Back in 2016, it was reported that Fox had tapped “Take Shelter” director Jeff Nichols to remake the 1988 sci-fi neo-noir buddy cop film “Alien Nation” which starred James Caan, Mandy Patinkin and Terence Stamp and told the story of a veteran cop and the first extraterrestrial cop working in L.A. Sadly, the project became one of many victims of the Disney acquisition of Fox. Now, Nichols is ready to give “Alien Nation” another go, having turned his script into a 10-episode mini-series he hopes 20th Century Studios greenlights.
During the latest episode of the Team Deakins podcast, Nichols and cinematographer Adam Stone were asked if they’d ever work on TV or a mini-series, which prompted Stone to reveal that he’d talked with Nichols about turning his “Alien Nation” script into a mini-series. “A series can be really flexible for expanding the script, bringing new characters,” Stone said.
Jeff Nichols then confirmed it. “Yeah I’m working on a series rights now,” the filmmaker said. As he tells it, Nichols was approached by Fox a few years ago to remake the 1988 film, and Nichols “spent three years building up an entire alien civilization and this set-up and all the characters. We were set to make it as our next big challenge, a $100 million studio film. Then Disney bought Fox and killed it, which was a little soul-crushing, to say the least.”
Luckily, Disney seems to have realized their mistake. “They came in and asked if I would be interested in turning it into a series, potentially. So I have taken the script and broken it into 10 episodes, and it’s under consideration right now. Who knows, the powers that be are deciding that.”
Now, if Disney can greenlight 15 different “Star Wars” shows, they can afford to let Nichols tell his epic “Alien Nation” TV series.