivia behind Gran Turismo – which just launched its exciting first trailer this morning:

Starring Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou, Gran Turismo is now just a few months away from release – set to hit theaters everywhere on August 11. You can stay up to date with all of the game adaptations in the works with our Upcoming Video Game Movies And TV guide, and check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar to learn about all of the films scheduled to arrive in cinemas and on streaming in the coming weeks and months.

Dune is a little over a month away from opening in domestic theaters, but not only are certain European territories already screening it, the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel has also played at several film festivals. But over the course of director Denis Villeneuve discussing Dune with various publications and outlets, other things have come up in conversation, including Villeneuve taking a shot at Marvel movies. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp subsequently dropped an f-bomb-laced response to what Villeneuve said, but now he’s clarified what he was actually doing.

To set the stage, in an interview Denis Villeneuve did with El Mundo, Martin Scorsese’s comments from 2019 about superhero movies not being “cinema” were brought up, and Villeneuve agreed with that sentiment. He specifically posited that there were “too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a ‘cut and paste’ of others,” and that these “types of movies have turned us into zombies a bit.” Here’s what Neill Blomkamp had to say about that on Twitter:

For several hours, that tweet stood on its own, but then Neill Blomkamp told a fan that he wasn’t being serious, and that he’s really one of Denis Villeneuve’s fans. As he put it:

Phew, so at least we don’t have to worry about a feud unfolding between these two directors (this also just goes to show how much harder it is to read sarcasm through text). But now I’m curious about how Neill Blomkamp truly feels about Marvel movies. Does the filmmaker who also gave us Elysium and Chappie enjoy the offerings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and disagree with what Denis Villeneuve had to say, or does he side with Villeneuve, Martin Scorsese and various other directors who don’t particularly enjoy this superhero franchise? Either way, it’s good that Blomkamp set the record straight on his earlier tweet rather than let that f-bomb keep lingering without context.

While opinions on Marvel movies will obviously differ depending on who you ask, the MCU continues to be one of Hollywood’s most popular franchises. This year alone has seen the release of Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings so far, and we’ll also get Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home in the coming months. 2021 has also been notable for the MCU through its expansion into Disney+ with the original shows WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and What If… ?, and Hawkeye is on deck for a November premiere.

For those of you interested in Denis Villeneuve and Neil Blomkamp’s work, U.S. audiences will be able to see how the former’s Dune adaptation turned out when it premieres in theaters and on HBO Max October 22. As for the latter, his most recent movie, Demonic, was released last month, and he’s next set to tackle Inferno, which will star Friday Night Lights’ Taylor Kitsch (not to be confused with the same-named 2016 Tom Hanks-led movie).

Keep track of movies arriving in the near future with our 2021 release schedule and 2022 release schedule. The Marvel movies guide and Marvel TV shows guide are also available to those of you keeping close tabs on the MCU.

Cinematic history is filled with fascinating movies that never happened, from Tim Burton’s Superman Lives to Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune. But just as fascinating as the movies that didn’t happen are the ones that did happen, but turned out far different than they might have had different filmmakers been involved or different creative choices been made. Few films exemplify this better than Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

Since the release of Justice League in 2017, fans have held out hope for the so-called Snyder Cut of the film, the hope being that the director’s original vision would have been more creatively satisfying than the film we got. Of course, Justice League is not the only film where an alternate version sounds highly appealing. There are plenty of films that went in a different direction creatively than they might have, but the end result was still good enough.

That means the allure of a rewritten history isn’t as strong for James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel, Steven Spielberg’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s IT or David Cronenberg’s Return of the Jedi. But for movies where the final product disappointed, these alternate versions are the sources of speculation and lament.

There are no guarantees, of course, and execution is key, but along with Justice League’s Snyder Cut, here are five other alternate movies that might have been better than the ones ultimately released to theaters.

The Snyder Cut Of Justice League

We'll start with the biggest one because no alternate version of a movie has ever evoked the kind of fan response and discourse as the Snyder Cut of Justice League. If you watch the 2017 superhero movie, the credits would lead you to believe that it was directed by Zack Snyder, but that’s only partially true. Zack Snyder stepped away from Justice League due to a personal tragedy and Joss Whedon was brought in to handle what would be extensive reshoots.

Thanks to everything we’ve heard and seen, much of it from Zack Snyder himself, we know that the Snyder Cut of Justice League would have been extremely different from the theatrical film, and very little of Zack Snyder’s actual vision made it in. Had he stayed on, or should this fabled director’s cut ever see the light of day, we would have supposedly seen Darkseid, Superman in his black suit, more of Cyborg’s story, an appearance by the Atom and a different final battle.

Those are just some of the apparent differences in a film that would have been much longer and even had a different score. As someone who isn’t a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I’m skeptical that the Snyder Cut would be the masterpiece many fans presume it to be. However, it would have had a clear vision, and for that reason, it might have turned out much better than what we got from Justice League.

Neill Blomkamp’s Alien Movie

Several years ago, there were two films in the Alien franchise being developed simultaneously. One was Ridley Scott’s sequel to Prometheus and the other was Alien 5 (but not really, more on that in a sec) from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp. But only one of these Xenomorphs could live, and eventually Neill Blomkamp’s film was killed and we got Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant instead.

The Alien franchise is not in a great place following the disappointment of Alien: Covenant, so its hard not to wonder what might have been with Neill Blomkamp’s film. Here’s what we know: Blomkamp’s Alien 5 wouldn’t have really been Alien 5. Much like Terminator: Dark Fate or Halloween, it would have been a rebootquel, de-canonizing Alien 3 and everything after, serving as a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens. Based on concept art, Neill Blomkamp’s movie would have seemingly brought back Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and Corporal Hicks, and featured a grown-up Newt becoming the new heroine of the franchise.

We don’t know exactly what the story would have been, and Neill Blomkamp’s track record post-District 9 is not perfect. But following Alien: Covenant’s mediocrity and the franchise’s increasing focus on artificial intelligence and not on aliens, Neill Blomkamp’s Alien movie sounds like a far more intriguing and true to the property entry that may have been better than what we got.

Patty Jenkins’ Thor 2

Widely considered to be one of, if not the worst MCU movie, Thor: The Dark World was directed by Alan Taylor, but it was originally supposed to be directed by Patty Jenkins. Patty Jenkins never stepped behind the camera for Thor 2, but we do have an idea of what her vision entailed. She wanted to tell a Romeo and Juliet-esque story with Thor and Jane Foster that would have leaned into that Shakespearean theme of star-crossed lovers.

The apathy of Odin and the gods, sans Thor, towards Earth would have allowed Malekith to amass power on our planet, and the film would have had a war between the gods and the earthlings, with Thor saving the day. It sounds like a stronger story overall with more of a role for Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster. Patty Jenkins doesn’t think she would have made a good Thor 2 because the story she wanted to do isn’t what Marvel wanted to do. But given what she did after and what we got with Thor: The Dark World, I disagree and think her version would have probably been better.

Unlike some of the other entries on this list though, it’s hard to want to change history because of the ultimate good that came out of this. Patty Jenkins went on to direct Wonder Woman, and the creative disappointment of The Dark World created the opening for Taika Waititi to come in and make Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder.

Guillermo Del Toro’s The Hobbit

On paper, having Peter Jackson direct The Hobbit was the right choice. He directed the masterful Lord of the Rings trilogy and clearly knew and loved Middle Earth. Unfortunately, while it has its charms, The Hobbit series fell well short of expectations, with bloated films that lost sight of what made the previous trilogy special. That might not have been the case had Guillermo del Toro stayed on.

Guillermo del Toro was supposed to direct The Hobbit before Peter Jackson took over and before it became a trilogy. And it seems that del Toro would have made a significantly different movie. GDT’s vision for The Hobbit has been described as feeling more like a fairy tale than Jackson’s in keeping with the source material, and it would have slowly shifted in tone so that by the end, it could have led into The Lord of the Rings.

Supposedly Guillermo del Toro’s version of The Hobbit would have used more practical effects and miniatures, which would have been an improvement on Jackson’s films, which looked artificial and felt like video games. The character designs and visuals would have also been very different, from the look of Smaug to an effect where the sky changed color with the seasons. Guillermo’s version may not have felt too intertwined with The Lord of the Rings, but it would have been unique. Given that he had a plan, versus Jackson, who had to wing it, it may have been better too.

David Ayer’s Director’s Cut Of Suicide Squad

Next year will see the release of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. The film will supposedly be a reimagining of the property and the characters seen in the 2016 Suicide Squad from director David Ayer. But perhaps a reimagining wouldn’t have been necessary had that previous DC film not been such a creative disappointment. And perhaps Suicide Squad wouldn’t have been a disappointment had David Ayer been allowed to realize his vision onscreen.

David Ayer originally said that the theatrical cut was his cut, but more recently he has said things making it clear that was not the case. We know that extensive reshoots took place on Suicide Squad, and there were even reports that the final cut was done by the company that made the trailer. David Ayer has expressed frustration that he has been blamed for a film that didn’t match his original vision, and everything we’ve heard indicates he would have made a different and possibly much better movie.

Scenes with Jared Leto’s Joker were cut, Harley Quinn’s arc was simplified and ties to the wider DCEU, specifically Justice League, were axed from the final film. The impetus seemed to be to make Suicide Squad more light and fun, DC’s raison d’être post-Batman v Superman, but perhaps a darker film that had clarity and consistency of vision would have been a better overall movie than the mess we got.

Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Duel Of The Fates

Boy, the Star Wars franchise under Disney sure has given us a few of these alternate movie hypotheticals, hasn’t it? But more than Lord and Miller’s Solo or Gareth Edwards’ director’s cut of Rogue One, we now may have a pretty good idea of what Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX would have looked like. The Jurassic World director was supposed to helm the closing chapter of the Skywalker Saga before being replaced by the returning J.J. Abrams in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Recent reveals about Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX script, backed up by awesome concept art for The Rise of Skywalker, portray a very different movie than we got in December. Emperor Palpatine's return would not have been the driving force of the film in Colin Trevorrow's Star Wars: Duel of the Fates. Both Rose and Luke Skywalker would have had more to do. The film would have also returned to Coruscant, featured a different arc for Kylo and introduced new characters we never got to see.

All in all, it sounds like Trevorrow’s movie would have avoided many of the perceived problems of The Rise of Skywalker. I didn’t hate J.J. Abrams’ film by any stretch, but on paper at least, Duel of the Fates feels like a more cohesive and interesting ending to both the Sequel Trilogy and the Skywalker Saga, tying everything together while giving audiences great fan service and cool new mythology. Hopefully we’ll see it in comic book form someday.

With Star Wars: Duel of the Fates or any of these alternate, hypothetical movies, the grass is always greener on the other side. It’s entirely possible, even likely in some of these cases, that these alternate movies would have been better than the original, theatrical films we got. But there are no guarantees. Cool concept art and neat ideas do not automatically ensure a great movie. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace sounds great on paper, but without the execution, the best ideas in the world don’t count for much.

Still, it’s hard not to wonder what might have been, and how movies that people had such high hopes for and ultimately disappointed so many could have been lived up to the hype had things gone differently.

Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see all the movies headed to theaters this year that we hopefully won’t have to wonder 'what if?' about .and let us know in the poll below which of these hypothetical alternate movies you’d like to see.

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Just as Robocop Returns felt like a comfortable prospect, what with co-writer/director Neill Blomkamp on board for what seemed like a go picture, a wrench was thrown into the works. Blomkamp has now departed the project, as MGM wants to get the film underway in timely fashion and the District 9 creator is set on making a horror-thriller elsewhere.

So now there’s a movie that needs to be made with a director’s chair sitting vacant and waiting to be filled. If MGM wants to do things right and save RoboCop Returns, it needs a special breed of director to carry the torch of satirical sci-fi action into the 21st century.

That specific criteria could only be covered by a select group of directors, and nine names in particular come to mind. RoboCop Returns stands the best chance at being the long awaited sequel fans have always wanted, if it lands one of the following candidates we humbly submit to your attention.

The Wachowskis

If you were to just take The Matrix alone into consideration, The Wachowskis would have enough action and sci-fi credentials to land the gig of directing a RoboCop sequel with no problem. That said, limiting their filmography to that specific point would not only be unfair to them, but it’d also excise a very important piece of the puzzle.

With later films like Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas and even Jupiter Ascending, The Wachowskis engaged in more criticism towards the bureaucracy of the modern, corporate world. Combining their skill set from the entirety of their film canon, this famed pair of directors could make one hell of a comeback on the back of RoboCop Returns, especially since that big Matrix rumor turned out to be false.

Boots Riley

When you make a satire as sharply witted and visually stunning as Sorry To Bother You, it becomes a calling card for a film like RoboCop Returns. As this proposed sequel is supposed to act like a directly linked sequel to Paul Verhoven’s original, it would really help if a director can put together a biting wit and some eye-popping effects work.

Director Boots Riley is just that sort of director, as his cinematic corporate takedown feels like a cousin to the sort of message the 1987 original was sending when it came to the activities of the corrupt OCP. Not to mention, if there’s enough time for a bit of a rewrite before production, Riley could lend his darkly unique vision to ensure that RoboCop Returns hits harder than ever in a modern economy.

Mike Judge

RoboCop films definitely need a pedigree when it comes to action filmmaking, so in that respect, Mike Judge would have to bone up on how to make his potential vision of RoboCop as combat ready as Paul Verhoven’s series originator. However, when it comes to potentially hiring the mind behind Beavis and Butthead and Idiocracy to direct RoboCop Returns, the world wouldn’t have to worry about his satirical skills.

One could even argue that’s the harder part of the RoboCop formula to master, as one can easily learn action, but satire isn’t as readily taught. Thinking about the ways Judge used both of those landmark projects to say something about popular culture and political degeneration, the stage would be set for RoboCop Returns to bring the franchise back to its socially charged roots.

Lexi Alexander

Hollywood owes Lexi Alexander big time for making a movie as absolutely bonkers, and as joyously fun, as Punisher: War Zone. A film that wasn’t afraid to get bloody or go over the top with its violence and humor, her work on that movie felt like a direct descendant of RoboCop’s 1987 madness. As such, granting Alexander the director’s duties for RoboCop Returns would be one hell of a payback.

Alexander’s directing skills have only gotten sharper through working on such popular shows as Arrow, Supergirl and How To Get Away With Murder. But perhaps the greatest asset in her toolbox is the fact that Lexi Alexander has personal experience in martial arts and stunt work. So if you ever wanted to see what RoboCop Returns would look like if it was a stunt-filled masterpiece with high levels of cartoony snark, Ms. Alexander is the person you want to hire.

Edgar Wright

There has never been a genre that Edgar Wright couldn’t make his own. From Shaun of The Dead to Baby Driver, with Hot Fuzz in-between, the man’s hit a lot of spots on the map of moviemaking. Droll wit, slick action and well-tuned performances are all hallmarks of his work, so RoboCop Returns feels like a film that could not only sing in his hands, it would also be a payoff to most of the work he’s already done in his career.

You can practically see Simon Frost as a slimy OCP executive, Nick Frost as a scientist who’s keen on keeping Alex Murphy an autonomous hero for the people, and at least one shoot-out of insanely fantastic proportions. If RoboCop Returns goes to Edgar Wright, not only would we see things landing in the right hands, Wright just might be able to respectfully reinvent what being a RoboCop movie truly means.

Rachel Talalay

Rachel Talalay may not be the most readily apparent option for directing RoboCop Returns, but in a similar mode to that of Lexi Alexander, Talalay knows how to go out there with her work. Just look at her work on films like Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and Tank Girl, and you’ll see a special sort of filmmaker. Recently, her television work has been her claim to fame, as Talalay has directed episodes of shows like Supergirl, Riverdale and The Flash, but there’s one show that qualifies her extensively to work on RoboCop Returns.

With three two-part season finales of Doctor Who under her belt, and two of those seasons involving work with the Cybermen, Talalay has work with robotic characters and sarcastic humanoids locked down. Throw that in with her previous experience in some very experimental films of the ‘90s, and this project starts to look like a fantastic fit.

Dan Trachtenberg

10 Cloverfield Lane was one hell of a debut for director Dan Trachtenberg to cut his cinematic teeth on. Jumping straight into an anthological entry in a pre-established franchise is daunting even if you’re a practiced hand at filmmaking, but Trachtenberg did it in style and won a lot of fans in the process.

RoboCop Returns would be a fantastic fit for this auteur’s genre-ready hand, but if you need some more selling, try this on for size. Without Dan Trachtenberg’s skills, we may have never gotten Amazon’s The Boys as a regular series, as he directed the pilot. Setting up a world of over-the-top action and darkly comic corporate malfeasance isn’t for everyone, but Trachtenberg is clearly up to the task.

Kathryn Bigelow

Most folks know Kathryn Bigelow for her more serious films like The Hurt Locker and Detroit, both of which are socially relevant dramas that have a poignant message to deliver. So RoboCop Returns with her at the helm would definitely be able to play the notes of the story that see sympathy for the cyborg law enforcement agent at their most human.

However, in her earlier films Near Dark and Strange Days, there was a very horror/sci-fi slickness that gave us anti-heroes and sympathetic villains that knew how to smile when they were engaged in shady activities. It’d practically be like coming home for Bigelow to take over this new RoboCop sequel, and her prestige worthy skill set could be the sort of sheen the series could use in its latest iteration.

Paul Verhoven

Sometimes, if you want a job done right, you’ve got to do it yourself. If the folks at MGM really want to get things going with RoboCop Returns, while also ensuring this new film feels like a true successor to the RoboCop name, it’s best if they bring back the man himself. Paul Verhoven should be brought back into the RoboCop series in order to directly connect his original film to the future.

As Verhoven is still an active film director, his satire muscles haven’t had that much of a flexing since 1997’s Starship Troopers. While that project may have felt like an oddity at its time of release, the level of dark humor it engaged in was way ahead of the curve. Ideally, if we want RoboCop Returns to be as effective as the first film in the series, you’re going to want to bring the man who helped start it all on board to steer the ship right.

RoboCop Returns is in a crucial stage right now, as the right director means everything to how this production can and will move forward. Neill Blomkamp is a big act to follow, as the man’s vision of science fiction seemed pretty spot on for the project. But as you can see, there’s others that could make some pretty interesting fits in the RoboCop landscape. All that needs to happen is for the studio to make the right choice.

Movies are sometimes too good to be true, and every so often we’re painfully reminded of that fact when a promising project gets shot down in its prime. Writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s Robocop sequel, Robocop Returns, is the latest example of a good thing ending too soon, as Blomkamp and the project have parted ways.

We’ll still be getting Robocop Returns though, and that’s part of what makes this news painful. In a tweet issued this morning, Neill Blomkamp announced his departure, and the reasons behind it, as follows:

If you’re really excited about another RoboCop movie under any circumstances, then you’re probably pleased to know that RoboCop Returns isn’t cancelled. Rather, the film is still going forward into production, as the studio wishes, and Blomkamp is leaving because he’s got a horror-thriller in the works that he’s excited to get up and running.

However, for those who wanted to see what Neill Blomkamp was about to deliver with Robocop Returns, this is indeed a dark day. It only gets darker when you measure it up against the fact that the District 9 creator is now two for two on failing to bring his bold vision to legendary ‘80s franchises. Let’s not forget, studio politics allegedly robbed the man of making his vision for Alien 5 in the recent past.

The brief history of Robocop Returns and Blomkamp started a little over a year ago, when he was announced as the man who would bring Robocop Returns into the future, providing a direct sequel to the 1987 classic that would ignore both sequels and the 2014 reboot. From there, all sorts of wild prospects seemed to be possible.

Producer/series co-creator Ed Neumeier, one of the instrumental figures that brought the original Robocop to life, had hinted that Neill Blomkamp and co-writer Justin Rhodes may have been working on an updated version of the original sequel that he and co-writer Michael Miner had crafted back in the ‘80s. Though much like the current situation that the director described on Twitter, that original concept was also scrapped by a studio wanting to get a film out to the public as soon as possible.

There was even some brief hope that this sequel would be the one to bring Peter Weller back to the Robocop fold, as Blomkamp put that wish out into the universe in hopes it’d pay off for Robocop Returns. Alas, the closest we’ve gotten to that big ask coming true is a series of KFC commercials Weller had done in character, as the chances of a full Robocop renaissance with the actor don’t look good.

As it stand, Robocop Returns is still a go picture. It just needs a director, and more than likely will start to mutate into something different from the original vision that Neill Blomkamp fiercely held as the future of the franchise. While it could still be one hell of a follow-up, depending on who steps into the director’s chair, that doesn’t wash away the fact that having Blomkamp on board was a huge factor in the excitement behind this film.

We’ll see what happens from this point on, as Robocop Returns hasn’t released an official release date, but is clearly in MGM/Orion’s sights as a going concern for the near future. If it’s anything as clever as the recent Child’s Play reboot, we could be lucky; but at this moment, it’s too hard to tell.

However, it’s much easier for you to find your next night out at the movies, as the 2019 release schedule is available to show you what’s coming in the weeks and months ahead.

It’s official, folks: we live in a world where RoboCop can be Colonel Sanders. Earlier today, KFC debuted several ads featuring the cybernetic hero promoting its fried chicken and protecting the secret recipe, complete with Peter Weller vocally reprising the character. Make no mistake, it’s a bizarre thing seeing RoboCop wearing the Colonel’s signature facial hair, glasses and bowtie, but now District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, who’s tackling the next RoboCop movie, has sent this peculiar tweet in response to the KFC ads.

What’s the problem here? Did KFC inadvertently pull from the story that Neill Blomkamp and writer Justin Rhodes have planned for RoboCop Returns? Is Blompkamp upset that RoboCop has sold out to fast food? Is he worried that a cyborg programmed to throw fried chicken at people will cause more good than bad? Or it is something as simple as Blomkamp thinking that this isn’t a good advertising campaign? Whatever the explanation, this Twitter post indicates that Blomkamp is not a fan of RoboCop filling the Colonel Sanders shoes. Would he have preferred The Terminator take on the mantle instead?

It’s worth mentioning that last November, it was reported that Peter Weller will not appear in RoboCop Returns, despite the fact that Neill Blomkamp that Weller was his top choice to play the part. It’s legitimately possible that Blomkamp is displeased that Weller turned down the opportunity to star in the upcoming movie, but he was willing to voice the character again for a fast food chain. If that is the case, I wouldn’t blame Blomkamp for being disappointed.

In any case, as far as we know, Neill Blomkamp’s RoboCop Returns is still moving ahead as planned. Rather than be a sequel to the 2014 RoboCop reboot, RoboCop Returns will be a sequel to the original 1987 RoboCop, but also ignore what happened in RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, which is the same kind of creative approach that last year’s Halloween and this November’s Terminator: Dark Fate used. Granted, most of RoboCop’s face is covered, so it’s easy enough to any actor in the Robo-suit, but it still would have been nice to see Peter Well properly play the character again since this sequel is set in the original RoboCop continuity.

Beyond that, RoboCop Returns will reportedly see the protagonist returning to Detroit to fight crime and corruption as anarchy reigns supreme in the city. Producer Ed Neumeier, who co-wrote the original RoboCop, said that this sequel will feel as if Paul Verhoeven had directed another RoboCop movie, suggesting that those who enjoyed the tone of the first story can look forward to RoboCop Returns channeling that same kind of energy. It’s probably also safe to assume that RoboCop won’t he touting any fried chicken during this new adventure.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest updates concerning RoboCop and other movie characters brought in to sell fast food. In the meantime, be sure to look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are hitting theaters later this year.

Neill Blomkamp's idea for an Alien sequel never took off, but the director's working on a follow-up to another sci-fi 80's franchise. Blomkamp is developing a direct sequel to 1987's RoboCop that will ignore the other films in the franchise. Being a continuation rather than a reboot, Blomkamp had hoped that original actor Peter Weller would return to the role for RoboCop Returns. But Weller is reportedly choosing not to come back.

RoboCop first hit the scene in 1987 and followed a police officer who was brutally gunned down in the line of duty, then resurrected as a cyborg by a corporation to clean up the streets of Detroit. Peter Weller starred as the titular character and then reprised his role for the sequel three years later. However, Weller decided to skip the third movie, with Robert John Burke taking his place.

It sounds like Peter Weller is still uninterested in reprising his role as RoboCop. The actor's representatives reportedly confirmed to Super Bro Movies that Weller would not be returning for Neill Blomkamp's RoboCop Returns. Blomkamp had previously said that Weller was his top choice to play the part, but he may have to resort to Plan B should RoboCop Returns take off the ground.

There was no reason given for why Peter Weller was opting to sit out the sequel. It would be understandable if the 71-year-old Weller didn't want to hop back into the RoboCop suit again or do a mo-cap performance.

There is some wiggle room for Neill Blomkamp. RoboCop Returns is a direct follow-up to the original, ignoring the following sequels and 2014 reboot. Depending on how long after the first film the sequel is set, it's believable to cast another actor in the role. After all, the only part of the actor that can be seen in the RoboCop suit is the mouth, so it's really not that big a deal to recast.

Peter Weller's decision not to return for the movie goes against the mini-trend that has been developing in Hollywood in recent years. Actors from beloved '80s franchises have been reprising their roles in direct follow-ups that ignore poorly received sequels. Jamie Lee Curtis returned as Laurie in the new Halloween movie, while Linda Hamilton is back as Sarah Connor in Terminator 6.

Not much else is known about RoboCop Returns at this time, but it might be set one year after the original and could return to an R-rating. The sequel is still in the early phases of development, so there's a chance that it may not get off the ground. Be sure to stick with CinemaBlend and we'll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest movie news as soon as it is available.

Leave it to Neill Blomkamp to stir the pot the way he did a couple of days ago. While responding to a fan's tweet asking about who should play the new Robocop in Neill Blomkamp's planned direct sequel to the 1987 classic, currently titled Robocop Returns, the District 9 director had only one name in his heart: Peter Weller himself. Now while everyone is either foaming at the mouth to make this happen, or scratching their heads as to how, there's a clever solution that's been on ice for the last 30 years. As it turns out, the original concept for Robocop 2, written by series masterminds Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, has just the ticket to making Weller the man who would play Alex Murphy again.

Back in the days of the original Robocop's success, Orion Pictures really wanted a sequel to help their then flagging studio. Enter Neumeier and Miner, drafted to craft what would eventually be called Robocop: The Corporate Wars. The script, according to an interview between the writers and the site Robocop Archives, eventually fell prey to an ill-timed writer's strike and the studio's want for an ASAP follow-up film. What sucks is, in that script, we see Alex Murphy seemingly bite the big one in the first couple of minutes, only to wake up decades later in the future. A future where OCP has run rampant, and the world needs Murphy to set things right once more.

The kicker is that initial draft from Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner is now the one that newly hired writer Justin Rhodes is currently re-writing for Neill Blomkamp's Robocop Returns. As it's no secret that Neumeier and Miner are looking to wipe out the sequels that were created after their original film (Halloween style), and with Blomkamp making a name for himself when it comes to sequels that override canon, one would think this story won't deviate too far from the original vision. Should this be the case, it's a perfect recipe for Peter Weller to come back to the fold. The story has the opportunity built in, with the blessing of the original minds behind the franchise's fate, and it even has some options when it comes to integrating Weller himself.

While the rationale in Robocop: The Corporate Wars' script calls for Alex Murphy to have been cryogenically frozen over these past years, there's still the possibility that Murphy will still have aged somewhat if this tactic remains in Robocop Returns. After all, cryo-stasis would be able to slow down the aging process, not kill it entirely. It's encouraging when you think about how Peter Weller looks pretty good at his age, which also helps ease into any of the strategies and alternatives that could be used to make his participation work to the best-case scenario. Should Neill Blomkamp feel the need to do some CGI touch-ups a la Marvel's Ant-Man films, that too is also an option.

Up until this point, it might have been difficult to even dream of putting Peter Weller into a new Robocop suit. But now with advanced mo-cap and CGI, it's totally plausible that this new script's revival of Alex Murphy can look like the 1988 Writer's Strike never happened. Robocop is a franchise that deserved way better in terms of its sequels, and while it's been a long, crazy road to Robocop Returns, it looks like the wait for a true sequel will have been worth it. While Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner did get to visit pieces of their sequel's story in the syndicated TV show, Robocop: The Series, Neill Blomkamp's Robocop Returns is the best hope for revisiting the concept with the biting satire and hardcore action of the original Paul Verhoeven film. And thanks to the technological advances of today, as well as some real-time aging on Peter Weller's behalf, the story's big jump into the future will be as authentic as humanly possible.

You can read more about the original, unused concept for Robocop: The Corporate Wars over at the Robocop Archives' site, and you can even see the original draft for the film's story for yourself.

One of science fiction's most enduring icons is set to return to theaters under the direction of District 9 filmmaker Neil Blomkamp. A sequel to Robocop is currently in development, and it now looks like the film could lean even closer to the original continuity than we realized. In fact, when asked about possible casting choices on Twitter, Blomkamp opened up to fans and admitted that original Robocop actor Peter Weller is his choice for Alex Murphy in Robocop Returns. The director wrote:

That would be huge if true. Peter Weller is the icon who started the Robocop franchise under the legendary visor, and bringing him back would essentially confirm that Blomkamp wants to move his Robocop closer to the original continuity, as well as guarantee that it would have no connection to the 2014 Robocop starring Suicide Squad's Joel Kinnaman. At 71, Weller is definitely pretty old to return to the role of an action icon, but Robocop is a character known for slow and lumbering speed, so he could probably still pull it off.

With that said, we need to take this moment to address the fact that Robocop Returns has not confirmed the return of Peter Weller as Alex Murphy just yet. Tone is sometimes hard to figure out on social media, and it remains entirely possible that Neil Blomkamp is simply making a joke about the franchise to get fans of the series riled up. If that was the intention, then mission accomplished, sir. After all, wouldn't it be awesome to see the icon return to take down bad guys in Detroit? I think so.

This method of selective continuity has become an important element of franchise filmmaking recently, as directors have begun to realize that they can simply ignore entire branches of a series' storyline in favor of something more streamlined and simpler that embodies the core elements of a given series. Robocop is one clear example, but another is Blumhouse's upcoming Halloween movie, which will similarly ignore all of the existing Halloween sequels in favor of a movie that simply returns to the story established in 1978.

It also makes plenty of sense to imagine Neil Blomkamp diving into a Robocop sequel that ignores previous sequels based on what he has tried to do with other beloved franchises in the past. Specifically, Blomkamp was hard-at-work on an Alien movie that would've directly followed Aliens and ignored Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. Many fans were incredibly excited about the possibility of an Alien sequel retconning some of the lesser sequels out of existence and bringing back fan-favorites like Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn, and while it looks like that won't happen anymore, the possibility of a similar move occurring with Robocop Returns could be exactly what fans need to get excited.

CinemaBlend will bring you more information concerning the sequel/reboot of Robocop as new details about the film (and its casting) are made available to us. Until we learn more, you can head over to our movie premiere guide to mark down your moviegoing calendars with all of 2018's most important release dates!

Back in 2014, Hollywood gave RoboCop the reboot treatment, and while the end result did okay commercially, it was met with mixed critical reaction. For a while, a sequel for that reboot was in development, but ultimately nothing ever came of that. Cut to this past January, Ed Neumeier, the writer of the original RoboCop movie, revealed that a new RoboCop movie was in the works, only this one would be a continuation of 1987's RoboCop. Now it's been confirmed that this particular project is moving forward, and District 9's Neil Blomkamp will direct it.

This new RoboCop movie will be called RoboCop Returns, and along with Neil Blomkamp in the director's chair, Justin Rhodes, who co-wrote Tim Miller's upcoming Terminator movie, will rewrite the script that Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner (who co-wrote the original RoboCop with Neumeier) penned years back. Neumeier and Miner are still attached to this new movie as producer and executive producer, respectively. Originally written to be the sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop, RoboCop Returns will see RoboCop making his triumphant return to Detroit to fight crime and corruption as the city's fate hangs in the balance due to anarchy being widespread.

As most of you reading know, the original RoboCop was a critical and commercial success that spawned two sequels, with Peter Weller reprising the eponymous role for 1990's RoboCop 2 and Robert John Burke taking over for 1993's RoboCop 3. As for why Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner's RoboCop Returns script wasn't used for RoboCop 2, Neumeier told Deadline that at the time, director Paul Verhoeven wasn't interested in the "the politics of a sequel." After the 1988 Writers Strike happened, new creative talent was brought aboard, including Frank Miller and Walon Green writing the script, and Irvin Kershner directing the sequel. Decades later, MGM contacted Neumeier about creating franchise material for the studio, and now his and Miner's other RoboCop story is finally being brought to life, albeit with some changes. While not 100% clear, it sounds like RoboCop Returns will be taking the Halloween route by directly following the original RoboCop and ignoring the other sequels that came before.

As for Neil Blomkamp, after 2009's District 9, he made 2013's Elysium and 2015's Chappie; both movies performed decently at the box office, but the former earned mixed-to-positive reception from critics, while the latter earned primarily negative reviews. Here's what Blomkamp had to say regarding why he boarded RoboCop Returns, aside from just being a fan of the original RoboCop:

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on how RoboCop Returns is progressing. In the meantime, don't forget to look through our 2018 release schedule to learn what movies are hitting theaters later this year.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has enlisted quite a few talented directors over the years, but there is still an army of auteurs waiting for their chance to dive into this behemoth franchise. In fact, it now looks like District 9 director Neil Blomkamp wants to take the baton from guys like Jon Favreau and Shane Black to direct a solo Iron Man movie. When asked by a fan about which Marvel hero he would like to tackle, the South African filmmaker wrote:ta

Looking at Neil Blomkamp's history as a filmmaker, as well as the types of movies that he directs, there's an easy case to be made that he can work as the director of an Iron Man movie. To date, his biggest films (District 9, Elysium, and Chappie) all seem to focus heavily on a proper blend of action and relatively grounded science fiction. That's precisely the sort of thing that people expect from a proper Iron Man movie -- along with some solid one-liners from the always entertaining Robert Downey Jr.

Beyond that, Neil Blomkamp's films have become notoriously good at blending CGI with practical effects. The robotic mech-suits seen in most of his films show case some of the best and most photo-realistic digital effects work that we have seen over the course of the last decade, which means there's no telling what he could do if offered a Marvel-sized budget and an opportunity to play in the Stark Industries workshop.

Just take a look at this scene from District 9 (which, mind you, is almost a decade old at this point) and try to imagine Wikus replaced by Tony Stark.

Finally, it's also worth mentioning that Neil Blomkamp could work because he has proven his nerd credentials in recent years. He has become a vocal champion of his ill-fated Alien 5, as well as an adaptation of the Halo video game series. While nobody has given him the opportunity to work in those established universes yet, his enthusiasm for these projects has arguably become pretty infectious for his fans. This is a guy who loves geeky comic book worlds, so it only makes sense to consider him for the job.

As much as we love the idea of Neil Blomkamp taking the reins in an Iron Man film, it's important to temper our enthusiasm with a healthy dose of skepticism. All the District 9 director has said with his remarks is that he wants to direct an Iron Man movie. That doesn't necessarily mean that Marvel is going to give him the job, and it also doesn't even necessarily mean that Tony Stark is getting a fourth standalone adventure anytime soon. That said, it's an idea that may never fail to intrigue us.

For now, Iron Man will make his next appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when The Avengers: Infinity War blasts its way into theaters on May 4, 2018. Here's everything that we currently know about the upcoming superhero epic.

When Chappie was released back in 2015, the film failed to capture an audience in the way that its co-writer and director Neill Blomkamp intended. While its return of $102.1 million from a $49 million wasn't catastrophic, Chappie's score of just 31% on Rotten Tomatoes was devastating for the filmmaker, especially considering that Blomkamp's two previous films had been so popular critically. Neil Blomkamp has now opened up about how much toil he still feels over the response to Chappie, particularly as the South-African director was able to create something extremely close to his vision with the film. Neill Blomkamp recently revealed,

From the sound of Neill Blomkamp's comments to Den Of Geek, it is pretty clear that he's not yet over the brutal response to Chappie. But while Blomkamp insisted it was "unbelievably painful" to see Chappie dismissed by critics and audiences, he also confessed that this reaction gave him a new understanding and appreciation of why he actually makes films. Instead of living off the reactions of critics and viewers, Neill Blomkamp is now focused on only pleasing himself. However, he's well aware of just how risky a strategy this is, and he even suggested that it might lead to him struggling to get work. Blomkamp continued,

While it's hard to disagree with Neill Blomkamp's closing remarks, considering the critical response to the film, there are quite a few moviegoers out there that really loved Chappie. In fact, there's every chance that the film could find itself reappraised over the ensuing years, something that has happened to the likes of Blade Runner and The Thing in the past. Let's hope that's the case, because clearly Neill Blomkamp is still in quite some pain over Chappie's treatment.

Before Alien: Covenant was ever a thing, Fox had something else entirely in mind for the future of the Alien franchise. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was originally working on what was being called Alien 5, and it would have continued the story of Ripley. However, less and less was heard about the film until finally, Ridley Scott took over by making Alien: Covenant. It seemed clear that Blomkamp's Alien 5 was put on the backburner, and now the director has confirmed it will likely never see the light of day. Here's what he said:

In an interview with The Verge, Neill Blomkamp confirmed that his work on Alien 5 was over. It seems like Fox won't be moving forward anymore with the project and will instead continue to focus on the new Alien films that Ridley Scott has planned. Blomkamp's Alien movie first began as a series of illustrated paintings of his vision of Alien 5 that he commissioned and then posted to Instagram. The concept art got plenty of attention from fans, leading Fox to meet with Blomkamp to hear his idea. Alien 5 was in the early stages of development but it was eventually thrown to the wayside for Scott's Alien: Covenant.

Neill Blomkamp later clarified what he meant about it being "political." He wanted to be respectful and not go "stamping around" in a world that Ridley Scott had created and "obviously feels a massive personal connection to." This seems to mean that Scott may not have been on the same page with Blomkamp's vision, and Fox decided to back him, seeing as how Scott is the driving force of the Alien franchise. Based on Alien: Covenant, Scott is clearly more interested in exploring the origins of the Xenomorphs and Engineers than further expanding the story of Ripley, as Alien 5 would have done.

But don't feel bad for Neill Blomkamp, because the director has moved on to new and exciting projects. In addition to working on bigger films (he's writing and directing The Gone World), Blomkamp has also started his own production company, Oats Studios. The company will be used to experiment with short film ideas with the goal that they will develop into larger films. Oats Studios recently released the trailer for their first short film, which involves an alien invasion.

We may never know what Alien 5 would have been but there's no sense in obsessing over the past. Alien: Covenant is the here and now, and it's currently in theaters.

The Alien franchise has evolved considerably from its humble beginnings back in 1979. It's a series that has gone from the talented hands of Ridley Scott to James Cameron, to David Fincher, and so on -- until finally returning to Scott once again for this year's Alien: Covenant. However, as many fans already know, District 9's Neill Blomkamp almost got his hands on the franchise for a unique vision of Alien 5. Blomkamp's vision has become one of the most infamous "what if" Hollywood scenarios in recent memory, but it now seems that film will likely never actually materialize. Ridley Scott explained:

There you have it, folks. Ridley Scott's recent comments to Allocine (via Screen Rant) make it pretty clear: you're not going to see Neill Blomkamp's version of the Alien universe at any point in the near future. As excited as people got for the new adventures of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Hicks (Michael Biehn) when Neill Blomkamp's concept art debuted online, there was never a real script or a real story for how Alien 5 would actually come together. The concept got longtime fans very excited when the original art debuted on Instagram, but now it appears that Scott is now all in on his quest to bridge the Prometheus and Alien franchises in the years before Ellen Ripley ever set foot on the Nostromo.

As much as we still want to see the Neill Blomkamp version of Alien 5 come together at some point, it's hard to argue against the fact that it feels more like fan fiction than a natural progression of the story. Virtually ignoring the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection, the film would've picked up with a significantly older Ripley and Hicks in a brand new adventure against the Xenomorphs. The Alien franchise has never been known for sticking to continuity, but even that would've been a stretch for narrative logistics.

Check out a trailer for Alien: Covenant below to see where Ridley Scott will soon take the Xenomorph universe.

We will just have to wait and see whether or not Neill Blomkamp's vision for the Alien universe will ever come to fruition. For now, Ridley Scott's vision will return to theaters when Alien: Covenant makes its theatrical debut next month on May 19, 2017.

Before Alien: Covenant got off the ground and into the swing of production, there was a complimentary project in the works that fans were equally, if not more, excited about. That project was Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5, which would have seen Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn returning to the roles of Ripley and Hicks, respectively. We reiterate these facts with a heavy emphasis on "was," as a new update on the film's condition has it left it endangered, if not totally cancelled, according to the following cryptic tweet:

Neill Blomkamp himself made this announcement on his Twitter recently, and to hear it from the man himself makes us even sadder to hear it. As you'll remember, Alien 5 was being hinted at around the same time the sequel to Prometheus was being toyed around with. Eventually, in deference to Ridley Scott's project and status as the series' creator, Blomkamp's film was put on a back burner in favor for Alien: Covenant. It didn't feel like the project would be cancelled, as Blomkamp's vision was still pretty popular with fans of the original films, in particular James Cameron's Aliens. But, unfortunately, it now seems like the delay was a quiet death for the project over time.

This is only the latest hurdle that Alien 5's production has come up against, as it was not only previously announced as being cancelled, but it also had to change its story to allow for Alien: Covenant to proceed as freely as possible. With this latest update from Neill Blomkamp, it sounds like Sir Ridley Scott may have not only had some ideas for where Covenant should take the series, but also what the future may hold for the legendary series, and quite possibly its most important character.

With the endgame of the Alien series always involving the linkage between the prequels and the adventures of Ellen Ripley, Ridley Scott is obviously going to be protective of what will be going into his beloved property. Though we still have to wonder if Alien 5 has a slim chance of happening because it involves furthering Ripley's story, or if it's because Neill Blomkamp was making it. Keeping all of this in mind, we're still looking forward to Alien: Covenant just as much as we previously were. But part of us still mourns what could have come from Blomkamp's daring idea.

However, this isn't an official cancellation from the studio, nor is there an official explanation as to why this project is in such dire straits. For now, we'll have to stay cautiously optimistic and enjoy Alien: Covenant when it hits theaters on May 12th.

The internet allows viewers to have more contact with actors, writers, producers, and directors than ever before. But while this can obviously be a blessing as much as a curse, as Hollywood big-wigs receive messages of praise and disdain for their work on an hourly basis, it can sometimes just be plain old annoying, too. Neill Blomkamp is currently experiencing such an annoyance at the moment, because someone won't stop messaging him and asking him to make _Chappie 2. _

Chappie was released back in March, 2015, to rather mediocre reviews, as it went on to score just 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it still returned the respectable box office of $102 million from a $49 million budget. Clearly one individual who saw Chappie quickly became enamoured with it, because he's been contacting the film's co-writer, director, and producer Neill Blomkamp on a sometime twice daily basis with requests to make a sequel. Neill Blomkamp has become so fed up with the messages that he's now taken to Twitter to expose the user, while at the same time insisting that Chappie 2 just isn't going to happen.

However, rather than being perturbed by Neill Blomkamp's tweet @sethstewart165 just took it in his stride and carried on with his own insistence that Chappie 2 will happen.

You've almost got to be impressed by @sethstewart165's belief that Chappie 2 will one day be released, and he soon started to gather support from other Chappie fans. @synthstreams told Neill Blomkamp, "I mean I get what you're saying. But Chappie 2 should be made, just like wave your hand and make it." @sethstewart165 even started a poll asking his fellow Chappie die-hards to stand up and declare their own desire for the sequel to be rushed into production.

Unfortunately for the Chappie-aholics who wake up every morning praying to the heavens that this is the day when Chappie 2 is finally announced, there looks to be literally zero percent chance of a follow-up actually happening. Not only were Chappie's reviews too underwhelming and its box office returns too paltry for a follow-up to be greenlit, but Neill Blomkamp has moved onto new projects. Most notably the new Alien film, which was confirmed back in February, 2015, but shelved in October of that year, and will be put into production depending on the success of Alien: Covenant. But even though Neill Blomkamp can't oversee Chappie 2, I for one want to see @sethstewart165 put his money where his mouth is and make his own follow-up.

While Alien 5 is still in a holding pattern, writer/director Neill Blomkamp isn't letting that fact slow his creative juices down for a second. In fact, in honor of today's "Alien Day" festivities, he's released a new piece of concept art that promises the return of a fan-favorite character who we haven't seen in ages. Get your first glimpse at a very grown up Newt in the concept art below.

Neill Blomkamp took to his Instagram feed with the art you see above, and we have to admit, it's exciting! When we last saw little Newt, she was being put into cryo-sleep, alongside Ripley and Hicks – the survivors of the disastrous mission that took place in James Cameron's 1986 blockbuster, Aliens. Of course, knowing where Newt's story went after that moment is exactly what makes this news so exciting – as it looked like we'd never see the sole survivor of the Hadley's Hope colony ever again.

Fans of the franchise will remember that at the beginning of David Fincher's Alien 3, one of the bleak details that kick-started the film was the fact that Hicks and Newt were killed when their escape pod crashed on Fiorina "Fury" 161. This was a decision that angered a lot of folks, particularly due to the fact that Aliens took such pains to set up Newt as a sort of surrogate daughter to Ripley, who lost her own daughter due to the ravages of time and her own extended cryo-sleep after the events of Alien. So chalk up another piece of evidence that suggests Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 is ignoring Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, despite his claims to the contrary. Sorry Ron Perlman.

What's even more exciting about Newt's return is the fact that if you look at the concept art really closely, you'll see that it looks exactly like what Aliens star Carrie Henn looks like today. Blomkamp could have very easily recast this role, and possibly might have had some sort of pressure from 20th Century Fox to find a fresh "name" actor to take the role. It wouldn't have been a stretch to see Jennifer Lawrence, or someone of her stature, being suggested for the role; but it looks like Neil Blomkamp is going full OG on Alien 5. Take a look at Carrie Henn today, via this post from her Twitter account, and tell us this isn't a striking resemblance.

Alien 5 is promising to bring back everyone's favorite little survivor from Aliens, but in a very grown-up manner. If Ripley has taught her anything after the events of their fateful introduction, then we're probably going to see a Newt that'll kick all sorts of intergalactic ass alongside Ripley and Hicks. If that's not a reason to be excited for Alien 5, we don't know what is. In the meantime, since Neill Blomkamp's film is currently on hold, we'll be able to see the Alien series progress with the next prequel, Alien: Covenant, when it hits theaters on August 4, 2017.

The only battle bigger than the one between humans and xenomorphs is the one between the films about humans and xenomorphs. Both Ridley Scott and Neill Blomkamp were working on their own films set in the Alien world. At this point it looks like Blomkamp’s movie is essentially dead until Scott is done making Prometheus 2 however, actor Michael Biehn just gave us some insight about what that movie was going to be about and it turns out it was going to focus on a familiar character, but not Ripley.

In a recent interview, Biehn says that Blomkamp’s film would bring back two characters familiar to fans of James Cameron’s Aliens, his own Corporal Hicks and a grown-up Newt. From what Biehn tells Icons Of Fright, it sounds like the film would put Newt in the lead, allowing her to potentially take over the franchise from Sigourney Weaver.

While we know that Neill Blomkamp’s Alien movie would have taken the entire franchise into account, it has been described very much as a direct follow up to Aliens with a more action oriented focus to the story. If using the film to relaunch the franchise is the plan, and as Michael Biehn says, why wouldn’t it be, using Newt to do so certainly makes the most sense. Sigourney Weaver probably isn’t interested in continuing a long-running action franchise at this point, though we’d guess she could still do it, and bringing in a familiar character makes more sense then introducing a new one out of the blue.

Unfortunately, at this point we have no idea when, or even if, we’ll ever see this version of the film. Blomkamp has said publicly that he’s moving on to other things since Fox has put his film on hold so that it doesn’t run over Alien: Covenant, the sequel to Prometheus. With the director focusing on other things, he could get busy elsewhere and even if we do see another film in the original part of the franchise, it could end up being very different.

As Michael Biehn says studios are looking for franchises and Alien is certainly a strong brand, so it’s unlikely we’ve heard the last of this. We just don’t know when we’ll actually see movement here for the foreseeable future.

The Alien franchise has the resiliency of a xenomorph. It’s had good sequels, bad sequels, terrible spin-offs, and one prequel that wasn’t exactly a prequel. While Ridley Scott has been talking about making more than one Prometheus (Promethei? Prometheuses?) follow up, District 9 writer and director Neill Blomkamp doesn’t want you to forget that he’s trying to put together his own new Aliens movie. In order to help you remember, he’s dusting off some old friends, with new enhancements, and showing them off on social media.

Blomkamp’s Instagram account shows off the classic Aliens pulse rifle with a new feature. RIS, for those of you who don’t have a brother-in-law who knows guns, stands for Rail Integration System, the track along the top of the gun, on the right hand side of the image, which allows for different standardized accessories to be added to the rifle. That way, if you need to swap out your rifle-mounted flashlight for a laser sight without having to completely disassemble the thing, you can do that.

The original pulse rifle was the weapon of choice for the Colonial Marines of James Cameron’s Aliens, and Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley proved herself to be fairly handy with the weapon as well. Blomkamp has said that he wants his new film to be strongly connected to the first two Alien films, and additional rumors, like Michael Biehn’s potential involvement, combined with this new image, seem to point to Alien 5 being a guns-blazing, action-driven story, more like Cameron's sequel than the sci-fi thriller that was Ridley Scott’s original film. Check out this shot from Aliens for a prop comparison.

Scott is still working on his Prometheus sequel, recently retitled Alien: Paradise Lost, and is reportedly trying to get Blomkamp to slow down on Alien 5 so his film will hit first. It’s true that Blomkamp’s movie has been moving at Barry Allen like speed, at least in Hollywood terms. Only a few months ago that Blomkamp and Weaver were chatting about the series on the set of Chappie, and already we have a green light and practical props ready to go.

While things may be moving very quickly, fans of James Cameron’s science fiction action masterpiece will certainly be thrilled to see the old pulse rifle out of mothballs and given an upgrade. We can’t wait to see all the other ways the franchise will be polished up for another go.

It seems like 20th Century Fox’s Gambit movie can’t catch a break. First there was initial trouble trying to find a director to make it. Then there was some drama with Channing Tatum, and stories suggesting that he would possibly leave the project. And then just a few weeks after that whole deal was settled, we got news that director Rupert Wyatt has decided to drop the film and move on to other endeavors. This means the studio is now rushing to find a filmmaker to take his place… so we’ve decided to help out with a few suggestions of our own.

There are many things to consider when thinking about a possible director to make Gambit. It’s a filmmaker who should know how to shoot interesting and kinetic action, but you also want somebody who could find the proper tone to get the right amount of drama. And some experience shooting in New Orleans, and being familiar with the region doesn’t hurt either. We considered all of this in pitching possible replacements for Rupert Wyatt at the head of the film.

Joining me for this fun bit of speculation is my good friend Silas Lesnick from ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype/Most Craved, who has some very pitches for directors that you probably didn’t even come close to considering. Enjoy the show!

The Alien timeline has grown muddy over the years, and from what we have been hearing, there will be a few more twists and turns before the picture becomes more clear.

Currently, there are two Alien-inspired projects in different stages of development: Prometheus 2, which Ridley Scott still hopes to direct; and Neill Blomkamp’s Alien film, which some suggest will ignore parts three and four and build off of James Cameron’s Aliens. Only now, Bloody-Disgusting is quoting a source as saying Scott is demanding that Blomkamp pump the brakes on his Alien 5 until AFTER the Alien director has gone into pre-production on Prometheus 2?

Why? No concrete reason was given, though there were two scenarios that seemed to map out where both projects are at the moment. B-D says that the production delay would give Neill Blomkamp more time to fully develop the screenplay that he’s working on for this untitled Alien 5, as the sequel really only had an outline up until recently. They also say that delaying Alien 5 would allow for any potential workarounds should Sigourney Weaver – who is expected to reunite with the Chappie director to once again play Ripley – run into problems while filming the numerous Avatar sequels that Cameron wants to film.

Where does that leave Sir Ridley? The director always has multiple irons in the fire, and has recently attached his name to a second Blade Runner (with Harrison Ford) and Prometheus 2. He has said on record before that his recent work on The Martian has reawakened his passion for science-fiction, so he’s very happy to move away from The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings and get back into the types of movies that truly launched his career (with all due respect to The Duellists). And all of that sounds great. Except… Sir Ridley Scott is 77 years old. Ford is 73. If the two of them realistically are going to do Blade Runner 2, they should start on it soon. But B-D’s report suggests that Scott is going to shoot Prometheus 2 early next year for a 2017 release, with Neill Blomkamp filming in 2017 for a ’18 release date.

Possible? Sure. And yes, if Sir Ridley Scott really wants to get back into the ring for Prometheus 2, you can totally understand why Blomkamp would

[[ ah ref http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Alien-5-Discard-Last-Two-Movies-Get-Details-70037.html ]] step aside and let the man who launched this series go first. For now, treat this as rumor, but know that it sounds like this is the plan that is taking shape.

It was more than six months ago that director Neill Blomkamp teased the world with his vision of a potential new sequel in the Alien franchise with a bit of cool concept art. A lot has changed since then - including the fact that the movie is now in active development, but that hasn't stopped the filmmaker behind the upcoming blockbuster from sharing his vision with fans.

Just like all of the other concept art that has been officially released by Neill Blomkamp, this post comes from the director's personal Instagram account - and it paints an interesting picture. That's Sigourney Weaver's Ripley on the far left of the image, and Michael Biehn's Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in the middle (sporting some nasty scarring and eye damage). But who is it that they are talking to? What is that armor-like suit that he is wearing? And why does it feature the flag of South Korea on the shoulder? There are a lot of questions we're left asking after looking at this image.

While it hasn't been officially confirmed whether or not Michael Biehn will be joining Sigourney Weaver in the project that has been temporarily dubbed Alien 5, franchise fans and followers of the new sequel will note that this isn't the first time that Hicks has appeared in the concept art (all of which has now been deleted from Neill Blomkamp's Instagram). That being said, this is the first time we've seen the character in artwork since the project was given the greenlight at 20th Century Fox. Could that mean that he will indeed be a key part of the production?

As you can tell, we're still left with many questions about this project, and it doesn't sound like we'll be getting any really firm answers for a while. At this point, we're not even really sure where the movie will actually fall in the series timeline, given that Sigourney Weaver is now 18 years older than when we saw Ripley, but also that Hicks seemed to be killed in the beginning of David Fincher's Alien 3. As the movie starts heading towards the filming stage and starts putting a cast together, hopefully more details about the story and characters will be revealed.

Neill Blomkamp has confirmed that the untitled Alien 5 will be his follow-up to Chappie, and his first venture into franchise filmmaking. That being said, he is currently developing the script, and it's still going to be a while before we actually get to see the finished product. Fox has not yet announced a release date for the project, but it's not expected to be arriving in theaters until 2017. In the meantime, series fans should also get ready for Prometheus 2, which is also currently in the works.

Alien is one of the more beloved cinematic franchises in movie history. That’s why when Neill Blomkamp first teased that he was working on a new edition to the series, the world-wide movie community went ballistic. This hysteria then went into overdrive when it was teased that he’d been doing so with Sigourney Weaver - and it became cataclysmic when it was confirmed that Blomkamp’s vision would become a reality. But there’s more! The South African filmmaker has now hinted that there will be more than one new Alien adventure from him coming in the future.

Blomkamp, who is currently doing the rounds promoting his upcoming film, Chappie, recently sat down with Empire about his vision for the future Alien films when he teased that he has enough ideas to expand into multiple stories. He explained,

The possibility of Neill Blomkamp making more than one film in the sci-fi franchise is definitely an interesting element when one considers the on-going fan debate regarding how the new movie will squeeze into the series continuity timeline. It was previously suggested that Alien 5, which is the provisional title for his effort until someone reveals otherwise, might try and erase Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, and if this were the case it would be easy to see how it would be easy for Blomkamp to start pursuing multiple storylines involving Ellen Ripley. However, the director has since been dismissed that idea, which leaves fans back at square one.

Others have suggested that Blomkamp’s Alien 5 could possibly take place in between the stories of Aliens and Alien 3, and the fact that Michael Biehn may be coming back to play Cp. Dwayne Hicks again may suggest that’s a distinct possibility. Of course, the idea of multiple stories being told over multiple films during this time period is tricky, as that creates a limited timeframe for things to unfold. That comes on top of the fact that both Sigourney Weaver and Biehn have aged a bit in the years since Aliens, which would make the idea of multiple Alien 3 prequels difficult. Maybe they’re just all clones and that’s the answer to every question.

At the moment, any and all assumptions about the franchise timeline is guesswork, and since Blomkamp is still only getting settled into the Alien franchise, it might still be some time before anything becomes 100 percent official. We’ll be patiently waiting for more info.

Back in 2009, director Neill Blomkamp exploded on to the Hollywood scene thanks to District 9 - one of the best science-fiction films in recent memory, and a film as action packed as it was smart. Since then, the filmmaker has gone on to make two more features, but still fans have continually wondered if there would be any chance of seeing a District 10. As it turns out, Blomkamp does have an idea for a sequel, but it's not something we can expect to see on the big screen anytime in the near future. This is basically because he wants to move away from that kind of stylistic storytelling for a spell.

It was while speaking with IGN that Neill Blomkamp provided the most recent update on District 10, revealing that the reason why he's not making the movie yet is because he has just completed a "trilogy" of similarly styled films and wants the opportunity to break out from that going forward. He notes that District 9, Elysium and Chappie don't all have the most obvious links between them, but he still sees them all as connected. Said the director,

Blomkamp certainly does have some big plans to break out of that style, and he will be doing so by adapting the aesthetic of an already established and legendary franchise. As we learned a couple weeks ago, the South African filmmaker's next project will be a new installment in the Alien series - temporarily referred to as Alien 5. The feature will be bringing back Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, and reports have said that the story will deliver the character the ending she deserves. We can surely expect that Blomkamp will be incorporating some of the classic HR Giger designs into his movie, which should certainly help him change things up from his first three movies.

But while District 10 sounds like it is still a while off, Blomkamp does ensure fans that he has an idea for the sequel, and that it's something that he will want to make at some point in the future. He told the website,

Neill Blomkamp's Chappie arrives in theaters this weekend.

Neill Blomkamp has, to no one's surprise, been in the news quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately for poor old Chappie, who's set to make friends with the world next week, the film press seems a little more interested in talking about Blomkamp's next project. Considering that project deals with reviving the Alien franchise for one last ride, who can blame them? Especially when the latest word from the man himself is that this new, and presumably final, chapter will work within the continuity of the original series run.

French site AlloCine had the chance to speak with Blomkamp on a red carpet, and despite previous reports from certain outlets that suggested the film would be overriding the events of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, the District 9 director made it clear that the complete opposite is the case. He told the reporter,

So while Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection might stay in the canon of Alien films, that doesn't necessarily mean that Neil Blomkamp has to pay them too much mind in his new story. We've already seen concept art he released on Instagram showing a rather dynamite Ripley teaming with a somehow back-from-the-dead Colonel Hicks (who was played by Michael Biehn in Aliens. This isn’t a problem if Alien Resurrection is still in play, because the same cloning experiments that brought Ripley back to life hundreds of years after Alien 3 could have very easily turned Hicks into the Alien equivalent of Boba Fett. This means the military and the Weyland Yutani Corporation could be sharing a perfect clone army of Michael Biehn replicas, waiting for their orders (yes please).

Of course, there's another, less feasible option that ComingSoon hopes could be in the works: Alien 5 could be a midquel between two of the pre-existing films. While it might be too early to rule anything out, it's not too early to think that this idea would be extremely ill-advised. Not only would this be a more expensive film to make, with tons of CGI manipulation needed to turn the clock 30+ years on both Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn, it would also directly conflict Blomkamp's wishes not to alter any of the previous Alien or Prometheus films.

Alien 5 seems to be the film that Sigourney Weaver has been wishing to make for years. After over a decade of hoping, she and Ridley Scott (in a producing role) could give Ellen Ripley the send-off she deserves. Considering Weaver and Neill Blomkamp are both celebrating the forthcoming opening of Chappie, it's a safe bet that Weaver considers the franchise to be in safe hands. After Blomkamp's admission of guilt involving the suckage that was Elysium, it's not as big of a stretch to think that his chops could bring glory to the Alien franchise.

Chappie opens next Friday, with Alien 5 going into production in the assumable future. Clear your schedule, Louis C.K!

In retrospect, director Neill Blomkamp’s sophomore directorial effort, Elysium, was a disappointment. While not a bad film, it certainly does pale in comparison to the filmmaker’s debut - District 9 - and was ultimately a rather forgettable sci-fi feature. As it turns out, these failings aren’t lost on the movie’s filmmaker, and now he’s come forward to admit that he "fucked it up."

Blomkamp is currently on the promotional tour for his latest movie, Chappie, and it was while sitting down with Uproxx that the South African filmmaker revealed his disappointment with the way that Elysium came out. Rather than putting the blame on an external force, however, he instead acknowledged that the real issues with the movie came from core script issues that should have been worked out before the film got rolling. He told the site,

On the brighter side of things, Neill Blomkamp did admit that he does have appreciation for the work that was done on the movie aesthetically. He's still proud of the costume and production design, as well as the special effects, but feels that they hung off of a "not totally formed skeletal system." Given these issues, the filmmaker was asked why the release of the movie wasn’t delayed while more work was done to make it better, and the simple explanation was that the director didn’t really recognize the issues until he got some distance from the project. "You can’t tell," Blomkamp said. "You don’t know. You’re just in it."

I will still happily defend Elysium, as I still see it as a thoughtful bit of sci-fi armed with great action and solid performances from Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley. That being said, its issues are pretty clear, from the fact that the story stays Earth-bound for far too long, to it’s at-times messy logic, to the fact that it just didn’t have any kind of real resonating impact that stays with you after exiting the theater. It also doesn’t help that the nature of Hollywood is to compare the movie to District 9, which is one of the best science-fiction movies of the modern era.

Do you agree with Neill Blomkamp's in-retrospect assessment of Elysium? Hit the comments below with your thoughts.

While Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens remain two of the greatest examples of science fiction in cinematic history, the sequels Alien3 and Alien Resurrection don’t exactly have the shiniest reputations. As such, it’s pretty easy to argue that Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley never really got the send-off that she deserved in the franchise, but that’s an issue, it seems, that Weaver and director Neill Blomkamp are eager to do away with forever in the next chapter of the series.

Both the actress and the director are currently on the promotional tour for Chappie - their soon-to-be-released first collaboration – and it was while speaking with Sky Movies that they revealed some very interesting information about the direction of the recently-announced Alien film currently in development. Specifically, Weaver lamented that the sci-fi franchise never really delivered her legendary character the resolution she deserved, and she revealed that part of the new movie’s plan is to do just that. Said the actress,

She added that she is still very much a fan of the Alien series, and added, rather bluntly, "It deserves a proper ending. I know the fans would love that."

This is seemingly a confirmation that the new Alien movie will be set a little later in the franchise timeline, but Neill Blomkamp took that a step further in the interview by noting where the movie fits in with the legacy of the series. He revealed,

It’s an interesting quote, if not only because there are multiple interpretations of what he means. If he’s talking about continuity connectivity, there is a suggestion that that he may be just straight up ignoring the events that occurred in Alien3 and Alien Resurrection, and instead move the story in a different direction than what was already established. Conversely, he could be talking more about feel and tone, which means that the lesser-loved movies will still be canon. Until more information becomes available about the new film, it’s hard to say for certain.

In addition to talking about making a proper ending for Ripley, and the new Alien film’s connection to the original classics, Sigourney Weaver and Neill Blomkamp also touched on how they started talking about doing the movie together and what it is that draws the filmmaker to the material. You can watch them talk about the project in the video bleow.

There still isn’t much information available about Neill Blomkamp’s Alien movie, but given that it is now one of our most anticipated projects, you can be sure that we’ll be reporting a lot more about it in the future.

Louis CK is a big star. Predominantly known as a stand-up comic, Louis runs in the same circles as Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. He branched off into serialized television (with his award-winning FX program Louie), and occasionally acts for the likes of Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine) and David O. Russell (American Hustle). If the comic gets his way, he’ll even show up in an anticipated sci-fi blockbuster… but he won’t stay for long.

In case you aren’t caught up on the latest, director Neill Blomkamp (Chappie) will be helming a new Alien movie… and might even be bringing Sigourney Weaver back into the fold. The actress was on The Tonight Show talking about the possibilities with Jimmy Fallon, and she dropped this unusual tidbit of information about Louis CK’s interest in participating:

Neill Blomkamp has been teasing this unexpected Alien movie for weeks now, and from what we heard recently, the sequel/spinoff/prequel movie now is a go. The process started back when Blomkamp – who helmed District 9 and Elysium -- shared concept art for an Alien movie he wanted to make with Sigourney Weaver. At the time, he said that the ball was in Fox’s court, and the studio seems to have given the greenlight.

Where does Louis CK fit in? At first, he doesn’t. He wasn’t part of any of the previous films. He might be a distraction, as seeing him in that world would sort of take you out of the terror that’s supposed to be generated by an Alien movie. Even when Louis appears in a movie, he tends to sort of play a variation of himself… especially when he’s being embarrassed by Bradley Cooper.

But, I could see Louis CK dying horribly in an opening sequence that kicks the new Alien movie off in bloody fashion. Cast him as a military grunt who gets an alien tail through the chest? Have a laser blaster remove his head accidentally? The possibilities are endless. Now let’s see if it happens.

When it was revealed earlier this afternoon that Neill Blomkamp had officially signed on to direct a new film in the Alien franchise, one of the big lingering questions that we had was in regard to how it would relate to the also-currently-in-development Prometheus 2. Well, the good news is that we didn't have to wait that long for an answer, as now that information has found its way online.

Sources have told The Wrap that the events that will be featured in the story of Neill Blomkamp's Alien film will be set narratively after the events of Prometheus 2 - which is apparently still very much in the works. Presumably, that sequel will continue to follow the exploits of Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and the head of the android David (Michael Fassbender) as they learn more about the ancient aliens known as the Engineers and about how humanity came into existence. Of course, at this stage we don't know exactly where that story will end, so it's a bit hard to pin point exactly where Blomkamp's story will exist on the fictional timeline in relation to Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, but one may logically deduce that the plan is for the feature to be another prequel.

If that is the case, though, Sigourney Weaver's potential involvement in the newly announced Alien film is definitely a big question mark. Neill Blomkamp has publicly stated his desire to work with the actress on the project, presumably to have her reprise her role as the heroic Ripley, but if the new movie is set before the events of Ridley Scott's Alien, it's hard to see how that would work - in part because Weaver has aged 36 years since the making of that movie. The Wrap notes that the original franchise star is not yet officially attached to the project.

It's an interesting development, seeing as Ripley has clearly been a character very much at the center of Neill Blomkamp's thoughts regarding a new Alien movie. When he started posting project-related concept art on his personal Instagram feed, many of the images clearly featured Sigourney Weaver, including this highly-realistic hybrid of the actress and a xenomorph:

And this more artistic representation of Ripley encountering some kind of mutant creature:

How can the new Alien film be both follow Prometheus 2 in the timeline and still potentially feature Ripley? This is definitely a curious situation, and one you can be sure we'll be close eye on in the coming weeks, months and years.

About two months, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp teased the world via his personal Instagram account with some badass concept art suggesting that he was developing a brand new movie in the Alien franchise that would bring back original series star Sigourney Weaver. There has been plenty of questioning in the weeks since regarding whether or not this project would actually ever be happening, but today we have an actual answer - and it's yes!

This confirmation came this afternoon, once again from Blomkamp's Instagram feed. Rather than showing off some more new concept art, however, the filmmaker instead posted some xenomorph-related art from H.R. Giger, and paired it with a simple caption:

Our first hint that this new Alien project was happening actually came last week while Neill Blomkamp was doing a press junket in New York for his latest film, Chappie. At the time, the filmmaker told a reporter that the ball was actually in his court regarding a new Alien movie, and said that all he needed to do was call the folks at 20th Century Fox and say "Yes" to secure a green light for his idea. It appears that in the past few days he did exactly that.

If all goes according to plan, the new Alien film will be the fifth movie that Blompkamp has made. Mentioned above, he made his directorial debut in 2009 with the spectacular sci-fi film District 9, and he followed it up in 2013 with the Matt Damon-starring action flick Elysium. Chappie, which features Sigourney Weaver in its cast alongside District 9's Sharlto Copley and Hugh Jackman, will be in theaters on March 6th.

To get an idea of what to expect from the new Alien film, one only needs to look at Neill Blomkamp's Instagram page, as it is filled with some awesome looking art that gets us very excited for what he has in store. For example, there's this image - which appears to be a hybrid of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley and a xenomorph:

And here's a rather epic looking ship that we can probably expect to see on the big screen in the next few years.

This is pretty big and awesome news, but it also comes with a lot of questions. What will this movie be called? How will it relate to everything we've seen in the entirety of the Alien franchise, including possibly Alien vs. Predator? What does this mean for the plans for Ridley Scott's Prometheus 2 plans? At this point, there's not a ton to go on.

When the first footage for the upcoming new film from Neill Blomkamp, Chappie, was unveiled, it seemed that the director, best known for deep, R-rated science fiction thrillers had turned a stylistic page, moving on to what seems to be a comedic crowd-pleaser about a lovable robot that gains self-awareness and learns about life with a child-like innocence. Well, seeing as the MPAA just dealt the film an R-rating, it appears that our expectations about any family-friendly turns were wrong. However, the reason that has been given for that rating is even more vexing.

The film’s head-scratching rating can be viewed on Box Office Mojo’s release schedule for everyone to wonder at in awe. What could possibly be the reason for such hard turn for a film that is basically about a futuristic Pinocchio? Well, apparently it’s due to:

… Let’s backtrack a bit. Let me describe in as much detail as feasibly possible exactly WHAT movie - which features the impeccable cast of Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Dev Patel and Sharlto Copley (who performs motion-capture for the titular robot) - just received an R-rating. After this description is done, it will be apparent how surreal it is that, amongst other seemingly anachronistic things for a film like this, that the culprit for its rating is NUDITY.

Chappie is a film from District 9 and Elysium director, Neill Blomkamp set in the near future in which an army of self-thinking and analyzing robotic policeman have been unleashed upon Johannesburg to uphold the law in an objective way- unclouded by the inter-personal conflict that comes with a human police force. However, one of them, dubbed "Chappie," gains sentience and begins an odyssey of curiosity meant to make us hardened jaded moviegoers feel good about life and remember to be grateful for the fundamentals. Chappie’s essentially a child, who watches He-Man cartoons and spends his time painting and reading. He’s a lovable hunk of talking tin with bunny ears who starts a friendship with a young girl and some other colorfully eccentric street kids and begins every sentence in the third person. It makes one wonder exactly what nude scene could possibly be so critical to the film that Blomkamp felt had to be kept in, even to the film's possible financial detriment?

The trailer makes every indication that this is a life-affirmer, laced with maybe a hint of Blomkamp-esque in-your-face action mixed with just enough political agitprop not to be seen as pretentious. However, it clearly looked like the kind of film that people might want to bring their kids to see. As we have learned with this recent revelation, Chappie the lovable robot who comes to life and befriends cute, cyberpunky street urchins will share the same MPAA rating as Fifty Shades of Grey and will do so for roughly the SAME REASON. Is this self-sabotage? Or a bold move betting that the 17 and over crowd are going to be stoked for something that, given a name change, could pass as an edgier, modernized reboot of Short Circuit?

We shall certainly get the answer when Chappie makes its way to theaters on March 6th.

One of the most iconic roles of Sigourney Weaver’s storied career is certainly Ripley in the Alien films. So when her Chappie director Neill Blomkamp revealed concept art a month ago of a new Alien idea he was working on featuring Ripley herself, the Internet, understandably, lost its shit. In the time since that reveal, many have wondered about the exact details of the situation, but fortunately we recently got the chance to speak with Weaver herself to get the behind-the-scenes story on this situation.

While attending the press junket for Chappie this afternoon, and while speaking with the actress she confirmed that she did see the art when it was released - but also explained that she she got a much closer look in person way back when. Said Weaver,

She seemed hesitant to discuss the matter any further, but she did suggest that there is a potential for an Alien-centric collaboration between herself and Neil Blomkamp in the future, and added that she would have complete confidence in the filmmaker to tell the story. She explained,

Neill Blomkamp himself seemed to leave the situation open-ended. Accompanying the photos on Instagram, he wrote that the concept art was something he "was working on," but didn’t think he was anymore. However, he did finish by writing, "maybe I’ll go back to it." UPROXX caught up with Blomkamp himself regarding the matter and he’s way more confident than just a maybe. He told the site,

He went on to say that if he called up Fox today and said he wanted to make this film that the studio would give the green light, and that the decision is ultimately up to him and whether he wants to proceed with the project. That being said, while she’s given Blomkamp her blessings, Weaver doesn’t seem all too enthused to have Ripley return. She told me that it’d be "nice to let [Ripley] rest in peace." The character is sacred cargo and should be handled delicately - if and when this new movie actually gets made. Given the director’s track record, we’re inclined to agree with Weaver. District 9 was an incredible sci-fi film, but there was a certain quality drop off with Elysium, which was entertaining but not all that memorable. His next film, Chappie, in which Weaver portrays the CEO of a weapons technology company, will hit theaters on March 6th. So keep your eyes peeled for our review.

Neill Blomkamp has revealed that he has been working on a new Alien film with his Chappie star Sigourney Weaver, who, of course, shot to fame as Ripley in the beloved sci-fi franchise. It looks as though the District 9 director worked on the concept art in an unofficial capacity, but that doesn’t stop them from being truly amazing.

Pretty sweet, right? Neill Blomkamp also took to Twitter (on an unverified account, keep in mind) to confirm 20th Century Fox "didn’t really even know I was working on it." Hopefully those in control over at the studio will now see the South African filmmaker’s work and then decide to call him up and give him an official whack at another installment to the franchise. I know that’s almost certainly not going to happen, but a boy can dream!

Neill Blomkamp’s barrage of pictures actually hinted at a possible story too. The image at the top of the page, as well as the one underneath this paragraph, both suggest that his proposed addition to the Alien franchise would see Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley exploring the mythology that was introduced in Prometheus, the prequel to the first four installments of the series.

Neill Blomkamp’s images didn’t stop there though. Not only did they tease the return of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley but also suggested that Michael Biehn’s Dwayne Hicks, who pretty much stole the show in James Cameron’s Aliens only to be killed off at the start of Alien 3, would be back, too. You can check out Neill Blomkamp’s tease of Ripley and Hicks in action together below. It will probably be the best thing that you’ll see in all of 2015.

Fancy seeing more? Of course you do. In total, Neill Blomkamp uploaded eight pieces of concept art that he had created to his Instagram account. You can peruse, enjoy and fantasize over his potential Alien film by clicking over to the next page. Go on. We all know you want to. Especially since one of them is of an Alien.

Let’s travel back in time as we learn that Neill Blomkamp may be in line to direct the pilot for the Steven Spielberg produced Halo series on Xbox Live. The director’s name should, at this point in time, be familiar to sc-fi movie fans. Back in 2007 when Peter Jackson was on board as the Halo movie producer, Blomkamp was tapped to be the feature film director of the then entertainment juggernaut. The deal fell through when Jackson insisted on the unknown Blomkamp as director, studios eventually backed out of the movie, and Blomkamp went on to make waves with the incredible District 9.

According to rumored sources at Latino Review, Blomkamp may once again be given the reigns. Fans of the Halo series were clamoring for Blomkamp to direct a movie from early on. His live action short films of a group of ODST’s (an elite Marine group in the Halo mythos) making a last stand against Covenant forces are incredible at showcasing Blomkamp’s vision for a movie. It only makes sense to go back to the guy who’s already well versed in translating the Halo universe for the Xbox Live series. The three shorts were made by Microsoft as part of the promotional campaign for the release of Halo 3.

It was surprising a year ago when we learned Spielberg was resurrecting the idea of a live action Halo project. Now with Bungie, the game’s creators, having moved on from Microsoft the universe of Halo is under the guidance of 343 Industries. They hold the canon in their hands, and are responsible for Halo 4 along with all future endeavors in the universe, including this announced series being produced with Spielberg.

Microsoft is intent on making the Xbox One more than just a game console, which has been evident for a long time with their push for content access on both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The move to original content on Xbox Live is not original, as we’ve seen Netflix succeed with the model in 2013 and Amazon following suit. Even with the shine of Halo’s popularity waning, especially by comparison to its height back when the feature film was in production, the IP is Microsoft’s greatest chance at creating a hit.

Of course, if Microsoft wants the Xbox experience to be universal they’ll have to come up with a franchise that’s not so exclusionary. Halo is popular, no doubt, but if you’re not familiar with the lore you’ll lose focus within the first 10 minutes. Blomkamp’s rumored involvement may make it interesting enough for casual folks to stick around for an episode, but when you start introducing junk like Forerunner technology, Covenant political in-fighting, or even just the Mjolnir armor, you’ll lose people quick.

Making Elysium, writer/director Neill Blomkamp cast Matt Damon in his first live-action science-fiction role, but for the filmmaker's next project he is turning to not only a sci-fi pro, but a sci-fi legend. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blomkamp's Chappie has just added Ellen Ripley herself, Sigourney Weaver to the cast, the actress joining an ensemble that includes Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel and Sharlto Copley.

The film is based on a short film called Tetra Vaal that Blomkamp directed prior to breaking out with District 9 back in 2009, and he co-wrte the script with Terri Tatchell. THR has an official logline from the movie, which makes the project sound like an oddball little sci-fi tale:

While we had to wait four years between Blomkamp's feature debut and Elysium, the wait for the filmmaker's third project is going to be much, much shorter. It's only been a little more than two months since the release of his last feature, but Chappie has apparently already begun production down in Johannesburg, South Africa. Just like the director's last film, Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital are teaming up to make the movie, and it's already been announced that it will be in theaters on March 27, 2015. The rest of the cast beyond the actors mentioned above include actors Ninja, Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo and Brandon Auret.

While it won't really give you any insight regarding the film's plot, you can watch Tetra Vaal below to get a sense of the world that the new feature will be set in, and possibly even the design of the lead character (who Copley will be voicing).

After a big year in 2012 that includes features like The Cabin in the Woods, and Red Lights as well as the miniseries Political Animals, Weaver has been completely absent from the feature and television world in 2013 - but it won't be long until she is back. As revealed back in August, she is part of the big cast of Ridley Scott's biblical epic Exodus, which has already begun filming. She is also attached to star in the Mortal Instruments sequel City of Ashes, which is apparently now back on track. Then, of course, there are James Cameron's Avatar sequels, but we won't see the first one of those until December 2016.

While it's usually James Cameron's Avatar that is forced to regularly try and shut down lawsuits claiming theft of intellectual property, today it's another recently-released sci-fi epic that is being thrown into the court system. The Wrap is reporting that a screenwriter named Steve Wilson Briggs has brought a lawsuit against Sony Pictures, TriStar pictures, Media Rights Capital, QED International and writer/director Neill Blomkamp, claiming that they all worked together to steal his idea for the Matt Damon-starring action movie Elysium.

According to the claim, Briggs wrote a screenplay called Butterfly Driver back in May 2005 and he claims that Blomkamp and the studios stole elements from his idea, including the "plot, characters, unusual settings, themes, conflict, catalyst, crisis, climax-twist, the hero’s unique 'character-affiliation,' the hero’s 'keepsake necklace' and more." The plaintiff claims that he registered a revised version of his script with the WGA-West in December of 2005, and then about two years later in February 2007 he posted it in its entirety to the screenwriting website TriggerStreet.com. It was on this site that the writer claims Blomkamp had access to his material. Briggs brought his script to the U.S. Copyright Office in June of this year to prepare his claim.

In their write-up of the story The Wrap notes that, "There are indeed a number of similarities between the two scripts, as alleged in the lawsuit, though these types of claims are commonplace in Hollywood, particularly with regard to blockbuster studio movies." Blomkamp's film is set in a future where the middle and lower classes are forced to live on a dying Earth while all those in the upper class live on a state-of-the-art space station that has completely eliminated all disease. Damon stars as a mechanic who is poisoned and left with only days to live, giving him no other option than to try and fly to the space station and cure himself.

What differentiates this case from many others like it is that Elysium was really only a modest success at the box office - unlike Avatar, which, of course, is the highest grossing movie of all time. Made for $115 million, the movie managed to bank only $92 million when it was released back in August, but made up for that total by pulling in $184 million internationally (bringing the final total to about $272 million). There is no mention of how much Briggs is asking for in his lawsuit against the studios and the filmmaker, but you can probably expect that he wants a good chunk of that money.

Briggs, who is a teacher's aide at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, has only one produced credit on his IMDb page: a film titled The Amazing Mr. Excellent that he co-directed, wrote, produced, assisted edit and acted in. Because the internet is a ridiculously cool tool, you can actually watch the film in its entirety below.

I love that Hugh Jackman is in one of the stronger periods of his acting career. After an Oscar-nominated turn in Les Misérables, he made both a decent solo Wolverine flick and most recently gave a performance in Denis Villeneuve’s taut thriller Prisoners that may very well earn him another nomination. He’s got quite a few projects in the pipeline, but according to ScreenDaily, he came clean at the Zurich Film Festival that he has been added to the cast of Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie, his low-budgeted follow up to Elysium. I was already excited about Chappie before, but this is excellent news.

He even gives a time window on when the film will start up. “I am doing a role in Neill’s new film,” Jackman confirmed, “which we shoot in Johannesburg. I’m there for a couple of weeks at the beginning of next year.” No word on what his role will be, and “doing a role” downplays the part, but whatever.

Chappie refers to a robot member of the Johannesburg police force, as voiced by Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley. He’s stolen by a criminal gang who plan on using him for their own nefarious purposes. Ninja and Yolandi Visser, members of the South African musical duo Die Antwoord, will star as the thieves, and Walking Dead regular Jose Pablo Cantillo will star as a gangster named Yankie who wants to exploit Chappie’ A.I. I guess they’re all connected. I have no problem seeing Jackman play a bad guy, but I hope he’s part of the good guys here. If there is a Die Antwoord/Hugh Jackman fight in this movie, I will lose my balls/shit.

It’s a sci-fi film, so the post-production will probably be lengthy. In any case, we won’t be seeing it until its planned release date of March 27, 2015, ten months after we will have seen Jackman in his 41st portrayal of Wolverine.

Jackman, who received the Golden Icon Award, talked about a few future projects at a press conference for Prisoners. Remember how he’s supposed to star as P.T. Barnum in the musical The Greatest Showman on Earth? He said, “I thought it would stay in active development, if I’m honest, because new musicals are very difficult but just recently it’s taken a real turn and there’s some real momentum so watch this space.” This one seems inevitable.

In a month or so, he said he would make a decision about whether or not he would make room in his schedule for a possible Broadway take on the famed escapist Harry Houdini. But he’s taking a short break after filming four films in a row. Saying each of them, particularly Prisoners, was very compelling to him, he says he “begged [his wife] and my kids and they were understanding to a degree. So it’s time for me to go home now.”

See you on the snikt-snikt side.

You might recognize character actor Jose Pablo Cantillo from his recurring role as loyal Governor lackey Caesar Martinez on AMC’s ongoing zombie drama series The Walking Dead. But after years of television appearances on shows like Sons of Anarchy, CSI, The Closer and Terriers, Cantillo is finally getting some traction in film thanks to filmmaker Neill Blomkamp. In Elysium, the South African writer-director’s follow-up to his celebrated first feature District 9, Blomkamp cast Cantillo in a small role as Sandro, the urban gangster who operates on Matt Damon’s character, rigging him with his extraordinary exoskeleton suit. Apparently, Blomkamp was pretty pleased with Cantillo, as THR reports the pair will reunite on the sci-fi auteur’s next venture, Chappie.

Described as a science fiction comedy, Chappie is based on an original concept thought up by Blomkamp and his wife, District 9 co-writer Terri Tatchell. Its story centers on an artificial intelligence-equipped robot used by the Johannesburg police force that is kidnapped by a crew of criminals who plot to use the self-aware machine in their evil schemes. Sharlto Copley, who landed leads in both District 9 and Elysium, will lend his distinctive voice to the titular robot. For his part, Cantillo is slated to play a gangster called Yankie who aims to exploit Chappie for his own personal gain.

Below, you can see Blompkamp and Tatchell’s first interpretation of this idea in their short film Tetra Vaal. In the brief proof of concept, we see a robot who can use weaponry making its way through the slums of South Africa with ease. Now just imagine it with Copley’s friendly tenor.

News of this project first surfaced last February, when Chappie was greenlit by Sony. By the end of April, Copley was confirmed for the lead. A few months later, Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel entered into talks to join the feature playing an impoverished young man who serves as the human lead of the sci-fi tale, which I suspect means he’s Chappie’s ally in his new environment. Earlier this month, Yolandi Visser and Ninja of the South African rap-rave duo Die Antwoord joined the film to play two of Johannesburg’s baddies. With production set to begin this fall, more casting news should follow soon, including whether or not Patel is actually on board.

It’s interesting to see how different this film is already being handled from Blomkamp's last film. Making the transition from District 9 to the $115 million movie Elysium, Blomkamp ultimately favored A-list stars like Matt Damon and Jodie Foster over lesser known performers, though he did bring back Copley to play a sociopathic mercenary. But for Chappie, Blomkamp seems to be rejecting the A-list game, which might be an artistic choice or may reflect a much smaller budget. With Elysium proving slow to grow at the box office—having earned only $61 million domestic to date—my guess is a little bit of both. But that’s not a bad thing, District 9 didn’t need big names to win our attention. It’s great storytelling and intriguing world building was what drew us in. And from the looks of the vid above, Chappie shows that same sort of potential. So, really, who needs Matt Damon?

Chappie will hit theaters on March 27th, 2015.

Because Neill Blomkamp’s first feature, District 9, was a runaway Best Picture-nominated success, it was inevitable that his second film, the message-heavy sci-fi actioner Elysium, would see countless comparisons. That will almost definitely not be the case for his next film, the sci-fi comedy Chappie, which Blomkamp began pre-production on back in February. And thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we now know a little bit more about the film, and that it will begin filming this fall.

Chappie will once again reteam the director with star Sharlto Copley, who will voice Chappie, an artificially intelligent robotic member of the Johannesburg police force. Chappie falls into the hands of two local gangsters, played by Ninja and Yolandi Visser of the South African rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, who want to use the robot for their own unlawful reasons. Considering this is a comedy, I expect these gangsters to be of the bumbling, contentious variety who end up defeating themselves before anyone else is able to.

The film will be based on Blomkamp’s 2004 short film Tetra Vaal, with a script co-written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell. If you haven’t seen the short, check it out below.

While it wasn’t clear before whether Copley would actually be playing a physical robot or if he would be using some form of motion capture, the reveal that he’ll be “voicing” the character probably means Chappie will be an all-CGI bot. Kind of disappointing, but considering how much character work he got out of the alien species in District 9, a robot should be a cake walk.

Last month, it was revealed that Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel was in talks to join the film as an inner city youth, and according to THR those negotiations are on-going..

While it may sound strange to some that Blomkamp will be using a musical group as his co-starring bad guys, it’s even stranger that Ninja was one of the original choices for Matt Damon’s role in Elysium (The other was Eminem). You can check out a slice of Ninja’s talents as performer and director in some of Die Antwoord’s videos, one of which you can watch below.

While I can’t deny my pre-release excitement for Elysium, I wish Blomkamp had gone with the smaller-scale Chappie for his sophomore effort before going all big budget on everybody. Here’s hoping he keeps the jokes heavy and the morals light on this one, and that the post-production effort isn’t so lengthy that we’re waiting years to catch this in theaters.

There are just a little over three weeks left until Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium transports theatergoers to the luxurious pie-shaped space station in the sky. But don’t take that to mean Blomkamp has just been sitting back in anticipation, fielding questions from journalists; he’s hard at work on his next few projects. And how do I know that? Well, from a journalist. Wired’s Mark Yarm recently wrote a profile on the South African director, which also gave us the image seen above, not all that different from the other promo stills we’ve seen of Matt Damon holding a gun. Far more interesting was the article, which covered his political message (or lack thereof) with Elysium, a District 10 update, and his original casting choice for Damon’s Max De Costa character: 8 Mile actor and rap superstar Eminem.

Initially intending the $100 million action flick to be similar to his surprise 2009 Best Picture nominee District 9 as far as a mid-to-low budget and little star presence, Blomkamp asked Em if he would be interested in the part. Oddly enough, it could have happened if Blomkamp had been willing to set the film’s production in Detroit, Eminem's hometown. But that didn't happen, and one snap back to reality later, Blomkamp realized he might need a bigger name, and Damon stepped up to the exoskeleton plate. Before Eminem, the director also tried to get fellow South African native Ninja of the duo Die Antwoord to play the lead, but Ninja opted out due to the high-profile nature of the film and the risks attached. However, both members of Die Antwoord will be staring in Blomkamp’s next project, the sci-fi comedy Chappie.

We’ll get to Chappie soon, but Blomkamp’s District 10 tidbit is more important. He and co-writer Terri Tatchell have written an 18-page treatment for it, which he says is “really fucking cool,” though he shared no details, only mentioning that he isn’t yet committed to the project. As long as they don’t let anyone else do it in the meantime, I’m all right with that.

Before any of that though, he’s definitely going back to the low-budget side of things with Chappie, which will star Blomkamp’s go-to star Sharlto Copley as a sentient droid. It was described by the director as “fairly touching…But you know, fraught with gunfire.” He says the smaller scale is “project-specific, not part of an overall strategy.”

Yet Blomkamp mentions another cheaper project he’s developing called Mild Oats, which he says is “somewhere between John Waters and Jackass.” In fact, he showed off a prop to Yarm, who described it as “a 3-foot-tall, photo-realistic silicone puppet rocking a mullet and jailhouse tattoos. The deranged redneck stands completely naked, revealing six nipples and a prodigious, uncircumcised penis. The character’s name, Marvin, is inked on said organ in gothic lettering.” I already cannot wait to see this movie. Don’t look for any hidden meaning there.

But what about the meaning behind his upcoming movie? “Elysium doesn’t have a message either,” he says, in response to Yarm’s opinion that Michael Bay films are without messages. Regardless of what he's putting in front of audiences, he doesn’t want to be “the political filmmaker.” I’m pretty sure Marvin would knock that stereotype right out.

Elysium hits theaters and IMAX theaters on August 9. Check out the trailer below, only picture Eminem this time.

Writer/director Neill Blomkamp is still very much at the start of his career, his second effort, Elysium, not due out until August, but already he's shown that he works at a fairly deliberate pace. It's been nearly a full four years since the release of District 9 in 2009, and Blomkamp has spent that time tending to the details of Elysium and getting it through production and ready for theaters. It's entirely possible that we won't be able to see his third feature, Chappie, until 2017, matching the time gap, but at the very least Blomkamp is starting to put the pieces for it together now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Dev Patel, best known for his starring roles in movies like Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is now in early talks to join the cast of Chappie, which has been described as a sci-fi comedy. Set to be both directed and co-written (with Terri Tatchell) by Blomkamp, the movie is based on a short film that the filmmaker made called Tetra Vaal. While it's unclear at this point how the idea will be stretched into a feature length story, the short was a fake commercial for a highly-advanced robot that could be used during police exercises in the slums of South Africa. You can watch the short below.

As we previously reported, the movie will once again unite Blomkamp with actor Sharlto Copley, who is set to play a police robot in the movie. THR says that should Patel sign on the dotted line he will be playing the film's "human lead, a young man in the impoverished town."

In addition to Patel's film work - which also includes M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender - the young actor has actually had a great deal of success on the small screen. His career began playing Anwar in the UK series Skins, and can now be seen starring alongside the likes of Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer in Aaron Sorkin's HBO series The Newsroom. He recently starred in the porn drama About Cherry.

Elysium, which stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and William Fichtner in addition to Copley, will be in theaters on August 9th. You can watch the most recent trailer for the film right here:

Imagine a future where mankind has developed the technology to cure all disease. Imagine a future where war is a distant memory and poverty a distant concept. In Neil Blomkamp's upcoming science fiction epic Elysium this future is real…well, for the privileged anyway. Set in 2154, this action adventure starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharlto Copley plays out in a world where the wealthy, beautiful and privileged have moved away from the pit mankind has made of Earth and into a utopia within a manmade space station that looks down on the ruined planet. This is where everything is perfect for those who can afford it. Then there's the poor bastards that can't.

Down on Earth, Max De Costa (Damon) is a former thief trying to go legit with a blue-collar job at a robotics plant. But when a horrific accident on the job leaves him with only days to live, he comes up with a radical plan to save his own life, a plan so radical it could change the world as he knows it. A cure for his terminal illness exists on Elysium. And to get it he's going to have to break in and take it. One of his co-workers gives Max a fighting chance by merging his fast-failing flesh with robotics, making him more than a man, a cyborg.

Jodie Foster plays Secretary Rhodes, who oversees Elysium. When word of rogue transports trying to breach their heavenly space station reaches her, she sees it as a threat to the entire divided class system Elysium represents. And so a war begins.

Previous trailers for the film have teased the concept of class warfare, but this is the first that has satisfyingly summarized the plot. But to be perfectly honest, Blomkamp as writer and director was enough to count this on our summer must-see list. The South African director broke on to the international film scene in a major way with his first feature District 9 back in 2009.

The sci-fi drama was not only praised by critics for its keen storytelling and thought-provoking criticism of racism and xenophobia, but also embraced by audiences worldwide, pulling in an astounding $210 million at the box office. It launched South African actor Sharlto Copley, who has since landed roles in such noteworthy productions as Spike Lee's Oldboy and the Angelina Jolie vehicle Maleficent. Plus, the film went on to earn four Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Achievement in Visual Effects, and and Best Motion Picture of the Year! So, yeah, seeing Blomkamp's follow-up is a no-brainer.

Of course with stars like Damon, Copley, and Foster, the cast is another great reason to look ahead to Elysium. But after a slate of gleefully mindless summer films (which we loved, make no mistake), we're ready for a summer spectacle that has a bit more to chew on. With its in-your-face themes of privilege and health care only for the wealthy, Elysium (sadly) could not be better timed.

Elysium opens August 9th.

Class warfare. It's a phrase that gets bandied about in politics and headlines, but it's also become a recurring theme in contemporary cinema. Last summer The Dark Knight Rises tackled the topic Tale of Two Cities-style. Every bit of marketing from Bong Joon-ho's upcoming sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer showcases the theme of haves versus have-nots. And writer-director Neill Blomkamp, who memorably took on this issue with the inventive District 9, is back with a dystopian drama that has Matt Damon leading the charge for the disenfranchised.

Set in 2159, Elysium is named for a perfect man-made paradise that floats above the ruins of Earth. People still live on Earth's surface, but these are the unlucky forced to exist in an overpopulated, impoverished hell hole overrun by crime and chaos. The literally high and mighty people of Elysium have turned their backs on the people below, enforcing harsh immigration laws to keep those in need from infringing on their luxurious lifestyles. But one man (Damon) is setting out to break into this sky-high community so he can use their top-of-art tech to save his own life from a vile poison. But his actions could change everything.

The film's first trailer had us clamoring for more, and the new TV spot above (courtesy of The Film Stage) offers us a look at the lavish Elysium as well as the ravaged Earth. Plus, there glimpses of some jaw-dropping special effects, spectacular action, and a tantalizing tease of the war brewing between Damon's machine-enhanced man of the people and Jodie Foster's cold-hearted space station leader.

Elysium is coming August 9th.

It's not too much to say that Sharlto Copley owes his entire acting career to writer/director Neill Blomkamp. The South African star had no aspirations of becoming an actor before the filmmaker put him in his 2006 short film Alive in Joburg and then made him the lead of 2009's District 9. Since his amazing debut, the actor has worked on a couple other projects, including Joe Carnahan's A-Team and the upcoming sci-fi thriller Europa Report, but this summer will once again be uniting with Blomkamp for Elysium. And their partnership won't be ending there.

Entertainment Weekly has learned that Blomkamp and Copley will once again team on Chappie, the director's third feature effort. Unlike their previous collaborations, this new film will apparently be much lighter, with the star describing it as "a science-fiction comedy." Plot details about the film are being kept under wraps at the moment, but Copley teased the magazine saying that it has "an unusual setting." Copley first suggested he had the lead in the new movie this weekend when he left a post on his Facebook wall simply reading, "is CHAPPIE."

Copley has some more big titles on the horizon as well. While Elysium will be in theaters this August, October will see the release of Spike Lee's Oldboy, which will see the actor star as the villain opposite Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen. He will also be featured with Angelina Jolie, Elle fanning, and Juno Temple in Robert Stromberg's Maleficent, though that film won't be out until July 2nd, 2014.

With only one four-year-old feature film behind him, you’d think filmmaker Neil Blomkamp would be a small blip on pop culture’s radar instead of the secret-shrouded spotlight nabber he’s continued to be for the past few years. And just as his second film is prepping for release, he’s off and running on his next project, though this is probably the only thing we’ll hear about it for a while.

The Province (via The Playlist) confirms Blomkamp is currently at work on his third feature, currently titled Chappie, a film which already got the greenlight as soon as Elysium did. The film, labeled as a sci-fi comedy, is based on an original idea and co-written by Blomkamp and his wife Tatchell, who also co-wrote District 9. To be expected, that’s about all that can be said about the film’s creative side. On the production side, the film will take Blomkamp back to Johannesburg, South Africa - the setting and filming location for his hit directorial debut - while all the post-production will take him back to his current home in Vancouver.

For all its serious implications, District 9 had its own nice streak of humor running throughout, and even though the few screenshots from Elysium look all too serious, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blomkamp wisely lightened the mood in that film as well.

And what of Elysium’s progress as it trudges forward towards its August 9 release date? “Elysium is basically done at the end of February,” Blomkamp says. “I have some straggling VFX shots that go into April but it’s almost done. The stuff looks absolutely amazing.” I can’t wait to see if I agree with him.

It's been nearly three years since Neill Blomkamp made his stunning directorial debut with District 9, turning what could have been a ho-hum, low-budget alien invasion movie into a stirring and occasionally heartbreaking action drama, enough to earn itself a Best PIcture nomination and Blomkamp plenty of fans for life. But unlike so many new directors who get shoved into the next big thing the minute their film becomes a hit, Blomkamp took his time picking his next project before finally settling on Elysium, another sci-fi film but this time with stars like Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and William Fichtner leading it. (His District 9 star Sharlto Copley is on board as well, not to worry).

Elysium has been kept under wraps so successfully that I'd honestly forgotten it already went into production, but it's moving fast toward its March 1, 2013 release date, with test screenings already happening. That's how a synopsis for the film made its way to Collider, giving us the first clear sense of the story Elysium will follow. Turn out, the movie might be way more similar to District 9 than you might have thought. Take a look below.

Remembering the alien spacecraft hovering over Johannesburg in District 9, and the sharp division between aliens and humans that served as a metaphor for apartheid, and we seem to be back in very similar thematic territory-- which could wind up being a good thing if Blomkamp also manages to expand on them. Even the thought of Damon in action hero mode has me automatically on board, though, so I'll be anxious to see how Blomkamp's sophomore effort goes come next spring.

If you look a few years in to the past, Comic Con 2008 was in full swing and you started to see viral posters for what would soon be the sci-fi powerhouse of District 9. A similar situation is happening right now at SDCC 2011 for D9 director Neill Blomkamp’s next original sci-fi film Elysium. ComingSoon has confirmed that these posters, advertising for a company called Armadyne, do in fact connect with Elysium which is do out March 1, 2013.

Upon investigating the Armadyne.net website, you see a recruiting video from the fictional company advertising jobs for experienced “zero g welders, mega-structure engineers, quantum networkers, zero g coupling experts, and multi-generational planners.” We already know that Blomkamp’s film will be a big movie set 100 years in the future on a distant planet, and that there will be a social allegory involved, much as District 9. What new we can glean from this video is that there will be some sort of large transport vehicle, or at least something that will act as a vehicle. The term quantum is often used when referring to faster-than-light travel so expect whatever ship Armadyne to be building to be hopping between worlds Event Horizon style.

When “mega-structure engineers” are mentioned, the 3D graphic growing on to the screen looks more like a city than a ship, so maybe they’ll be working on something more like the Death Star than a Star Destroyer. What could also be indicated by something this early is that we won’t be hearing about the construction at all in the film, instead the viral campaign will probably take us all the way up until the ship arrives at its destination, and that will presumably be where the film will start. That’s all speculation though.

With nearly two years until the film’s release, there’s still quite a long time for this viral campaign to grow and slowly deliver details about the film. For now, we’ll be keeping an eye on the site which boasts an “APPLY” form that will be coming soon, that will hopefully open up some more details about the available positions.