
The number of alien races who have tried to conquer Earth over the decades numbers in the thousands, at least in the cinematic context. The “Skyline” series brought a new race of intergalactic conquerors whose modus operandi is extracting human brains to plug into their militia of programmed soldiers known as “Pilots”.
While “Beyond Skyline” and “Skylin3s” showed mankind had won the battle of martial arts and extraterrestrial tech, another lies ahead in the upcoming “Skyline Radial”, with writer-director Liam O’Donnell returning in both roles, and the film set to get underway in the UK in January!
“Skyline Radial” Begins!
The news of “Skyline Radial” getting rolling in the UK in early 2023 was revealed on Twitter by U.K. Production News, which you can see below.
SKYLINE RADIAL, a science fiction thriller to be directed by Liam O'Donnell, is #filming in the UK in January 2023. Join the crew thanks to UKPN!
— UK Production News (@Uk_Production) November 17, 2022
For his part, Liam confirmed the news with a GIF of a famous puppet who eventually became a real boy!
https://t.co/Bvb4SK9Yon pic.twitter.com/7eUZj2YR1M
— Liam O'Donnell (@LiamODin) November 19, 2022
“Skyline Radial” Will Feature the Franchise’s Biggest Ensemble Yet!
News of “Skyline Radial” officially moving ahead was first revealed in the official press release in Deadline back in May, which also went a bit into the title referencing a new alien menace along with some returning faces to the “Skyline” series:
“The title, which is the fourth installment of the franchise, sees Liam O’Donnell (Beyond Skyline) direct from his own script. The story centers on the franchise’s main character Rose Corley. When she and her crew embark on a daring mission to rescue her father, Mark, from a secret prison, they are confronted with the ultimate power of the universe: an ancient alien race known only as The Radial.”
In his own comments on the development of “Skyline Radial”, Liam alluded to the fourth chapter of the “Skyline” series as one that could get the whole band back together, stating: “I could not be more excited to be working with Screen Media to build out our franchise and deliver what our fans have been asking for…As crazy as it sounds, we see this as our own niche version of a Fast Five/Avengers type of sequel where we are bringing together the characters from previous installments into a bigger, crowd-pleasing sci-fi, martial arts adventure.”
The “Skyline” Franchise Has Come a Long Way
The “Skyline” movies have undeniably been a case study in playing the long-game and winning big for it. The first “Skyline” was a moderate success in late 2010, but only showed a brief glimpse at invading aliens and their ship’s interior in its cliffhanger ending.
“Beyond Skyline” was the real, world-building entry of the franchise, bringing in a whole new set of characters in a parallel story during the same invasion as “Skyline”, while revealing a lot more about the aliens themselves.
“Skylin3s” doubled down on that with mankind advancing greatly with alien technology as many de-programmed pilots, such as Mark Corley’s son Trent, acclimatize to life in their new bodies.
The “Skyline” movies also blend genres in an unheard of way with martial artists like Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Daniel Bernhardt, Cha-Lee Yoon and others bringing fists of fury to the franchise’s action scenes. The “Skyline” franchise has more or less got the market cornered on a sci-fi-action combo of THAT nature, setting the excitement levels for “Skyline Radial” expectedly high. Even then, the history of the series itself dictates that audiences should expect the unexpected.
“Skyline” is Full of Surprises!
One thing Liam excels at in the “Skyline” movies is keeping viewers on their toes. Obviously, the stars of “The Raid” movies battling aliens set the precedent for that, and it continued with Yayan Ruhian’s ostensibly dead character ‘Huana’ returning in “Skylin3s”, complete with new alien limbs in place of those that had been torn off. “Skylin3s” also threw a double twist into the mix with the initial indication that Frank Grillo’s Mark Corley had died between movies, only to reveal he’s still alive, setting the stage for “Skyline Radial”.
With so many twists and turns in the “Skyline” series already, “Skyline Radial” surely won’t settle on simply the “Fast Five”-style ensemble Liam speaks of, and the proof of that lies with the new alien adversaries themselves, the Radial. From the official synopsis, the Radial are probably a whole other class of aliens from those Earth has already dealt with in the preceding “Skyline” movies.
It’s Time to Make the Monsters #SkylineRadial #kreatfx pic.twitter.com/BlJSUkcn8q
— Liam O'Donnell (@LiamODin) November 14, 2022
Thankfully, Liam himself has made bracing for the Radial’s arrival a bit easier with some BTS footage on the making of the new alien creatures to feature in “Skyline Radial”, which you can see just above!