While Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ and James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ are considered milestones in the sci-fi genre, opinions on the rest of the sci-fi series are largely divided. ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Alien: Covenant’ in particular received a lot of backlash not only from critics, but also from the public. The new ‘Alien’ film, which until now has been titled ‘Romulus’, faces a major challenge to finally convince across the board again.
This is directed by Fede Alvarez, who has already proven with “Evil Dead” and “Don’t Breathe” that he has an incredibly captivating sense of atmospherically dense, suspenseful scenarios – one of the crucial qualities that the first two “Alien” – should elevate films to classics. Now ‘Pricilla’ star Cailee Spaeny is the opposite Variety also announced how the new installment will fit into the legendary series:
“Alien: Romulus” takes place between parts 1 and 2!
“It must take place between the first and second films. They brought the same team from ‘Aliens’, the James Cameron film. The same people who built those Xenomphors also came and built ours. It was truly incredible to see the original design with the original people who had been working on these films for over 45 years and would shape so much of their lives.”
Fans should pay attention after this statement, because Fede Alvarez apparently places his ‘Alien’ between the two absolute highlights of the series. What exactly that will look like remains to be seen. At the end of the first Alien, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) ejected a xenomorph from her escape pod and then went into a cryogenic sleep. ‘Aliens’ takes place seven years later. Here, Ripley guides a military mission to investigate a possible Xenomorph attack on a distant space colony.
It was actually said that ‘Alien: Romulus’ was set in the ‘Alien’ universe, but worked completely independently of the previous films. That may still be the case, but based on the division between Parts 1 and 2, you can be sure there will be one or two cross-references. This would also be about a group of people on a distant planet who come into contact with the most terrible life form in the universe.
While Fede Alvarez will direct, Ridley Scott will be involved as a producer on the project. Cailee Spaeny is joined by Isabela Merced (“Transformers 5: The Last Knight”), David Jonsson (“Rye Lane”), Spike Fearn (“The Batman”), Ailee Wu (“Away From Home”) and Archie Renaux (“ Shadow and Bone”) to the ensemble. “Alien: Romulus” will hit German cinemas on August 15, 2024.