I was not a fan of Skyline, a 2010 alien invasion flick from The Brothers Strause (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem) which failed to add much of anything to its genre. Though trailers, which showed people getting sucked up by eery blue beams of light, were moderately intriguing, the final product was lazy and awfully written (audiences agreed, giving it a D- CinemaScore rating). Regardless, the flick grossed $70 million worldwide against a budget of $10 million, more than enough to justify a sequel. And now, with the announcement of the newly-named Beyond Skyline, we’ll be getting one.
An official Facebook page launched on May 19th served as our first notice that a sequel was actively in the works. According to that page, Liam O’Donnell, who both wrote and produced the first film, will be directing and penning the script for Beyond Skyline. The film will serve as O’Donnell’s directorial debut; he previously worked as the senior visual effects producer on found-footage gorefest The Bay, worked on Iron Man 2‘s visuals and consulted for Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Additionally, O’Donnell co-produced The Bay and produced the upcoming horror thriller Chimera.
Though O’Donnell is probably more familiar with Skyline than anyone else, his inexperience behind the camera may be cause for alarm. Then again, Beyond Skyline will likely have more problems than just its direction, considering O’Donnell, responsible for the first film’s awful plot twists, is back writing this follow-up.
If you’ll remember, at the end of Skyline, protagonist Jarrod (Eric Balfour) was taken up to the alien mothership, along with his pregnant girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson). There, his brain was removed from his body and dumped into a new alien body for barely explained reasons. However, because somehow Jarrod was stronger than every other human on the planet, he regained control of his new body and began to protect Elaine from other aliens. Cue credits and boos.
The first poster, below, seems to indicate that O’Donnell will be sticking with Jarrod and Elaine in Beyond Skyline. However, I seriously doubt that those characters will suddenly become interesting, despite Jarrod’s transformation. Maybe O’Donnell will prove me wrong, but for now, Beyond Skyline is high on my list of films to avoid like the plague.
