It's crazy to think that the 40th anniversary of the original Alien movie is coming up next year. The fandom has spawned many sequels, as well as bringing stories to comic books and fan fiction. Now, fans will get a chance to bring their own films to life within that very universe. Straight from the press release: In honor of Alien’s 40th anniversary, Twentieth Century Fox is seeking visionary super fan filmmakers to produce shorts set after the events of the original movie. These shorts would be orginial stories set within the universe, and fans are even encouraged to introduce new characters. Six fans/shorts will then be chosen to be guided by Fox and brought to life.
Tongal is no stranger to this sort of thing, recently working on a similar project for Jurassic Park. The company boasts it's ability to connect global content creators with studios to develop content. With fan films growing in popularity and in quality, this is exactly the kind of game changer that is needed for the next generation of film making. When our podcast first started, we interviewed and talked to creators of some great fan films that should have been seen by a lot more people. Giving these creators a platform, and even a chance at their content being seen by a studio, really opens up a ton of possibilities. A short could turn into a series, or even into a larger movie. It's not like this hasn't happened before. Disney still shows shorts before all of their Pixar movies, so why not do that for regular movies as well from time to time?
The Alien franchise opens up a ton of possibilities, and seems like a great next step. If Tongal begins to grow in popularity, I can't help but wonder what other projects they could tackle in the future. Perhaps a chance to create some Blade Runner shorts? Imagine being able to show what you would have done differently in a movie like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice? Tongal says they are "by the fans, for the fans." As long as creators are getting a great platform like this, and are compensated for any work they do in some way, then I'm all for initiatives like this. It also says a lot about how much the fan film movement has begun to change the movie industry. These might be baby steps, but at least things appear to be moving in the right direction.
You have until July 5th to submit your project for the Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts Project. Have fun, take chances and you never know where it might lead! You can enter by clicking here.