It’s been a hot minute since we had any concrete new information about Fede Álvarez’s upcoming Alien movie (aside from that original Alien director Ridley Scott thinks it’s “fucking great”), but last night a new interview with star Cailee Spaeny revealed where exactly the new standalone entry fits into the overarching Alien franchise.
In an interview with Variety, the Priscilla star revealed that the allegedly-titled Alien: Romulus is “supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie.” For those not brushed up on their Alien lore, Scott’s 1979 original is set in the year 2122, with James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens seeing Ripley return to fight the Xenomorphs in 2179, approximately 57 years later.
Spaeny also revealed more behind-the-scenes details, after filming took place in February of this year. Let’s just say practical effects loyalists should be very happy:
They brought the same team from Aliens, the James Cameron film. The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours. So getting to see the original design with the original people who have been working on these films for 45-plus years and has been so much of their life has been really incredible.
Starring alongside Spaeny are Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu. So far, the details of the standalone story remains tightly under wraps, but with a whole 57 years of plot time to play with, it really could go anywhere.
20th Century Studios has given Álvarez’s Alien a release date of August 16, 2024. Get that in your diaries, and we’ll see you there!
