Director Fede Álvarez (Don't Breathe, the Evil Dead remake) is currently working on a new Alien movie (reportedly, but not officially titled Alien: Romulus), which he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues.
Though specific plot details are still under wraps, the film is expected to begin an all-new story in the long-running sci-fi horror franchise after original Alien director Ridley Scott's divisive prequels, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017).
While speaking to fellow filmmaker Guillermo del Toro at the DGA Latino Summit 2023, Álvarez confirmed that he has completed a “director’s cut” of the movie, and recently showed it to Scott, who is a lead producer on the project.
“I wanted him to see it before anybody,” Álvarez said. “And everyone gave me the head’s up that Ridley is really tough. He’s really tough, particularly if it has something to do with his movies. He was really tough on Blade Runner [2049], which I thought was a masterpiece, and he had issues with it because it’s really hard for him because it’s his work. I asked him about the new Top Gun and he’s like ‘meh.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he was like, ‘My brother’s was original and this is like eh.’ He really respected it, but you could see how tough he was. So I was like, ‘There’s no way I win this one.'”
Álvarez admits to being "terrified" of what Scott would say about his film, but as it turns out, he needed't have worried.
“And then he walks into the room and he did say, ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s [frick]ing great,'”
Álvarez went on to share more of Scott's reaction. “For me it was like… My family knows it was one of the best moments of my life to have a master like him, who I admired so much, to even watch a movie I made but particularly something like this… and talk to me for an hour about what he liked about it. One of the best compliments he said was, ‘The dialogue is great. Are you the writer?’ Yes!”
Scott is notoriously blunt when it comes to sharing his thoughts, and isn't known for sugar-coating his opinion, so the fact that he was so enthusiastic about Alien: Romulus really is a good sign.
Though this doesn't really give us much to go on, a brief plot outline for Alien: Romulus tells is that the story focuses on “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”
Nothing we couldn't have figured out from looking at the cast, but hopefully more details will be revealed soon.
Priscilla breakout Cailee Spaeny is leading the cast opposite David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (Rosaline), Spike Fearn (The Batman) and Aileen Wu (Away From Home).
The movie is set for release on Aug. 16, 2024.