Skylines Director Liam O’Donnell Says He’d Love to Do More With the Series

Marketing materials for Skylines, the new sci-fi action movie from filmmaker Liam O’Donnell, might identify that movie as the third in a trilogy (following Skyline and Beyond Skyline) — but that’s not necessarily how he conceived of it. With a series dating back to 2010 and each of the three films so far being fairly episodic, rather than a direct continuation of what came before, O’Donnell said that he thinks there is plenty more to be mined from the world of Skylines, as long as the audience keeps responding to the stories he’s telling. So far, signs are pretty good on that front.

The new film has a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, identical to 2017’s Beyond Skyline. That isn’t Certified Fresh territory, but it’s certainly a welcome spot given that the first film in the series — the only one O’Donnell did not direct, although he wrote it — scored a paltry 16%.

“I feel like we’re just hitting our stride, in a way,” O’Donnell told ComicBook.com. “I felt like there was a tone that I was always reaching for, that I feel like in the second half of this movie, we really hit. And I guess the best way to describe the tone is like, ‘F–k, yeah.’ It was a trilogy component, even though it’s very loosely a trilogy to me. I use that a little bit ironically in a fun way, but to start off with this invasion thing and this big, huge monster smashing and trying to kill the hero, to then the good guys really piloting that monster. It’s sort of the moment for me where it feels like just a lot of fun. And I kind of pinch myself that I got to bring in that far.”

O’Donnell also said that casting the movies is key to how well a low-budget genre film can perform and how much it can succeed. He used the example that Donald Faison‘s role in the first movie could have traded places with star Eric Balfour, and the movie might have played better to their strengths.

“I always wonder what it would have been like if we had switched their roles,” the filmmaker admitted, noting that it wasn’t a slight on Balfour. “They’re both kind of playing against type in the movie. And so it’s an interesting thought exercise. I just feel like once Faison leaves the movie, we lose a lot of energy. And he has such a great presence and such a fun person to work with.”

While he didn’t direct that movie, O’Donnell does feel that it helped shape his approach to the franchise going forward.

“It’s kind of about finding the people that are going to speak my language and really ride the tone of these films, and they’re serious, but they’re not self serious,” O’Donnell explained. “It’s not a parody. It’s not even tongue-in-cheek. We can laugh at ourselves, but we believe in ourselves. And that’s a really weird middle of the road thing that not everyone can fully grasp. And I think sometimes the tendency is to take yourself way too serious because I’m very earnest, and I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and I write my emotions on my sleeve, but you always have to pull it back. One of the great moments with this one was Lindsey [Morgan] did such a good job at suggesting different ad-libs and stuff like that. Her first scene with Trent was one that we rehearsed and we kept changing and really trying to nail — that down when she reunites with her alien brother. And she came back with that idea that after they have their really emotional reconciliation that she was like, ‘why are your hands always wet?’ And I’m like, Oh, you’ve totally nailed the world there. We have to believe that you guys love each other. And you’re looking at this foam latex Muppet, for lack of a better description, but we to kind of fall in love with him. And then you’re also bringing it back to making fun of the fact that he is this big huge slimy alien. So it is this weird narrow tightrope that we’re walking. But I really feel like we found our groove.”

Skylines will be available in select Theaters, Drive-ins, on Demand and Digital December 18th.