I'm torn - SiL says in the petition thread (
http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=52061.0;topicseen) that Elysium doesn't encourage him... and while we've had the odd tussle on here, I have to say that I agree with on this one.
I really wanted to Elysium to be great, but it was just OK in the end. I bought it watched it and had no desire to see it again (I know he's a Saffa and I love that he had Saffas in the film (being Saffas) but I really thought Copley overdid it with his colloquialisms - it was mishandled and both he and Neil have to shoulder some of the blame for that in my view. This is a really minor point, but for me it was a constant thorn when I watched the film. And I'm not even South African.).
On the other hand, is it fair to judge Blomkamp on this one misstep? I recall that Neil Marshall got similar stick when he was given a big budget and made "Doomsday" that film got loads of hate (and if you are a "Doomsday" hater I WILL fight you *lol*) but that doesn't make Marshall a bad storyteller or director.
I just don't know is my honest feeling on this. I've been reading the tweets - it has a similar ring to when one Paul WS Anderson was given AvP. A fan of the franchises getting the franchise of our dreams! What could go wrong, we asked!?! This isn't the thread to attack or defend the AvPs, I'm just citing that as an example of the dream director with the dream job - it doesn't always pan out as we may hope. Nor did Ridders Return to the franchise in Prometheus, come to that.
Rakai said in the petition thread that Fox is too heavily invested in "Prometheus" to even consider this and, sadly, I'd be inclined to agree with him. The only "out" I can think of is that Ridders has stated many times that "Prometheus" shares the same DNA as "Alien" but isn't "Alien." So, to kick up Rakai's old ant-hill, could it be considered as AU or sidequel? In the same way that "Soldier" was to "Blade Runner."
I my guess is that Blomkamp is being encouraged by the fan reaction? As SiL says above, professionals are allowed to have fan projects too, but it looks (and this really is my feeling/guess and has no basis in proveable fact) like he "just posted some of that alien shit" he had done and the twitter-sphere went ballistic and he's thinking... "woah! maybe this has some legs!"
He posted: "Fox never said no..." to one follower. Meaning he's asked and they're considering. Or he's never asked?