Warning! The Following Contains SPOILERS for Alien: Romulus.Put the kids to bed before watching this horrifying CGI-less scene! Yes, fans of the Alien franchise should prepare themselves for an unbelievably “super violent” chest-bursting experience. The latest installment in the 45-year-old sci-fi horror saga is now playing in theaters, and Alien: Romulus isn’t holding back on the gory good times.
And for one character in particular, Navarro, who is portrayed by Aileen Wu, there’s a visceral chest-bursting fate about to play out on the big screen that rivals what poor John Hurt had to endure way back in the original 1979 flick. Director Fede Álvarez explains the all-too-real looking chest-bursting scene in Romulus doesn’t include “one frame of CGI.” Álvarez says during an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“There were two versions of her.
One was Aileen actually standing up with a whole fake body attached to her to be able to puppeteer the creature through. That’s how they did it in the original movie. And then there was another version of her,
which was twice her size but didn’t have a head, just a chin, to be able to push the chestburster through with more detail.”
Alien: Romulus
4/5
Alien: Romulus takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots. While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
- Release Date
- August 16, 2024
- Writers
- Fede Alvarez , Rodo Sayagues , Dan O’Bannon , Ronald Shusett
- Studio
- 20th Century Studios, Hulu, Scott Free Productions
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century
Álvarez (The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead) continued by saying: “It needed to be a little bit bigger to see more details, like its breeding valves and hands and all that. So, it was two different versions, but all optical visual effects were done on camera. I’m super proud of that.”
Director Fede Álvarez Reveals ‘We Literally Vibrated the Set’
Despite Alien: Romulus’ volatile Rotten Tomatoes score, which reflects the critics’ 82% rating, at the time of this writing, most fans seem extremely excited about returning to the horrifying science fiction franchise where no one can hear them scream in space. And director Fede Álvarez is spilling the spoiler beans on that exhilarating chest-bursting scene featuring Aileen Wu. Álvarez continued breaking down the mayhem of bringing the sequence to life during the same interview:
“We literally vibrated the set.
The whole cockpit was built on a massive gimbal. So, anytime there was a moment where the shuttle crashes against the station, the whole gimbal would shake.
When the character falls, it’s super violent.
We had to work with stunt doubles,
obviously, to do it safely.”
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Alien: Romulus Director and Stars Tease Plot Details in New BTS Clip
Alien: Romulus’ Fede Álvarez, Cailee Spaeny, and David Jonsson reveal film details in new BTS clip.
Álvarez, whose film is touted by MovieWeb’s Alien: Romulus review as “the best film in the franchise since James Cameron’s Aliens,” didn’t just sit back and watch the infamous chest-bursting scene unfold on monitors… quite the contrary. The director elaborates during the same sit-down by saying:
“During the whole birth and everything, all the shaking is real.
It was the best theme park ride.
We were all in it with them.
I was with my monitor, trying to stay in place while people were shaking the hell out of that thing.
It was awesome.”
Álvarez’s horrific sci-fi adventure began its theatrical run with $6.5 million during its preview screenings on Thursday, August 15 (per The Numbers). And Alien: Romulus is forecast to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million to $50 million domestically en route to a predicted worldwide take of up to $80 million. And the film’s imaginative chest-bursting scene is sure to leave fans either wanting more or puking up their popcorn.
Alien: Romulus
is now playing exclusively in theaters.
