It’s easy to get distracted by the prospect of the X-Men and Fantastic Four coming to Disney as part of their deal with Fox, but it brought a number of other promising projects under the Mouse House’s umbrella that are in jeopardy. I mean, who doesn’t want to see a new movie by Midnight Special, Loving, and Mud director Jeff Nichols? And one that would’ve been his first true blockbuster effort? In 2016 he agreed to write and direct a remake of 1988 sci-fi film Alien Nation for Fox, but that was then. In the now, Disney just doesn’t have any plans to see it through.
Variety reports Disney has put a halt on Nichols’ remake of Alien Nation, although they haven’t outright gotten rid of it the way they did motion-capture film Mouse Guard just weeks ago. So there’s hope for Nichols’ version of the James Caan/Mandy Patinkin film that centered on an LAPD cop and his alien partner who team up to solve a murder case involving other extraterrestrials.
A film of this size would’ve easily been the biggest of Nichols’ career, and for that reason alone it was a fascinating prospect. We don’t know Disney’s motivations here, but there’s no doubt an Alien Nation movie would be a risky and expensive gamble and I think we’ve seen that Fox projects are getting an extra layer of scrutiny before they get a thumbs up. If Disney has no plans to move forward on it I hope they give Nichols the chance to shop it elsewhere.
