Neill Blomkamp Reveals Why He’s Forming His Own Studio — and the Fate of His ‘Alien’ Sequel
Neill Blomkamp‘s “Alien” sequel may not be happening now that Ridley Scott has taken back the reins on his franchise, but the “District 9” director is busy all the same. His next project is more ambitious than just another movie, as he’s forming Oats Studio as a sort of testing ground for short films that will be released for free online — and, if all goes well, perhaps even expanded into features.
“At the end of making ‘Chappie,’ I wanted to try to figure out a different method for making films and expressing myself,” explained Blomkamp to the Verge. “I felt that if I could sell smaller pieces directly to the audience, the sale of those small experimental pieces would keep this machine alive so that it became an ecosystem that was self-sufficient.”
Part of the idea is to allow viewers to peek behind the curtain in a way that iTunes and similar services don’t. “The more I thought about that, the more it became, ‘What if the users had access to all of the 3D files that we used for the visual effects?’ If we just gave that away with any one-time purchase and you could render stuff yourself?”
As for his “Alien” sequel, it seems that we won’t be seeing it anytime soon. “I think it’s totally dead, yes. That would be an accurate assumption at this point,” Blomkamp confirmed. “It’s sad. I spent a long time working on that, and I feel like it was really pretty awesome. But politically, the way it’s gone now, and the way that it all is — it’s just not going to live.” Read more here.
Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
