alien franchise

alien:-earth-will-bring-the-horror-home

Alien: Earth will bring the horror home

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Chandler’s character is named Wendy, and apparently she has “the body of an adult and the consciousness of a child.” The eminently watchable Timothy Olyphant plays her synth mentor and trainer, Kirsh, and here’s hoping he brings some space cowboy vibes to the role. The cast also includes Alex Lawther as the soldier named CJ; Samuel Blenkin as a CEO named Boy Kavalier; Essie Davis as Dame Silvia; Adarsh Gourav as Slightly; Kit Young as Tootles; and Sandra Yi Sencindiver as a senior member of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. I think we can expect at least some cast members to end up as xenomorph fodder.

Alien: Romulus was a welcome return to the franchise’s horror roots, and Alien: Earth will bring the horror to our home planet. “There’s something about seeing a Xenomorph in the wilds of Earth with your own eyes,” Hawley told Deadline Hollywood in September. “I can’t tell you under what circumstances you’ll see that, but you’ll see it — and you’re going to lock your door that night.”

As for creature design, “What was really fun for me was to really engage with the creature, bring some of my own thoughts to the design while not touching the silhouette, because that’s sacrosanct,” he said. “But some of the elements as we know, whatever the host is informs what the final creature is. I just wanted to play around a little bit to make it as scary as it should be.”

Alien: Earth premieres on FX/Hulu this summer.

poster art featuring a grinning xenomorph

Credit: FX/Hulu

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Alien: Romulus teaser has all the right elements to pique our interest

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Be afraid —

Originally meant for Hulu, the franchise’s ninth installment heads to theaters instead.

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The long-standing science fiction franchise looks to be returning to its horror roots with Alien: Romulus.

We learned way back in 2019 that horror director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead) would be tackling a new standalone film in the Alien franchise. Personally, I had mixed feelings on the heels of the disappointing Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). But the involvement of Alvarez was a hint that perhaps the franchise was returning to its stripped-down space horror roots. Now we have the first teaser for Alien: Romulus, and yep—that seems to be the case. And that’s very good news for those of us who adored the original Alien (1979) and its terrifying sequel, Aliens (1986).

(Spoilers for Alien and Aliens below.)

Alien: Romulus is set between the events of Alien and Aliens. That is, after Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo, destroyed the killer Xenomorph and launched herself into space in the ship’s lifeboat—along with the ginger cat, Jonesy—and before she woke up after 57 years in hypersleep and battled more Xenomorphs while protecting the young orphan, Newt. Per the official premise: “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.”

Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Pacific Rim: Uprising) stars as Rain Carradine, Isabela Merced (The Last of Us) plays Kay, and David Jonsson (Murder Is Easy) plays Andy. Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu also appear in as-yet-undisclosed roles.

That’s about all we know five months out from the film’s release, but the teaser has all the right elements to pique our interest, right down to the minimalist aesthetics of its original forebear. In this case, less is more: We hear panicked calls for help (“get it away from me!”), piercing screams, and a shot of a gore-spattered wall. Then we get a few frenetic shots of panicked crew members fleeing a monster—and it’s a suitably terrifying threat based on the brief glimpses we’re offered.

Alien: Romulus hits theaters on August 16, 2024. It was originally meant to be released on Hulu. Clearly, the studio thought it had a potential hit on its hands and opted for a theatrical release instead.

20th Century Studios

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