James Caan and Mandy Patinkin play the lead roles in the 1988 ‘Alien Nation’.

There are a few things that make a good science fiction nerd sit up and pay attention. Whether it’s murmurs of a ‘Foundation’ mini-series or the reboot of ‘Firefly,’ having the immensely popular cult classic ‘Alien Nation’ being expanded and remade is definitely another (you can read more about the original movie here).

‘Alien Nation’ was a incredibly prescient social commentary on immigration/buddy cop flick focused on the unlikely partnership of a xenophobic cop and his alien partner. Together, they solve murders and bust drug rings while becoming increasingly more intimate with the processes of bring two cultures together.

Okay. That sounds super pretentious, but trust a sci-fi nerd. It’s good. The whole idea of an alien culture trapped on Earth, even after the more popular ‘District 9,’ is a largely untouched subject in science fiction, and is a world ripe with interesting plot twists, and the remake promises to expand on these.

In fact, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the first installment will focus how and why the aliens come to Earth. This will be interesting because the movie starts in media res of the aftermath of the two societies trying to integrate after several years.

It seems that most of what will be happening with the new ‘Alien Nation’ is on the DL, but what we do know is that Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the writers of the first ‘Iron Man’ movie, will be tackling the screenplay.

It may be too early to tell, as project like these often fizzle out, but get your glasses ready science fiction fans, we could be toasting a whole new world of ‘Alien Nation.’