Neill Blomkamp says Chappie might be the reason he didn't get to make an Alien movie

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Neill Blomkamp has spoken about his Alien movie that never made it to the screen –and he thinks Chappie might have something to with it.

In 2015, the District 9 filmmaker was announced to be directing a new Alien movie starring Sigourney Weaver. However, production on the movie never went ahead as it was put on hold and then canceled in favor of another prequel – which was also later canceled.

"It’s possible that Ridley [Scott, director of Alien] watched Chappie and he was like, this guy can’t do Alien so let’s just go ahead and move on," Blomkamp told The Guardian.

Chappie, released in 2015, was Blomkamp's third feature film. It follows an AI law enforcement robot (voiced by District 9 star Sharlto Copley) who's captured by gangsters.

"There’s no coming back from that," he added when asked about a potential future working relationship with Scott. "I’m not gonna work on a film for two years and have the rug pulled out from underneath me and then go hang out and have beers. It’s exactly why I don’t want to do IP based on other people’s stuff ever again."

Blomkamp's most recent project is the newly released Demonic, a sci-fi horror flick that follows a young woman who's been estranged from her mother. However, when supernatural forces at the root of a decades-old rift between the mother and daughter are revealed, terrifying demons are unleashed. He also has a hotly anticipated sequel to District 9 in the works.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.