Disney halts development of Jeff Nichols’ Alien Nation reboot

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

It has been almost three years since 20th Century Fox hired MIDNIGHT SPECIAL's Jeff Nichols to write and direct a remake of the 1988 sci-fi action film ALIEN NATION – and as Nichols feared would happen, now that Disney has acquired Fox this project is one that the studio has decided that they're not interested in moving forward with… At least, not yet. Disney isn't cancelling ALIEN NATION completely, but they have decided to put the project on hold.

Nichols told /Film back in November that he was writing what he hoped would be the last draft of the script and his team was working on concept designs. All the time, the Disney merger was looming over them, and Nichols was hoping the project wouldn't "just blow away" once Disney took control.

The studio may decide to put ALIEN NATION back in development at some point, but it's not certain that Nichols would still be involved if / when they do.

The original ALIEN NATION was set in 

Los Angeles, the new home of 300,000 humanoid extraterrestrial. When a gang of these Newcomers kills a police detective's (James Caan) partner, he sets out to solve the crime with his new partner (Mandy Patinkin) – the L.A.P.D.'s first Newcomer detective. But the unlikely pair soon uncover a far more dangerous threat to society. 

Nichols described his take on the idea as "epic".

I mean, it’s the biggest canvas I’ve ever painted on, but it 100 percent feels like a Jeff Nichols film, which I’m sure there are gonna be some ALIEN NATION fans out there that are like, “What the f*ck?” But my hope is if they … If people come to it just ready for a new story, that they’ll like it. And I put my heart and soul into it. To be the project that’s supposed to be me being a sell out, it is like the least … I’m not saying that to save face or be cool. I put so much of myself into it, it takes place in (Nichols' home state) Arkansas. There’s so much of me in it."

I can't say I was ever hyped to see an ALIEN NATION remake, but it's unfortunate that it has been put on hold after Nichols spent so much time working on it.