Alien: Romulus was hailed by fans and critics alike and turned in strong box office numbers, but it seems that won't be enough to keep Fede Álvarez on board for the sequel, at least as its director.
Álvarez will remain involved with the follow-up as a producer and co-writer alongside Rodo Sayagues, but the Evil Dead director wants his next directorial effort to be on an original concept, not an existing IP.
Speaking to TooFab, Alvarez cited the fact that the Alien franchise has somewhat thrived on the notion of directors passing the torch to new, up-and-coming filmmakers, and he wants to keep that loose tradition going.
"We just finished the script, actually, for a sequel for Romulus. But I'm gonna pass the torch on this one as director," Alvarez stated. "I'm going to produce it, with Ridley Scott, we're gonna produce it together, and we're right now trying to find a new filmmaker to come in."
"I think that's usually what has happened, except for Ridley, filmmakers come, you make one, and you pass the baton to the next one. But we wrote the story because we really love what we started with Romulus, and we want to continue the story. We love the story, and now we just want to find a director who really wants to go for the jugular."
Ridley Scott, director of the original Alien (1979), will also be involved with the Romulus sequel as a co-producer. And with Álvarez and Sayagues returning to handle the script, the project should maintain its established creative DNA, even with a new director's vision.
Alien: Romulus was originally developed as a streaming-only release for Hulu before Disney made a mid-production pivot. That change in director proved profitable as Romulus grossed $350.9 million worldwide from a modest production budget of just $80 million, going on to also earn an 80% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Alien: Romulus” 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 (“Civil War”), David Jonsson (“Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Spike Fearn (“Aftersun”), 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.