At one point an Alien Nation remake was in active development at Fox from the mind of critically acclaimed director Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special, Loving). Then the notorious Disney/Fox merger happened and, as a result, it got scrapped.
In a recent episode of Academy Award winner Roger Deakins’ Team Deakins podcast, Nichols opened up about his unrealized project, explaining that he “spent three years [creating] an entire alien civilization and [developing] all the characters.” The film was even poised to be a $100 million studio blockbuster. Once Disney came in though, the project was nuked, and he thought his vision would never see the light of day.
That is, until now.
In the podcast, Nichols said that Disney had met with him more recently and proposed revisiting the idea as a series. Currently Nichols is, “working on [that] series.” If fact, “[he’s] taken the script and broken it into 10 episodes.”
Set in alternate future, the original Alien Nation revolved around the relationship between a newly paired veteran cop and an extraterrestrial cop as they try to solve a homicide. Despite not being a major commercial or critical success at the time of its release, the film eventually gained a cult following.
While nothing is official, Nichols noted that it was under careful consideration by the company. With a streaming service like Disney+ that’s still in its infancy – and looking for new content for subscribers – it honestly doesn’t have anything to lose.
Sources: The Playlist, Team Deakins Podcast
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