Director Fede Álvarez’s contribution to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, is set to reach theatres on August 16th (you can watch the teaser HERE), and during a recent interview he said that the film starts off reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Alien, then gradually becomes more like James Cameron’s Aliens. Now, in an interview with Empire, Álvarez continued talking about the ways Alien: Romulus blends Alien and Aliens, while Empire unveiled a new image from the film, which can be seen at the bottom of this article.

When this project was announced near the start of 2022, it was said that Álvarez pitched the idea to Ridley Scott years ago and it stuck with Scott. So in late 2021, he called Álvarez and asked if he still wanted to make an Alien movie. Clearly, the answer was yes. 20th Century Studios division president Steve Asbell told The Hollywood Reporter that they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch. It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.“

It has also been said that the story Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues crafted for Alien: Romulus is not connected to the other films in the Alien franchise – but it’s not ignoring any of the other entries, either. Álvarez has been clear about the fact that his story takes place within the established franchise continuity. In fact, it slots right in between the events of Alien and Aliens. It has the following official logline: The sci-fi/horror-thriller 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.

Álvarez told Empire, “To ask an Alien fan to choose between [Alien and Aliens] is a perverse question. So I thought, ‘How do I do both?’” So Alien: Romulus will follow slow-build scares like in Alien with a Xenomorph assault like in Aliens, and the blending of the two even extends to the set design. As Empire notes, the galactic Renaissance Station where the story takes place is split into two sections, with the design of the section called Remus being reminiscent of Alien and the design of the more advanced section called Romulus being reminiscent of Aliens. Álvarez says, “There’s a moment where the characters are walking around areas familiar from the Nostromo. Then they cross through that building and on the other side: boom! You’re in a hallway that looks like Hadley’s Hope [from Aliens].“

The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Industry), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). Merced has said there’s a scene in the film that’s so disgusting that a lot of viewers will have to look away, so that goes along with the “graphic and gruesome” description. “Graphic and gruesome” is what we expected from this movie as soon as it was announced that it was being made by the director of Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe.

The new image features Spaeny and Jonsson, and you can find out what Álvarez had to say about Jonsson’s character at the Empire link.

This new Alien movie is coming to us from Momentum and 20th Century Studios, with Ridley Scott producing through his Scott Free banner.

Are you looking forward to watching Alien: Romulus and finding out how similar it is to both Alien and Aliens? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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