Credit: 20th Century StudiosIn movie theaters, everyone will hear you scream…
As per Collider, Fede Álvarez’s new Alien film has just wrapped, which means we just got one step closer to seeing the return of the iconic xenomorph on the big screen.
It’s been six years since the last film in the series, Alien: Covenant (2017), crawled into theaters. But a lukewarm reception from critics and an underwhelming box office performance led to the series being rebooted. Well, sort of.
Related: Will Ripley Return In the ‘Alien’ TV Series or ‘Alien’ Movie? Here’s What We Know
Covenant is a sequel to Prometheus (2012), which were both helmed by original Alien (1979) director Ridley Scott. But while there were plans to continue with the pre-Alien timeline established in the 2012 film, those plans were scrapped by Fox.
Now, Fede Álvarez, the man behind horror flicks such as Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe (2016), will take us back to what made Alien so terrifying in the first place. Álvarez recently confirmed the wrap in an Instagram post.
Related: All 6 ‘Predator’ Movies Ranked Worst to Best
The new film won’t feature any returning characters, though, including the iconic Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). As reported by The Hollywood Reporter in March, the film will focus on a group of young space colonists trapped on a remote station with a xenomorph infestation. Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Alieen Wu, Archie Renaux, and David Johnson will star as the colonists who face the wrath of the terrifying xenomorphs.
Fans are speculating that the film is an adaption of the popular survival horror game Alien: Isolation (2014), which follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, as she sets out to look for her mother aboard the space station, Sevastopol, long after the events of Alien. However, this seems unlikely, as it’s now rumored that the film will be titled Alien: Romulus.
Related: All 6 ‘Alien’ Movies Ranked Worst to Best
But whether it is or not, the film will work as a “standalone installment,” meaning it’s unlikely to have any apparent connections to Ridley Scott’s prequels or any of the four main Alien films; Alien, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien: Resurrection (1997).
This will make for a welcome break for the franchise, whose timeline has been muddied not only by its two convoluted prequels, but also by terrible sequels like Resurrection and the spinoff films Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
Related: 10 Things We Want to See in the NEW ‘Alien’ Movie
The new Alien film isn’t the only xenomorph-centric installment in the works, as there’s also a live-action television series in development from Fargo‘s Noah Hawley, which is scheduled to premiere on Hulu in the near future.
The new Alien film will release in theaters on August 16, 2024. It stars Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Alieen Wu, Archie Renaux, and David Johnson.
Are you excited about the new Alien film? Are you happy that it will have no connections to the previous Alien films, Ridley Scott’s prequels, or the Alien vs. Predator spin-offs? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!