If you’re going to make a sequel to a beloved series then why not sandwich it between arguably the two best installments in the franchise? According to star Cailee Spaeny, that’s exactly what Fede Alvarez has done with Alien: Romulus.
While walking the red carpet at the recent Gotham Awards, Spaeny revealed where 20th Century Studios’ forthcoming Alien outing sat in the franchise timeline.
“It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie,” Spaeny told Variety. “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.”
Spaeny, who is currently receiving rave reviews for her headline role in Sofia Coppola’s Pricilla (read our ★★★★★ review here), added “My first film was big-budget sci-fi (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.”
Eschewing the usual line-up of grunts and xenomorph fodder, Alvarez’s film will instead focus on a group of young people coming face to acid-dribbling face with the iconic beast. The official synopsis reads “on a distant colony, the group finds themselves in a fight for their lives with the titular alien, a creature known as a Xenomorph, whose race propagates by implanting eggs into people’s chest via little facehuggers eventually violently bursting out of the chest.”
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Produced by Ridley Scott, who has already given his seal of approval to the film, Alien: Romulus also stars Isabela Merced (Rosaline), David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (Tell Me Everything) and Aileen Wu in her feature film debut.
Alien: Romulus is set to burst into theatres on August 16, 2024.
