20th Century Studios has finally shared some official details on Fede Alvarez's upcoming Alien movie, which is now confirmed to be titled Alien: Romulus.
The somewhat vague synopsis reads: "Young people from a distant world must face the most terrifying life form in the universe."
The movie is still set for an August 16 release later this year, and stars Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, Aileen Wu, Spike Fearn, David Jonsson and Archie Renaux.
While chatting to Variety on the red carpet of the Gotham Awards last year, Spaeny revealed that Romulus takes place between the events of Ridley Scott's original Alien and James Cameron's sequel, Aliens.
“It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie,” Spaeny told the site. “They brought the same team from ‘Aliens,’ the James Cameron film. The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours. So getting to see the original design with the original people who have been working on these films for 45-plus years and has been so much of their life has been really incredible.”
Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that this project will have any direct connection to either film, as this gives Alvarez a lot of room to play with.
At the end of Alien, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) goes into cryo-sleep, and when she's finally discovered at the beginning of Aliens, we're told that she's been in stasis for 57 years.
“My first film was big-budget sci-fi,” Spaeny continues, referring to her role in Pacific Rim: Uprising. “I feel like I’m going back to that world. And I have so much fun. I like trying to do as many different things as I can. So I swapped my high heels and my beehive for spacesuits and lots of wire work. … I love watching those old ‘70s, ‘80s action sci-fi films. And I’m such a fan of that IP and Sigourney Weaver. It’s legendary to get to be a part of it.”
While there is always a chance this film will be connected to the previous instalments in the franchise, it is being described as a reboot. Whatever the case may be, it's probably safe to assume that it won't continue the divisive plot lines that played out in Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Alien: Covenant - although Scott will produce under his Scott Free banner.
Apparently, the legendary filmmaker was intrigued by an idea Alvarez pitched him on a few years ago, and called him out of the blue last year to see if he had any interest in developing it.
Hulu is also working on an Alien TV series with Noah Hawley (Fargo; Legion) that's expected to premiere at some point next year. Whether both projects will be linked in any way remains to be seen.
We also have a first promo poster for Alien: Romulus, which depicts an unusually friendly-looking Xenomorph reaching for a human infant. What could this mean for the plot of the movie? Your guess is as good as ours!