I'm suddenly much more interested in the upcoming remake of ALIEN NATION now that Deadline has reported that Jeff Nichols (LOVING) is currently making a deal with 20th Century Fox to write and direct the movie. Previous reports stated that Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, two of the four credited screenwriters on IRON MAN, had started work on the script but it looks like Nichols will now be taking over.
The original ALIEN NATION movie introduced the Newcomers, an alien race who landed on Earth and were forced to live among the distrustful human population. The film starred James Caan as an LA police detective who finds himself partnered with a Newcomer played by Mandy Patinkin in order to solve a homicide. ALIEN NATION was successful enough to spawn a TV series as well as five TV movies afterwards, but beyond being aware of the films existence and its general premise, I'm not really up on my ALIEN NATION lore. Jeff Nichols has quickly emerged as one of my favourite directors of recent years and ALIEN NATION will likely be the biggest project he's tackled to date. The real question is what role Nichols' frequent collaborator Michael Shannon will play. He'd be great in any role, but I'd love to see him suited up as a Newcomer.
Jeff Nichols' LOVING recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and you can read a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here!