Summary
- Alien: Romulus will be set between the first two Alien movies.
- “The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours,” star Cailee Spaeny reveals.
- Director Fede Álvarez received high praise from Ridley Scott, who said the film is “f*****g great” and admired the dialogue.
After being rumored for some time, Fede Alvarez‘s upcoming addition to the Alien franchise has officially confirmed the title of Alien: Romulus. As part of a wave of announcements on the back of Disney’s Q1 earnings call, the new movie’s title was confirmed, along with the news that it is still expected to arrive in cinemas on August 16, 2024.
Per Deadline, a new blurb was also revealed, giving a little more detail on the plot of the movie. It reads:
Young people from a distant world must face the most terrifying life form in the universe.
The next installment in the Alien franchise will be set between the original and the sequel, Aliens, star Cailee Spaeny previously confirmed. Speaking with Variety, Spaeny offered some insight into director Fede Álvarez’s film, confirming the ongoing rumor that it will “slot” between the first and second Alien movies. See what Spaeny had to say below…
“It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie. They brought the same team from ‘Aliens,’ the James Cameron film. The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours. So getting to see the original design with the original people who have been working on these films for 45-plus years and has been so much of their life has been really incredible.”
Adding a sequel/prequel/reboot to a long-running franchise is not too unusual these days, with the likes of Superman Returns, Terminator: Dark Fate, and recent horror outing Saw X picking up after the (often acclaimed) installments and thus ignoring what came after.
So, it sounds like Alien: Romulus will follow this trend, dropping audiences in between the two best-loved outings in the series. However, this does not mean we will see appearances from the likes of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, as Alien: Romulus is expected to be a standalone story.
Spaeny can currently be seen starring as Priscilla Presley in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, but the actress is excited to return to the world of sci-fi following her breakout role in Pacific Rim Uprising back in 2018.
“My first film was big-budget sci-fi. I feel like I’m going back to that world. And I have so much fun. I like trying to do as many different things as I can. So I swapped my high heels and my beehive for spacesuits and lots of wire work. … I love watching those old ‘70s, ‘80s action sci-fi films. And I’m such a fan of that IP and Sigourney Weaver. It’s legendary to get to be a part of it.”
Ridley Scott Thinks Alien: Romulus Is ‘F*****G Great’
Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez, who is best known for helming the likes of horror movies Evil Dead (which was itself a re-imagining) and Don’t Breathe, has revealed how Alien director Ridley Scott feels about his take on the franchise. And it seems he utterly adored it.
“So I was like, ‘There’s no way I win this one.’ I was gonna go there and sit at a table and look at him and get it. Even if he was gonna say, ‘You destroyed my legacy,’ I wanted to be in front of him and see him in the eye. I didn’t want to get an email where it says ‘Ridley says…’ He walks into the room, and he did say, ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s f*****g great.’ For me, it was like… My family knows it was one of the best moments of my life to have a master like him, who I admired so much, to even watch a movie I made – but particularly something like this…and talk to me for an hour about what he liked about it. One of the best compliments he said was, ‘The dialogue is great. Are you the writer?’ Yes!”
Alien: Romulus is scheduled to be theatrically released on August 16, 2024 by 20th Century Studios.
