
When it comes to sci-fi movie franchises, there’s unique, and then there’s the “Skyline” series.
The first “Skyline” set the table for the series in 2010, but things really took off with the 2017 sequel, “Beyond Skyline”. As a never-before-seen blend of a sci-fi alien invasion with a martial arts flick, “Beyond Skyline” kicked the series into high gear and was followed up by “Skylines” in 2020.
With talk of a part four simmering online since then, “Skyline” fans can rejoice at the news that the fourth chapter of the series, “Skyline Radial” is officially moving ahead!
The official press release in Deadline reveals details of what fans of the series can expect from “Radial”:
“The title, which is the fourth installment of the franchise, sees Liam O’Donnell (Beyond Skyline) direct from his own script. Story centers on the franchises 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.”
Liam also commented on the development of “Radial”, which is currently in its casting process, teasing it as something of a series ensemble:
“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.”
Liam’s been a mainstay of the “Skyline” series from the beginning, acting as co-producer and writer on the original “Skyline” and writer-director from “Beyond Skyline” forward.
Liam’s specific “Radial” comment bringing back characters from prior installments indicates big plans for where the sequel is going. The mention of “Skylines” protagonist Rose Corley and Mark of “Beyond Skyline” indicates the respective returns of Lindsey Morgan and Frank Grillo are a given.
Beyond that, it seems that Iko Uwais could also be back as human resistance fighter and Silat exponent Sua from “Beyond Skyline” along with Yayan Ruhian as Huana, the now alien-limb equipped Silat fighter who made a surprise return in “Skylines”.
With Liam’s ensemble description of “Radial”, it seems everyone else from Bojana Novakovic’s Audrey from “Beyond Skyline”, Cha Lee-yoon of One Million K(l)icks” and “Plan B” as the high-kicking scientist Zhi from “Skylines”, Rhona Mitra as the gun savvy Dr. Mal, and others could also be onboard. Naturally, the main human Pilot character, Trent, is also sure to be back for the next “Skyline” adventure in “Radial” as well.
In “Skyline” and “Beyond Skyline”, the invading aliens extract human brains to use in the bodies of soldiers codenamed “Pilots”.
After the human resistance defeats the invasion, “Skylines” follows the human-alien hybrid Rose as she leads a mission to their alien’s home world of Cobalt-1. This is to prevent the arrival of a virus that threatens to reset the human minds of pilots who regained their sentience (in “Beyond Skyline”) back to attack Earth’s human population.
With such aggressive alien foes as the Pilots, it’ll most definitely be interesting to see what the Radial bring to the table in “Skyline Radial” as the fourth installment of the franchise.
“Skyline Radial” isn’t the only project Liam has in the works, either. Liam recently released a look book on social media of his in-development post-apocalyptic sci-fi, martial arts film “The Last Savage”, which by his own account was inspired by his experience of directing “Beyond Skyline” in Indonesia.
Speaking to KFK on “The Last Savage” look book, Liam stated that “The Last Savage” has been well-received by all who have seen the concept, with the scope behind it still presenting some developmental challenges, while also revealing some hopeful momentum on it:
“It’s never been a question of the script or concept in my opinion, but it’s just a very ambitious original idea and those are hard to get made even for much more established filmmakers than me. But there’s been a lot of progress on it recently that I’m optimistic about.”
With the ending of “Skylines”, it seems like “Radial” will head further into deep space, which had been a consistent pattern for the series moving further and further to the stars since “Beyond Skyline”.
As “Radial” nears its commencement, more news about the returning crew from the past three chapters of the series along with newcomers should trickle out fairly soon. In the meantime, the official outline and the template set by the “Skyline series thus far should tell fans everything they need to know about what the war of Power Claw-wielding human Silat warriors, the Pilot overlords, and the incoming Radial menace has in store as “Skyline Radial” prepares to get rolling…!