Director Jeff Nichols already has “The Bikeriders” in post-production and it seems as though he won’t be taking much of a break.
According to my sources, his long-gestating remake of the sci-fi buddy-cop caper “Alien Nation” seems to be progressing further along than originally thought. So much so that I’m hearing a fall shoot might be in the works for this one.
Nichols was set to make “Alien Nation” in 2018 with what he described was going to be “a big, $100 million studio film, set in Arkansas.” Problem is that Disney bought Fox and killed the project, which Nichols called a “soul-crushing” experience.
“Alien Nation” was then pitched as a 10-episode Disney Plus series, but that idea has also been scrapped in favor of Nichols original email pan: a feature-length film. Nichols had dabbled in the sci-fi genre before with 2017’s “Midnight Special” — which was a pure and total Spielberg-inspired exercise.
Paramount would be producing “Alien Nation” which they agreed to let Nichols direct after he polished up a few scripts for them, including the upcoming “A Quiet Place: Part III.”
Nichols is the director of “Midnight Special,” “Take Shelter,” “Mud,” and “Loving,” and he surely deserves ample opportunities to make or direct anything he pleases. I’m also hearing rumors that he’s in the running to direct a Star Wars movie — which he is very much interesting in doing. We’ll see how that pans out.