As for as sci-fi metaphors go, the 1988 film Alien Nation wasn’t the most subtle, but was effective.
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Now Deadline reports that Midnight Special director Jeff Nichols is helming a new version of the film, which has accrued a great number of fans over the years despite being a box office flop. But the unlikely pair soon uncover a far more unsafe threat to society.
Alien Nation followed a human policeman, played James Caan, who teams up with an alien, played by Homeland’s Mandy Patinkin, who is the first extraterrestrial detective.
Jeff Nichols is a name that has been growing in esteen in the indie film world with soulful and thought-provoking dramas like Take Shelter, the deeply emotional Mud, and the superhero-cum-Messiah tale Midnight Special.
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Alien Nation spawned a 1989 spin-off TV series, plus a spate of comics and novel adaptations – as well as five TV movies, the last of which was seen in 1997. The deal comes two days ahead of “Loving” making its North American premiere on Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was recently announced that Fox would be remaking Alien Nation. It debuted at Cannes Film Festival and stars Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton as a married couple in 1950s Virginia who were thrown in jail because interracial marriage was illegal in the state.
