I’m still mystified at the negativity surrounding Neill Blomkamp‘s latest sci-fi actioneeer, Elysium, which took the top spot at this weekend’s box office. Personally, I thought he delivered one hell of a punch for his sophomore effort, which carried over various devices and themes from his breakthrough District 9.

Behind all of the gloss, digital camerawork, and insane CGI work, there’s a single element that ties both Blomkamp’s District 9 and Elysium together – and that’s his inspiration derived from his intense love for James Cameron’s Aliens.

If you pay close attention to the not only the story structure, but also the editing, pacing, characters, score, and even sound design of both films, you’ll see a plethora of homage given to the 1986 classic.

Blomkamp is primed to direct the long-talked about Alien 5, which has always been rumored to see an older Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) head back to the Xenomorph planet to destroy the bugs once and for all.

If I were a betting man, I’d bet everything that Blomkamp is basically campaigning for his dream gig – to make an Alien sequel. While Twentieth Century Fox continues to dick around with the Prometheus franchise (I love the first film, but would clearly rather have a new Alien not titled AvP), the best candidate since James Cameron and Ridley Scott is slipping right through their fingers.

I can only pray that the top Fox brass have seen both District 9 and Elysium, and have realized that Blomkamp is the man for the job. While they struggle through Prometheus sequel pitches, they could easily have Blomkamp developing out the finale to the Alien franchise (with the character work he did with Sharlto Copley in Elysium, can you imagine what he’d do with Ripley?!).

What do you guys think? Even if you haven’t seen Elysium yet, D9 should have given you enough of a taste to get behind the idea…