Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Deadline is reporting that one of my favorite working directors, Jeff Nichols, is taking aim at an '80s remake. Alien Nation was a pretty big deal in my household growing up. My parents loved the TV series and we'd watch it every week.
I couldn't tell you if I saw the movie or the show first, but I do know even as a child I preferred the movie and I didn't even realize Inigo Montoya was the alien!
There was definitely something appealing this grounded sci-fi story where the main message of tolerance was on the nose, but not preachy. Our current political climate is still ripe for this story, sadly, so it's no wonder that Alien Nation is on the rise again.
It is surprising to me that Jeff Nichols is involved. I'd prefer to see him stick with his original content (or wait to get poached for what would assuredly be the best Star Wars spin-off movie ever made), but if he's writing and directing this remake then that means he's found something in this story that's grabbing him.
As long as Nichols is invested, I'm down for any story he feels compelled to tell.
So, do you think Michael Shannon is going to play the Mandy Patinkin Alien character or the racist cop James Caan character? What's great about Shannon is I can see him playing either perfectly... but he's gotta be Caan, right?
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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