The House of Mouse has stepped in again on an upcoming Fox project as they have put the upcoming remake of the cult classic Alien Nation (pick up the original here) from acclaimed indie writer-director Jeff Nichols (Midnight Special, Loving), according to Variety.
RELATED: Jeff Nichols to Write and Direct Alien Nation Remake
Rather than being put into turnaround, as with the canceled motion-capture film Mouse Guard, Disney has simply put the film on pause.
The original film, directed by Graham Baker, took place in a near-future Los Angeles, shortly after a race of humanoid extraterrestrials, known as Newcomers, took refuge on Earth. An allegory for racial prejudice, the narrative followed a pair of police officers, human Matthew Sykes (James Caan) and Newcomer George Francisco (Mandy Patinkin).
The film was followed by a single season, 22-episode television spinoff with Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint playing Sikes and Francisco, respectively. The show’s popularity was such that, even after being canceled, Alien Nation continued through a series of telefilms with five different movies were aired between 1994 and 1997.
Iron Man scribes Matt Holloway and Art Marcum were previously attached to provide the screenplay for the film, and given the project being put on hold, it remains to be seen if Nichols simply started over or revised their previous draft.
RELATED: Mouse Guard Test Footage Revealed as the Film is Officially Cancelled
Nichols’ last feature, Loving, starred Joel Edgerton (Boy Erased), Ruth Negga (Preacher) and Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) and was a mild commercial success, grossing almost $13 million on a $9 million budget, but was a large critical success, currently maintaining an 89% “Certified Fresh” rating from critics on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes and earning two Golden Globe nominations and one Oscar nomination.
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