After five years of silence, it is finally time for a new Alien movie. This is going to be the sixth sequel in the Alien franchise if we don’t count the two Alien vs. Predator movies. And we won’t, leaving Alien: Covenant our latest encounter with the Xenomorphs. At this point we know a couple of things, so let’s get to it. So, this new Alien movie is currently being filmed in Hungary under the working title Alien: Romulus. This could be the name of the planet on which the aliens are going to chase our settlers. Or it could be related to something else. Perhaps genetics experiments led by the brother of the colony’s leader. If I remember correctly, and after consulting Wiki, I do, Romulus has a brother Remus.
The director is Fede Alvarez, whom you might remember as the man behind the highly successful 2013 Evil Dead remake. After that movie, he wrote the story for the latest iteration of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and directed Don’t Breathe. While I didn’t like both of these movies, I still respected how they were shot and some of the other elements. Of course, the first thing that’s going to come to mind is gore. So, get ready for gruesome and graphic scenes. This is something that one of the 20th Century Studios execs, Steve Asbell already hinted at. The story takes place on a distant planet where a colony comes under attack by Xenomorph(s).
It would appear that the cast will be a bunch of relatively anonymous young guys and girls. This is more good news as the last thing we would want to see is a group of middle-aged people running around. Although you can clearly see the commercial aspect of the movie trying to appeal to the next generation of fans. Isabela Merced (Instant Family), Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown), Archie Renaux (Voyagers), David Jonsson, Aileen Wu, and Spike Fearn are all members of the cast for the new Alien movie. This is a 20th Century Studios production with Ridley Scott’s company Scott Free helping.
Disney owns the rights so the movie will first be available on Hulu, just like the latest Predator reboot, Prey, was. Alien: Romulus is just a part of the revival of the Alien franchise. We already talked about the new Alien television show that should hit streaming services this year. Overall, I’m optimistic about this new movie. Not as optimistic as I was while announcing Neill Blomkamp’s failed remake some eight years ago. And while I appreciated the visuals of the last two Alien sequels, the story was pretty generic, and the characters and their reactions were even worse.
It’s good that someone other than Ridley Scott is going to try their hand at this. Fede is a fan of the movies and this gives me even more hope. The filming of Alien: Romulus began on March 9th. It is expected that the movie should be released early next year. I’m thinking February or March of 2024. However, they could go for the summer slot.
Update: Release date for Alien Romulus is August 16, 2024. And the story will take place in-between the two first movies in the franchise, Alien and Aliens. Moreover, the same team that worked on Aliens (props and sets) is working on this one as well. So, we can expect a movie that will be a blend of these two only with more gore. You can watch the teaser trailer below.
