Although Jeff Nichols has been a favorite of cinephiles for years, 2016 has seen a career breakthrough of sorts. Not only did he give us his biggest movie yet in the excellent Midnight Special, but his interracial marriage drama Loving is poised as a major Best Picture contender. So where's he going to go next? How about back to sci-fi for a remake of a movie some consider a cult classic.
Nichols is set to direct a remake of '80s favorite, Alien Nation, which starred James Caan and Mandy Patinkin played a cop and alien who team up to solve a murder case. The film was resurrected as a short-lived TV series in 1989, which actually wasn't too bad. Or at least it wasn't when I was twelve years old. It might suck now.
And just as in Loving there is a racial component to the premise that likely attracted Nichols. These "Newcomer" extraterrestrials are discriminated against by humanity and are basically treated like unwanted illegal aliens. Nichols will write the screenplay as well, and we have to believe he'll write a role for Michael Shannon, right? [Deadline]
