Written by Sara Carabini
Alien: Romulus will not be released in theaters until August, but filmmaker Fede Álvarez is already receiving positive feedback. This is because Ridley Scott and James Cameron, the esteemed directors known for the iconic films Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), have already expressed their admiration for Romulus, which is set between their two movies and is closely linked to them. Today, Álvarez and Disney unveiled the "interquel" with a chilling 62-second teaser trailer that captures the essence and style of the franchise's beloved classics.
The storyline focuses on a team of young space colonists and scavengers who come across a Xenomorph in a dilapidated space station. The movie features a predominantly youthful cast including Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. Álvarez mentioned that the inspiration to focus on younger characters in this setting stemmed from a deleted scene in Aliens that was later included in Cameron's extended Special Edition. In the scene, children can be seen running and playing in the colony's corridors.
Álvarez shared his thoughts on the idea of children growing up in a colony undergoing terraforming for another 50 years, pondering what their lives would be like. He expressed interest in exploring their stories when they reach their early twenties in a potential narrative set in that world.
Originally planned as a Hulu release similar to Dan Trachtenberg’s acclaimed Predator prequel, Prey (2022), the eighth installment in the Alien franchise took a different direction. The studio made a strategic decision to switch to a theatrical release at the beginning of principal photography. Álvarez recalls the moment, stating, “Just as we started shooting, the studio decided to go all-in and release the film in theaters,” he revealed.
Whether it's the well-known basement scene in Álvarez's successful 2016 film, Don't Breathe, or various scenes in his reimagining of Evil Dead (2013), he has a talent for making viewers feel uncomfortable. Romulus is also following this trend, as Merced recently shared with THR about a "disgusting" scene of hers that caused ten people on set to look away in disgust during playback. This scene is hinted at in the opening shot of the new teaser, showing remnants of it and featuring isolated dialogue of Merced's character. For Álvarez, this disturbingly ambitious scene is his attempt to create something akin to Scott's iconic chestburster sequence in the 1979 film.
When Álvarez showed his director’s cut to franchise creator and Romulus producer, Scott, it was without VFX, yet the English filmmaker was impressed, stating, “Fede, what can I say? It’s amazing.” Despite Álvarez's efforts to capture the essence of Scott and Cameron’s original films that launched the franchise, he still linked Romulus to the entire series.
“I adore all those films. I didn’t want to exclude or overlook any of them in terms of connections on a narrative, character, technology, and creature level. There are always ties from Alien to Alien: Covenant,” Álvarez explains.
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