It's safe to say that Neill Blomkamp hasn't quite lived up to the promise of his debut feature, the groundbreaking District 9. It hasn't been for a lack of trying, but Elyisum and Chappie both failed to connect with audiences in the same way, neither having that same creative spark. But Blomkamp is still a talented filmmaker, and the last couple of years have seen him developing an Alien sequel that will never happen, and most recently embarking on an intriguing experimental venture called Oats Studios.
Oats Studios takes Blomkamp back to his roots in making short films, which then were expanded into features. When asked by The Verge of we could see a possible tie-in to his previous movies springboard out of Oats Studios, Blomkamp said no such plans were in place for Elyisum and Chappie which are owned by other studios, but a return to the world of District 9 is on his mind...
"With District 9, I plan on making another film in that world. To go back and work with WETA, and make the film would be cool, but anything that pre-exists like that may not be the best fit for whatever we're trying here."
When asked about his Alien sequel, Blomkamp confirmed that it's "dead", mostly due to studio politics which is pretty much what Ridley Scott said last month. There's just no room for it while Scott has his own series of movies in place...
"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...Ridley [Scott] was one of my idols growing up. He's so talented and he's made this film that really set me off in a direction. I want to just be as respectful and not go stamping around in this world that he created. I think that if the circumstances were different, and I didn't feel like I was getting too close to something that he obviously feels a massive personal connection to, that things that may have played out differently. But I did want to be as respectful as possible."
There's nothing that says Blomkamp can't return to the idea once Scott is finished with his plans. That would be a long way off, but I imagine also well worth the wait.
