Blomkamp chats to IGN about his new Alien film

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/04/how-district-9-director-neill-blomkamp-got-the-alien-gig

My apprehension with Alien was that I had never worked with someone else's material. And not even someone else – at this point it was like... I'm going to count Fincher in with the third one, even though the third one I don't like as much as the first two. But they're all three awesome filmmakers. So it's not about living up to it and being nervous about it, I just don't want other people to tell me what to do. Which is a different thing. 'Well we think in this film this should happen because it happened in that one.'  That kind of scared me a little bit so then I was like 'I'm just not going to do it, I'm just going to put it out.' But then I spoke to Sigourney [Weaver]. And I love Sigourney and her wanting to execute the story  that I wrote, and she thinks it's the right story for Ripley. So I was like 'Nah, I'm fully going to do this.'

[Corporal Hicks]

Definitely the best interview he has given so far. I actually really like his attitude, sounds very Ridley-ish in that he wont take shit from the studio. Just hope he works well with his crew as what made Alien so special was a collaboration of talent, something he didn't have on Prometheus.

I'm such a visual person that the narrative of stuff is neither here nor there for me sometimes. It's literally about imagery.

This scares me a little. I really hope that visual eye doesn't compromise Alien 5 like it did for Ridley with Prometheus.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

Blomkamp on Alien:Isolation: I think it's amazing. Even from the first screen grabs, just the quality of the art direction and how it looks. I'm such a visual person that the narrative of stuff is neither here nor there for me sometimes. It's literally about imagery. And when I saw the images I thought 'Sh*t, they can't be that good.'  And then I played it and to me it was that good. It's so good. It's ridiculous. It's actually interesting because it raises an interesting design question for me which is that when Alien was made it was cutting edge. 'Mother' was cutting edge, and a green CRT monochromatic monitor was cutting edge, you know what I mean? And it's like Aliens: The Director's Cut, with Reel 2 re-inserted, when you're on the colony planet and he's getting print-outs on dot-matrix paper with holes down the side – that sh*t was real man. On the planet, in that future, that was cutting edge. So it's an interesting debate if you look at it from my stand-point, which is do I make my cutting edge... is it cutting edge, or is it actually closer to the first two. Because I wanted to be like it has the same parent. It's a genetic offspring of the first two movies, and Alien Isolation made me question that quite a lot. Because they got it so perfect with all of the late 1970s early '80s tech, it's really cool.

I really hope he goes the lo-fi route with his Alien film. I wanna see monochrome fishbowl CRT screens and dot-matrix printouts all over the place. 

[ash9426]

I'm such a visual person that the narrative of stuff is neither here nor there for me sometimes. It's literally about imagery.

This scares me a little. I really hope that visual eye doesn't compromise Alien 5 like it did for Ridley with Prometheus.

And Elysium

I'm sure his imagery will be good. He should focus on the story.

[Corporal Hicks]

Apparently he acknowledged that issue with Elysium. Hopefully he's aware of it and makes an effort to ensure its all there.

[Xenomorphine]

Giger's Freudian sexual terror imagery

This is the second time he's referred to that and it makes me very hopeful. It hasn't been even slightly in evidence since 1986 (it's not as obvious as it was in 'Alien', but 'Aliens' still has glimpses).

It's also clear that he's fully intending to finally bring back Giger's biomechanical aesthetics.

'Prometheus' had plenty of problems, but that and clear psycho-sexual undertones were the two elements it was desperately in need of, in terms of linking back to the original.

Also very welcome is the news that 'Alien Isolation' might have reinspired him to try and replicate the technology of the originals. Something else which made 'Prometheus' feel like it belonged to a very different continuity.

Right now, my feeling is that we're in for an artistic and horror style in keeping with 'Alien', while retaining the 'ticking time-bomb' pace of 'Aliens' when any action sequences do come into play. I just hope there's decent characterisation and that the Aliens come across as a genuine threat, not just something which gets mowed down by pyrotechnics. Even something like a smartgun could miss if its target is leaping quickly around in an unpredictable fashion.

[NickisSmart]

Cool to hear that A:I is influence Neil's design choices. This makes me very hopeful.

[T Dog]

Giger's Freudian sexual terror imagery

This is the second time he's referred to that and it makes me very hopeful. It hasn't been even slightly in evidence since 1986 (it's not as obvious as it was in 'Alien', but 'Aliens' still has glimpses).

It's also clear that he's fully intending to finally bring back Giger's biomechanical aesthetics.

'Prometheus' had plenty of problems, but that and clear psycho-sexual undertones were the two elements it was desperately in need of, in terms of linking back to the original.

Also very welcome is the news that 'Alien Isolation' might have reinspired him to try and replicate the technology of the originals. Something else which made 'Prometheus' feel like it belonged to a very different continuity.

Right now, my feeling is that we're in for an artistic and horror style in keeping with 'Alien', while retaining the 'ticking time-bomb' pace of 'Aliens' when any action sequences do come into play. I just hope there's decent characterisation and that the Aliens come across as a genuine threat, not just something which gets mowed down by pyrotechnics. Even something like a smartgun could miss if its target is leaping quickly around in an unpredictable fashion.

I watched Resurrection again last night and I enjoyed it I have to say despite it's silliness. 
I think it might be the first time in an Alien movie where we actually see moving Giger architecture (the scene where Ripley falls down into the nest).
It's an extension of that look that I would be present in Prometheus 2 for sure.

[Alien³]

Almost everything sounds great.

However it is still the need to have Ripley which seems awkward.

[Samus007]

Blomkamp on Alien:Isolation: I think it's amazing. Even from the first screen grabs, just the quality of the art direction and how it looks. I'm such a visual person that the narrative of stuff is neither here nor there for me sometimes. It's literally about imagery. And when I saw the images I thought 'Sh*t, they can't be that good.'  And then I played it and to me it was that good. It's so good. It's ridiculous. It's actually interesting because it raises an interesting design question for me which is that when Alien was made it was cutting edge. 'Mother' was cutting edge, and a green CRT monochromatic monitor was cutting edge, you know what I mean? And it's like Aliens: The Director's Cut, with Reel 2 re-inserted, when you're on the colony planet and he's getting print-outs on dot-matrix paper with holes down the side – that sh*t was real man. On the planet, in that future, that was cutting edge. So it's an interesting debate if you look at it from my stand-point, which is do I make my cutting edge... is it cutting edge, or is it actually closer to the first two. Because I wanted to be like it has the same parent. It's a genetic offspring of the first two movies, and Alien Isolation made me question that quite a lot. Because they got it so perfect with all of the late 1970s early '80s tech, it's really cool.

I really hope he goes the lo-fi route with his Alien film. I wanna see monochrome fishbowl CRT screens and dot-matrix printouts all over the place. 

Me too! I loved that about Isolation, seeing that world again. He could even blend the old tech with what was used in Prometheus. Sorta like today how on the road there are still 1960's Mustangs etc riding around, next to 2015 Mustangs etc. The "Nostromo Style tech" would be the "60s mustang" and the Prometheus "2015 model". For instance, it would have been nice if in Prometheus there was a scene in the beginning of a ship hanger with the crew walking towards the Prometheus as it was docked, and along the way one of them stops and talks to a mechanic who is working on the Nostromo (or a ship like it) and says something like, "That old bucket of bolts still runs huh?". Something like that to help merge the tech in the series so it made a little more sense as to why the Prometheus was so tech awesome compared to the tech used in Alien.

That was a great interview.

[Xenomorphine]

So long as he doesn't base it solely on 'Alien Isolation'. Some parts of that were too low-tech, like audio cassettes and such. Don't recall seeing stuff like that in the films.

If what we see looks like it could have fitted right in at Gateway Station, that would be great continuity.

[Adam802]

I cant wait for this movie!

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

He could even blend the old tech with what was used in Prometheus. Sorta like today how on the road there are still 1960's Mustangs etc riding around, next to 2015 Mustangs etc. The "Nostromo Style tech" would be the "60s mustang" and the Prometheus "2015 model". For instance, it would have been nice if in Prometheus there was a scene in the beginning of a ship hanger with the crew walking towards the Prometheus as it was docked, and along the way one of them stops and talks to a mechanic who is working on the Nostromo (or a ship like it) and says something like, "That old bucket of bolts still runs huh?". Something like that to help merge the tech in the series so it made a little more sense as to why the Prometheus was so tech awesome compared to the tech used in Alien.

Great idea! In Blade Runner for example they had several 1960's and 70's cars trundling past flying police spinners. Love that kind of contrast.


1960 Imperial Crown Southampton from Blade Runner.

[T Dog]

He should follow his instincts and make the future look like whatever he wants with whatever technology.

All this post Minority Report blue hologram stuff got boring a looooooong time ago and is present in absolutely EVERYTHING.

There was a little bit of it in District 9 but it looked good and worked well because it was surrounded by so much junk technology.

[SpreadEagleBeagle]

I still don't understand why he wants to make an Alien movie sequel when he clearly isn't interested in making one rather than a fan fiction story. Like I said before, he has cool ideas and all when it comes to concerts and design, but the rest...