Everyone (including Disney) is hoping Noah Hawley's upcoming series will breathe new life into the Alien franchise, which began back in 1979 with Ridley Scott's seminal horror film, as it has been in quite a slump for about thirty-five years. The more recent instalments in the franchise, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, didn't go down all too well critically or commercially — especially in the latter's case.
Thus far, Hawley's Alien series has been described as grounded, taking place on Earth, and seemingly revolving around corporate espionage as opposed to the claustrophobic, extraterrestrial horror that the franchise is known for. For instance, just earlier this month, Hawley explained that the series will see companies such as the Weyland-Yutani Corporation competing to develop immortality by means of technology.
Beyond the title itself, this report is the first reference to the series even including the iconic xenomorph creatures. So, it's at least reassuring to hear that they're in there. According to Alien vs. Predator Galaxy, the Academy Award-winning visual effects company will be responsible for designing and bringing the titular aliens to life for the FX series.
WetaFX is one of the most renowned visual effects companies in the business having previously worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, James Cameron's Avatar, and many instalments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe such as Marvel's The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, to name a few.
In fact, this wouldn't even be their first foray into the Alien franchise as they worked on the visual effects for 2012's Prometheus. The FX for Alien: Covenant, however, were instead handled by Australian visual effects studio Animal Logic and MPC.
Though the site is confident WetaFX is involved with the series, they are unsure just how much of the xenomorph creatures will be brought to life by means of visual effects as opposed to practical. So, those of you who are practical effects purists can breathe a sigh of relief and keep those fingers crossed for at least a blend of the two.
Additionally, it's said that the series will commence production in March.