First there was the sneaky release in January of concept art that had been rattling around in his brain while he was working on Chappie. Then, just a few days ago, **District 9 **director Neill Blomkamp said that 20th Century Fox was interested in making his film set in the Alien franchise. And today? He's officially been hired for the gig.
First reported by Blomkamp himself via his Instagram account, the news has since been followed up and confirmed by Variety, whose sources are saying that Fox has made a deal for the director to return chestbursters, xenomorphs and potentially the characters of Ripley and Hicks, who featured in some of the artwork he put online.
> > > [Um... So I think it's officially my next film. #alien](https://instagram.com/p/zQwEQ0qhBq/) > > A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Feb 18, 2015 at 3:55pm PST
Exactly what form the new film might take (and whether cast members such as Sigourney Weaver, who worked with him on Chappie, are aboard) is still locked in Blomkamp’s head. He has said that he’s figured out the whole movie, so this can move ahead once he’s finished promoting Chappie. The project will be distinct from Ridley Scott’s continued development of the Prometheus films, set after that timeline, though obviously sharing the genetic material of the original movies and Scott is producing Blomkamp's film via his Scott Free company. Could this be a **Star Trek–**style alternate timeline? Or an X-Men: Days Of Future Past time-wipe set after Aliens that erases Alien 3 and beyond? The possibilities are endless and exciting, and Blomkamp seems like the passionate fan-turned-filmmaker to deliver something good.
Chappie, meanwhile, will be out here on March 6.