20th Century Fox's remake of 1988 buddy-cop science fiction film Alien Nation has been shelved for now. The project was put on hold following the recent acquisition of Fox by Disney, which has resulted in various cuts and changes in Fox's movie development schedule.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, writer and director Jeff Nichols was still actively working on the project, which would have been set in a near-future where people fleeing from a nearby planet are deemed second-class citizens. The plot would have centered around a bigoted L.A. policeman teaming up with the police force's first alien detective. Michael Shannon was even being discussed as a potential actor for the alien detective.
Despite the project being iced for the time being, it could be brought back in the future since all the rights are owned by Fox. This means the remake hasn't been axed permanently, just paused.
The original Alien Nation film was directed by Graham Baker and starred James Caan, Mandy Patinkin and Terence Stamp. It kicked off the Alien Nation multimedia franchise consisting of a television series, television films, novels and comics. The remake film would have been the first cinematic addition to the franchise since the original movie.