TAGGED AS: Horror, movies, Sci-Fi
Xenomorphs will be bursting out of chests and into theaters this summer when Alien: Romulus premieres on August 16. It’s the latest movie in the series, which began with Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien. Boasting a director who is brand new to the franchise and a rising star in the lead role, Alien: Romulus looks like it could be a late-summer horror blockbuster. Here’s everything we know about Alien: Romulus.
(Photo by Murray Close/©20th Century Studios)
While Ridley Scott directed the original Alien and the two most recent entries in the franchise, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), he’s ceding the director’s chair for Romulus. It’s not the first time somebody else has directed an Alien movie, of course. James Cameron directed the first sequel, Aliens; David Fincher directed Alien 3; and French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet tackled Alien: Resurrection. Scott was not involved in those three sequels as a producer, though, nor was he involved in the two Predator crossover films. Scott is acting as a producer for Alien: Romulus, meaning he’s part of the production even though somebody else is directing it.
The director of Alien: Romulus is Fede Álvarez, a Uruguayan director who is quickly becoming a big name in horror filmmaking. Álvarez is known for directing and co-writing the 2013 Evil Dead, which starred Jane Levy and was incredibly, fantastically bloody and gory. He also directed 2016’s Certified Fresh thriller Don’t Breathe, about a group of home invaders who break into an old blind man’s house only to have the tables turned on them. He co-wrote the sequel as well, but did not direct it.
Álvarez co-wrote Alien: Romulus with Rodo Sayagues, his writing partner for Evil Dead and the Don’t Breathe films.
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios)
Cailee Spaeny tops the Alien: Romulus cast list, playing Rain Carradine, a young space colonist who takes a risky job scavenging a derelict space station. Spaeny is one of the moment’s hottest rising stars, having recently been in films like Alex Garland’s Civil War opposite Kirsten Dunst and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla as the title character. Spaeny’s film debut was 2018’s Pacific Rim Uprising.
David Jonsson plays a character named Andy. Jonsson got his start on the stage on London’s West End, but TV and Film viewers might recognize him from his leading role in the HBO series Industry and as the co-lead of last year’s critically acclaimed Hulu rom-com Rye Lane. English actor Archie Renaux, best known for his leading role in the Netflix YA series Shadow and Bone, plays a character named Tyler. Isabela Merced, recently seen in Madame Web and in movies like Transformers: The Last Knight and Sicario: Day of the Soldado before that, plays Kay. Merced also starred in the Nickelodeon series 100 Things to Do Before High School and played the live-action version of Dora the Explorer in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Spike Fearn, who is the star of the British teen drama Tell Me Everything and who recently had a role in the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, plays Bjorn. Rounding out the main cast is Aileen Wu as Navarro; this is Wu’s first major role.
(Photo by Murray Close/©20th Century Studios)
The plot of Alien: Romulus is being kept pretty tightly under wraps. According to Variety, the film will follow “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” Spaeny confirmed that the movie is set in between Alien and Aliens. In terms of the timeline, this is roughly in the middle, as Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are prequels set before Alien, while Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection follow Aliens in continuity.
It’s unclear how much direct connection to the other films Romulus will have. Sigourney Weaver’s iconic character from the original films is in suspended animation during the era when Romulus takes place, and whatever machinations Michael Fassbender’s android David had in the prequel films may or may not be relevant. What does seem clear is that it’s going to be a true horror movie that goes back to the series’ roots. All of the Alien films are horror movies, to some extent, but most of them have had other goals, too. Alien was straight sci-fi horror, but Aliens was an action masterpiece as much as it was a scary movie (if not more so), and the later sequels and prequels were more akin to heady sci-fi with lots of lore surrounding the scares. With Fede Álvarez directing, and based on the tone of the trailers (more on those in a minute), Alien: Romulus looks like its primary goal is to scare you. In space, no one can hear you scream, but they sure will be able to in a crowded movie theater this August.
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios)
Noah Hawley, the man behind the Fargo and Legion TV shows, is working on making an Alien TV series that’s set to premiere next year via FX on Hulu. That series is a prequel, set three decades before the events of Alien, so it seems unlikely that it is directly connected to Alien: Romulus, which takes place much later. We can assume the movie and series are in the same continuity until told otherwise, though. Hawley is not involved in the movie, nor is Álvarez involved in the show, although Ridley Scott is listed as a producer on both. You can read all about FX’s Alien TV series here.
There are two trailers for Alien: Romulus. The first (seen just above), a moody teaser trailer, came out in March of 2024. The second (seen at the top of this article), a full trailer which conveys a bit more of the story but still doesn’t give too much away, came out in June.
Alien: Romulus
(2024)
opens in theaters on August 16, 2024.
