Director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special) has been developing a remake of the classic 1988 sci-fi film Alien Nation. The project was initially set up at Fox, but it ended up being put on hold after Disney bought the studio.
Since then, the project has transformed from a film to a TV series. Nichols has revealed that he’s converted his screenplay into a ten-episode series and Disney is currently in the process of deciding whether or not they want to proceed with the project.
Nichols and his cinematographer Adam Stone were guests on a recent episode of the Team Deakins podcast, and during the conversation, Nichols was asked if he would ever work on a TV show or miniseries. Stone replied. “Alien Nation is a possible series that might happen in the near future,” and Nichols confirmed saying, “Yeah, I’m working on a series right now.”
He gives a little background on the project and how it started out as a film. He initially didn’t want to do it, but he changed his mind:
“I had this idea of how I could take that title but a situation that has nothing to do with the original movie, necessarily, and I got really excited about it…I spent three years building out an entire alien civilization and this situation and this setup and all these characters, and it’s really what I’ve been doing for a long time. We were set to go make it. It was going to be our next big challenge for Adam and I, which would be making a big, $100 million studio film, still in Arkansas. Disney bought Fox and killed it, which was a little soul-crushing, to say the least.”
He then explained that he was approached by Disney about developing it as a TV series instead. The filmmaker explained:
“But they came and said, ‘Would you consider turning this into a series, potentially?’ So I have taken it and broken it into ten episodes, and it’s under consideration right now. Who knows, people in far more powerful positions than me are deciding that. One of the tricks is, I want to shoot it like a giant film, and I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get away with that.”
The original movie starred James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, and Terence Stamp. The story is set in Los Angeles in 1991, “humans live alongside extraterrestrial humanoid beings whose spaceship crash landed three years earlier. This coexistence is not always harmonious, as exemplified by segregated slums and the uneasy partnership of police detective Matthew Sykes (Caan) with new humanoid partner Sam Francisco (Patinkin). However, the pair begin to overcome their differences as they investigate a slum drug ring led by the slippery William Harcourt (Stamp).”
I’m actually more open to an Alien Nation TV series. You can just explore so much more in a series. Nichols is super passionate about the project, and when previously talking about his plan for the film, he explained:
“It’s epic. I mean, it’s the biggest canvas I’ve ever painted on, but it 100 percent feels like a Jeff Nichols film, which I’m sure there are gonna be some Alien Nation fans out there that are like, “What the fuck?” But my hope is if they … If people come to it just ready for a new story, that they’ll like it. And I put my heart and soul into it. To be the project that’s supposed to be me being a sell out, it is like the least … I’m not saying that to save face or be cool. I put so much of myself into it, it takes place in Arkansas. There’s so much of me in it.
What are your thoughts on Nichols and Disney teaming up for an Alien Nation series?
Via: /Film