Movies
Neill Blomkamp Reflects On His ‘Aliens’ Sequel That Almost Was
We *almost* got a better ending to Ellen Ripley’s story.
With his new venture Oats Studios officially launched and in motion, it’s pretty safe to say that Neill Blomkamp has moved on from the Aliens sequel he almost made. As for the fans of the franchise, well, it’s also pretty safe to say that they’ll be asking him about the unmade movie for a long time to come.
Blomkamp doesn’t have much more to say about the aborted project than what he’s already said, but a new chat Funhaus did reveal something pretty interesting. As it turns out, Blomkamp’s Alien film didn’t actually begin its life as a continuation of Ripley’s story, but rather as a new tale about a new character set in the wake of Aliens.
“I met Sigourney on Chappie and I had a different idea for an Alien film I wanted to make. So I had this idea for a story set in the world of those two first films that was not a continuation of James Cameron’s,” Blomkamp explained, digging into the genesis of the project. “It was just in the world of it and it had a totally different character that was the lead character. Because my assumption was that Sigourney would just never make another one. I told her about it on Chappie and she was like ‘No, no, no! I actually would make another one because I felt like Ripley’s story didn’t end correctly.’”
He continued, “So I went back to Vancouver and while I was editing Chappie I started to think about what I would do with Sigourney as basically a sequel to James Cameron’s film. I spent about a year working on it with only Sigourney knowing and I hired one really awesome concept artist. We put together essentially a script and all the artwork and that’s what I went to 20th Century Fox with. They seemed really into it and Ridley [Scott] came on as producer and then it just unraveled.”
As for what exactly happened from there, Blomkamp strongly hinted at what we already know to be true: it was Ridley Scott who ultimately killed the film.
“It’s very difficult to speak about on several levels because Ridley created Alien. It was something that inspired me deeply. I got into film because of it,” Blomkamp explained. “Everything that happened with my script and with the way the film collapsed – it’s hard to talk about it without it seeming like I’m bashing him which is like one of my idols to get into film. It’s a super strange psychological place but films go down in Hollywood all the time. That’s just essentially, I think, what happened and it sucks for me. It’s not that it sucks for Sigourney, it’s not going to make any difference to her, but I think she really did like the story because it allowed Ripley to… it really felt like a cool third film.”
For now, Blomkamp’s sequel is deader than dead. But I suppose you never know…
Movies
‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Is No Fan of Generative AI: “Defeats the Purpose Entirely for Me”
There has been a lot of talk recently about filmmakers embracing generative AI as part of the filmmaking process, from Darren Aronofsky to Martin Scorsese. But what about filmmakers that are against the use of Gen AI for creative pursuits? You can count 20-year-old Backrooms director Kane Parsons among that group, which should give you some hope for the future.
In a new chat with The Australian, the self-taught young filmmaker makes it crystal clear that he won’t be using generative AI in any of his upcoming filmmaking projects.
“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” Parsons tells the outlet. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”
“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” Parsons notes. “We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.”
He explains, “I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.”
Kane Parsons also notes during the interview with The Australian, “… there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.”
Backrooms marks young prodigy Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and it’s based on his own series of YouTube videos that were brought to life using Blender, the open-source 3D computer graphics software suite. So it’s no surprise that Parsons, who has hand-made his filmmaking career up to this point, isn’t buying into the hoopla around Generative AI.
His debut feature is the #1 movie in the world, so perhaps he’s onto something.
What’s next from Kane Parsons, you ask? Stay tuned…
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