Director Fede Álvarez is giving Alien fans a terrifying first look at Alien: Romulus — the first film in the revered sci-fi horror franchise since 2017 — and is detailing the deleted scene from Aliens that inspired his new film.
The first trailer for Alien Romulus dropped Wednesday with a 1-minute, 2-second teaser. In the teaser, young crew members aboard a run-down spaceship encounter the Alien franchise’s famed Xenomorph creatures, which range from menacing facehuggers to fully-developed aliens. Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny is among the cast members in the film, which is being produced by original Alien director Ridley Scott.
Discussing the first look at Alien: Romulus with The Hollywood Reporter, Álvarez explained how a scene director James Cameron cut from his 1986 blockbuster Aliens helped establish the youthful foundation for the new chapter in the franchise, which is due in theaters on August 16.
“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?’” Álvarez explained to THR. “So 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.’”
Álvarez Has Already Won Scott’s Seal Of Approval
While Alien: Romulus isn’t due in theaters until late summer, Fede Álvarez has already won acclaim for his film from Ridley Scott, who directed the first Alien film in 1979.
Discussing his encounter with Scott after the legendary filmmaker first screened Alien: Romulus, Álvarez told fellow director Guillermo del Toro during a Q&A at the Directors Guild of America’s Latino Summit 2023 that he was surprised by his producer’s reaction to the film.
“He walks into the room and he did say, ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s f——-g great,’” Álvarez recalled for del Toro. “For me, it was like … my family knows it was one of the best moments of my life to have a master like him, [who] I admired so much, to even watch a movie I made, but particularly something like this … and talk to me [for] an hour about what he liked about it.”
Álvarez added that one of the biggest compliments Scott gave him regarded the “great” dialogue in Alien: Romulus — words that resonated with the director because he also co-wrote the screenplay.
Alien: Romulus — which is considered an “interquel” in the Alien canon rather than a prequel or sequel — doesn’t mark the first time Álvarez has brought his filmmaking skills to a storied film franchise. Previously, Álvarez rebooted director Sam Raimi’s horror film classic Evil Dead in 2013.
Alien Romulus — which also stars Isabella Merced, Spike Fearn, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux and Aileen Wu— is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The 1979 original was followed James Cameron’s Aliens in 1986, David Fincher’s Alien 3 in 1992 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection in 1997.
After a 15-year break, Scott returned to the franchise to direct the Alien prequels Prometheus in 2012 and Alien Covenant in 2017.
Read the full article here