Alien: Romulus is now in theaters, but if you haven't had the chance to see it yet, beware of major spoilers from this point on.
When Rain Carradine and her crew arrive on the derelict space station, Romulus, they discover that the ship's android is still functional. They plug him in, and we see that the synthetic (sorry... artificial person) is the same model as Ash from Ridley Scott's original movie.
Yes, the late Ian Holm is resurrected via a combination of CGI and animatronics, and, as you might expect, the decision has been met with some backlash.
During an interview with EW, director Fede Álvarez explains why they used Holm's likeness for this new android, and reveals that he reached out to the actor's family to make sure they were okay with the decision.
“Historically, there’s just a limited amount of synthetics, and that’s why some come back a few times. So we were talking, and Ridley and I felt like the one that has never been back was the best one of them all, the original model played by Ian Holm.”
“The whole thing started with me calling the estate and talking with his widow,” the filmmaker continued. “She felt that Ian was given the cold shoulder by Hollywood in the last years of his life, that he would've loved to be part of more projects after The Hobbit, but he wasn't. So she was thrilled about the idea of having him back.”
Though this android is not actually Ash - who was destroyed along with the Nostromo in Alien - Rook is just as untrustworthy, and has a very similar prime directive.
“He has the likeness, but he has a different demeanor. Rook and Ash have the same knowledge because it’s all Mother,” says Álvarez, referring to the operating system that runs the spacecrafts in Alien franchise. “It's a different android, but it's the same consciousness of Mother that moved from one android to the other.”
What did you make of the decision to use Holm's likeness for Rook? Let us know in the comments section down below.
"The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its roots: 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."
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett.
Alien: Romulus is produced by Ridley Scott (Napoleon), who directed the original Alien and produced and directed the series’ entries Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Michael Pruss (Boston Strangler), and Walter Hill (Alien), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (Charlie’s Angels), Brent O’Connor (Bullet Train), and Tom Moran (Unstoppable) serving as executive producers.