Following the release ofthe first trailerfor this year’sAlienouting,Alien: Romulus, director Fede Álvarez has revealed how connected to the rest of the franchise the latest installment will be. And it’s perhaps a lot more connected than we originally thought. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Álvarez revealed that, despite previous reports claiming Romulus would be largely “unconnected” to the likes ofAlien: Covenant, this is far from the case.
“That’s not correct, but it does take place between the two movies. The way we crafted it is if you haven’t seen any of them, I’m jealous because you’ll have an incredible experience. You’ll have all these worlds of Alien coming at you, and you’ve never experienced any of this. You don’t know how the creature is born, and you don’t know any of these things. That’s fantastic. You’ll have a blast.”
However, while the movie will be linked to the rest of the franchise, Álvarez has aimed to make something that will have plenty to offer thoseneck deep inAlienlore, and newcomers.
“Now, if you’ve seen the others, then it’s a completely different experience in a way, because you’ll see and you’ll find those connections with the other movies. And if you’re a fan, you’ll be that person who annoys your friends in the theater, by telling them that you know what this is from and where that gun is from and what the characters are talking about.
So it is crafted in that way, and hopefully it works that way for everybody, but it is connected to all of them. I love all of those movies. I didn’t want to omit or ignore any of them when it comes to connections at a story level, character level, technology level and creature level. There’s always connections from Alien to Alien: Covenant.”
Alien: Romulus Star Says It’s a ‘Very, Very, Very Different’ Film for the Franchise
Alien: Romulus star David Jonsson teases the unique approach to the franchise in the prequel/sequel.
The Plot of Alien: Romulus Was Inspired by a Fleeting Moment in Aliens
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the sole survivor from the original Alien, is awakened after 57 years of drifting through space, her stories disbelieved by Company executives who tell her that the aliens' planet is now inhabited and colonized. When contact is suddenly lost with the colonists, Ripley returns to the planet with a squad of marines, an android (Lance Henriksen), and a Company executive (Paul Reiser) with a mission of his own. Once on the planet, no survivors can be found except for Newt, a little girl who awakens motherly instincts in Ripley just in time for the acid-blooded aliens to attack in what quickly becomes a one-sided battle for sheer survival.
Álvarez has also revealed the inspiration behindAlien: Romulus, and the leads being “a group of young people” who have the unfortunate luck ofcoming across the dreaded Xenomorph. Interestingly, the main inspiration for the prequel/sequel was none other than theAlienseries itself, and a fleeting moment in the 1986 sequel,Aliens.
“It was really more based on Aliens. I remember watching an extended cut of Aliens, and there’s a moment where you see a bunch of kids running [and riding a big wheel] around the corridors of this colony. And I thought, “Wow, what would it be like for those kids to grow up in a colony that still needs another 50 years to terraform? There’s no sunlight and there’s no real life, except to just take the place of a parent and do the same job they did.””
The moment stuck with Álvarez, who told himself all those years ago that if he ever told anAlienstory, it wouldbe about the kids.
“So when I saw those kids, I remember thinking, “If I ever tell a story in that world, I would definitely be interested in those kids when they reach their early twenties, and what they want to do and where they want to go.” And when it comes to having them encounter the creature, the dynamics are completely different. So that might be the reason why we managed to make it.”
Directed by Fede Álvarez and starring Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu,Alien: Romulusis scheduled to be theatrically released by 20th Century Studios on July 04, 2025.
