Ridley Scott’s first Alien film terrified audiences in 1979, and James Cameron’s 1986 followup, Aliens, forever cemented fearsome “facehuggers” within the public lexicon. Those iconic early films made effective use of claustrophobic settings within space ships, and from what we have seen thus far, 20th Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus will take the franchise back to those horrific roots, where atmosphere is as vital as any character in the story. The franchise also includes less well-received movies witinin the original series, along with multiple Alien Vs. Predator movies and a pair of Prometheus installments.
Additionally, FX is currently filming an Alien prequel series from Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley. That show’s cast includes Timothy Olyphant, Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, and Essie Davis, and the story is set in Thailand (where Xenomorphs arrive and presumably run amuck) as a prequel that begins 70 years before the 1979 film. That story stands separately from Alien: Romulus, a film arriving this year and the topic of our discussion today.
Plot
Alien: Romulus is directed by Fede Álvarez, the master of seat-handle-gripping suspense with 2016’s Don’t Breathe and a horror king in his own right with 2013’s Evil Dead (both films starring Jane Levy in scream-queen mode). That should tell everyone plenty about how well he will navigate the ship-based confines of this interquel that takes place in between the first two Alien movies. Ridley Scott is onboard as producer, and the synopsis is chilling in its brevity: “Young people on a distant world find themselves confronting the most terrifying life-form in the universe.”
Yep, a new generation beyond Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and colleagues have become the main focus of Xenomorphs in space. Álvarez recently told Entertainment Weekly that “[t]he characters are very blue collar, like the best versions of these movies, but they’re way younger than before.” He added that this idea came to him while “watching the extended cut of Aliens, where you can see a bunch of kids running around the corridors of one of the colonies and go, ‘wow, what it would it be like for those kids when they turned 20? Growing up in a place with no future? Would they want to stay there and do what their parents did, or leave that place?’”
Álvarez also pointedly took pains, along with production designer Naaman Marshall, to take the franchise back to the cinematic feel of the original Alien movie, so get ready to be scared out of your wits, people. 20th Century Studios must have had great faith in the project, too, given that the original plan was to release this movie on Hulu before switching to theatrical mode.
Cast
Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) leads the cast with Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Archie Renaux, David Johnson, and Spike Feam also confined in the infested ship.
Release Date
Alien: Romulus face-hugs into theaters on August 16.
Trailer
Try not to hold your breath while watching this trailer. Not possible!