Fargo creator, Noah Hawley, is hard at work on the script for the upcoming FX series, Alien, and we just received an update from FX chief, John Landgraf.
In a report from the Television Critics Association press tour which took place Thursday, Landgraf told the press that Hawley would shoot a new season of Fargo before beginning production on Alien.
“We need to shoot Fargo this winter, so we’ll be shooting Fargo before Alien though we have more scripts for Alien than Fargo,” Landgraf told press, and “Noah is writing both right now.”
Landgraf also confirmed that Alien will not feature characters from the Alien film franchise including Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).
“Alien takes place before Ripley,” he said. “It’s the first story in the Alien franchise that takes place on Earth. It takes place on our planet, near the end of this century we’re currently in — 70-odd years from now.”
“All I can tell you is Ripley won’t be a part of it, and neither will any other characters — other than the alien itself,” he added. “Noah has an incredible ability to both find a way of being faithful and showing fidelity to an original creation, like to the Coen Brothers [with Fargo] or to Ridley Scott’s movie and James Cameron’s follow up Aliens, but also to bring something new that represents both an extension and reinvention of a franchise at the same time. He’s done a masterful job with Alien as he did with Fargo. There are some big surprises in store for the audience.”
“I hope they will feel like it’s faithful to the franchise they love but also a brave and original reinvention of that franchise,” he added. “Setting it on Earth is really interesting. We have to think forward about the future of the planet in terms of the environment, governance, technology and create and design a version of the planet in the future … Noah wants to do that in a distinctive and original way.”
As for Season 5 of Fargo, Landgraf said only that the season will take place in a contemporary time period, return to the Upper Midwest and tackle the following questions: “When is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours?”
What do you think about this statement? Does it move your nerd needle? Sound off in the comments section and share your thoughts.