Writer/Director Neill Blomkamp made a name for himself by creating interesting sci-fi parables set in near-future versions of Earth, featuring memorable non-human characters like A.I. robots (Chappie), aliens (District 9) and cyber-enhanced soldiers (Elysium). Despite the strength of his original projects, fans were waiting to see what Blomkamp could do with an established sci-fi property - which is why news that he was directing Alien 5 as a direct sequel to Aliens (with stars Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn returning) made people ecstatic.

Well, Blomkamp's Alien 5 has been stalled by Ridley Scott's upcoming film, Alien: Covenant, which will be a continuation of the Prometheus storyline. That's been disappointing news to fans who didn't really care for the quasi-Alien prequel that was Prometheus; but while we all wait for that next chance for Alien 5 to come around, Niell Blomkamp is already teasing his new film project:

Working on new things. Currently not alien A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Sep 7, 2016 at 9:43am PDT



He's very clear to state that this film is not Alien 5. By all accounts, the much desired Aliens followup is on the back-burner for now. So let's discuss what this new film possibly is, based on this image:

The face (especially the mouth) looks weirdly disfigured, like something trying to take humanoid shape but not quite making it.

Is it alien? Supernatural? Is this it's natural appearance? Is it some sort of shape-changer?

The scar on the cheek (and possibly the entire messed up features of this face) looks like battle damage, prompting the question of what kind of conflict we'll see in this film.

Blomkamp is no stranger to turning disappointment into strong original projects: his debut film was set to be an adaptation of the video game Halo, but studio execs didn't think the untested director was ready (despite having the support of Peter Jackson). Blomkamp went on to demonstrate how ready he actually was, by making District 9 and Elysium.

That's all to say: out of the disappointment of Alien 5 may come a really great sci-fi flick. What do you think he's working on?