Since 1979, when the letters of the word “Alien” slowly filled the vastness of space on a movie screen, line by line, the lethal Xenomorphs and their variants have haunted our nightmares for nearly 50 years. Ridley Scott was the first director to establish the tone and style of the saga with “Alien,” helping to bring to life the vision of writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. The alien protagonist of the series, known as the Xenomorph, has become an icon of horror and science fiction cinema over the years, thanks to its unique aesthetic inspired by the works of artist HR Giger.
The first sequel, “Aliens,” shifted towards science fiction and action under the direction of James Cameron. That trend continued through “Alien 3” and “Alien: Resurrection,” without losing the essence of cosmic horror. After battling their interstellar rivals in the two “Alien vs. Predator” films, the franchise explored the origins of the Xenomorph in the controversial “Prometheus,” with the return of Ridley Scott, and “Alien: Covenant” brought the saga back to its roots in a film that sought to emulate the original but received mixed reviews. The legacy continues with “Alien: Romulus,” a return to pure horror, and the series “Alien: Earth,” which will bring the acid-blooded aliens directly to Earth before the space missions, further complicating the timeline.
On the first day of filming, Scott gave him a note: “Good luck, good health, good hunting, and don’t screw this up. I wish you the best.” posted on Instagram by Alvarez this gift of encouragement also portrays the impactful relationship between the former director of the series and its current director. Offering us hope of witnessing a movie where the two directors’ creativity enriches the movie plot into a modern sci-fi horror.
Particularly, Alien: Romulus was born when, the first installment under Disney’s umbrella and the seventh in the saga (or ninth, if you count the two Alien vs. Predator movies), now in theatres. Alvarez stated in an interview with Fandango “ We had a Zoom call because it was I think it was still pandemic was around and when this project started go about like we had a Zoom call and it was great about it really I. So obviously I remember telling people on the phone call. I was like I’ve been doing this enough and met a lot of people enough that I don’t really get nervous”. This first interaction gave the movie its well-deserved director/writer laying the foundation for strong creative minds.
When asked about cast Alvarez remarked “ It’s everything I mean you want. The first thing is obviously you want to get the best actors you can and it’s a very, very, very long process. I also wanted really fresh faces. I didn’t want people that you necessarily associate with another with a different character, so that’s I think, the best way that I’ve discovered films seeing people and them that I’ve never seen before, like, you know obviously Siigorney in the original. So that’s the first thing and these guys should tell you know, this is the best of the
best and we look everywhere and these guys’s the best of the best.” This is how Alvarez makes viewers interested by casting new faces in his movies not associating any different characters Moreover, mentioning Siigorney’s character in the earlier movie on how there was no prediction of her survival because of her not beginning in the spotlight.
Álvarez’s goal for his film was to recapture the horror of that first installment and the monster’s transformative power. With this, he convinced Scott, a very present executive producer during the filming, who expressed his gratitude at the Los Angeles premiere about the director. Álvarez mentioned: “ I mean. Alien has always been like it’s a director’s franchise above all. So, and happened to be that all my favorite directors made one so it couldn’t be a bigger honor for me and it’s I want to get emotional. But it’s truly an incredible moment for me to be able to add you a movie to such an incredible roster of directors. I’ve made them in the past.”
When questioned about why Alvarez wanted to make an alien movie on Rue Morgue TV alvarez mentioned his interest in taking the original course on horror-centered movies he gave reasons. one of which was the critics and people who supported the movie clashing.confusing makers to judge the situation in later years transforming movies into legend. Alvarez says “Because I was desperate to see Alien being in a horror movie again, like a pure horror movie again, everybody wants to see the highbrow side of things and the intellectual part of it. And like AH, it’s a horror movie. It’s a lot more than that. And the sophistication of this and the. Class struggle absolutely It’s a horror movie above all things, you know. The first film is relentless. Nightmare that everybody I went to see it like God couldn’t ignore it. It’s just such a machine of fear that first film right and now because it’s older whatever, you might not understand it, but at the time that’s what it created. Half of the critics thought it was shit, but it was very effective but didn’t appreciate it as a movie now. It’s a masterpiece to everybody, but to understand what things really were at the beginning is the whole key. “
So far, so good, but ordering the “Alien” movies and series chronologically complicates things.
To begin with, the events we see in Ridley Scott’s prequels remove the two Alien vs Predator films from the official canon of the franchise. They are actually part of the chronological order of the “Predator” movies. We’ve included them because they can be easily placed in the saga’s timeline, but what they depict clashes with the origin of the Xenomorphs shown in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. What we haven’t included, because it falls outside the format, is the video game Alien: Isolation, which does seem to be part of the official canon and takes place in 2137, after Alien and just before Alien: Romulus. Knowing this, here’s the chronological order of the Alien movies and series:
- Year 2004 – AVP: Alien vs Predator
- Year 2004 – Alien vs Predator: Requiem
- Year 2090 – Alien: Earth (Series)
- Year 2093 – Prometheus
- Year 2104 – Alien: Covenant
- Year 2122 – Alien
- Year 2142 – Alien: Romulus
- Year 2179 – Aliens
- Year 2179 – Alien 3
- Year 2379 – Alien: Resurrection
A little-analysed consequence of the streaming bubble that Hollywood fatally submerged itself in since 2020 pertains to horror franchises. No other film genre—perhaps with the exception of romantic comedies—has such a guaranteed profitability as horror. Its budgets tend to be modest in contrast to the number of loyal viewers its releases attract, yet several Hollywood executives believed that the profits could be even greater if horror moved to streaming platforms. Fede Álvarez, before directing Alien: Romulus, experienced this firsthand when the story he had envisioned for a reboot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre saw the light as a Netflix release in February 2022.
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The new Hellraiser and Prey, a Predator prequel, faced the same fate months later, having to go directly to Hulu—a service unavailable in Spain but part of Disney’s wide range of properties—while Paramount suddenly decided to change its strategy with Smile. What if, instead of a direct release on Paramount, which was barely generating profits, they orchestrated a clever promotional campaign and trusted that horror fans would flock to theatres? That’s exactly what happened, to such an extent that Smile 2 is hitting theatres in a couple of months, and Hollywood’s major studios have since returned to the belief that traditional theatrical releases are what best suits renowned franchises.
Five Nights at Freddy’s was a success even with a simultaneous release in theatres and streaming in its home country. Evil Dead Rise didn’t do badly either. And The Exorcist:
Believer would have been more than profitable—$136 million on a $30 million budget—if Universal hadn’t spent a huge amount of money on rights. In short, the studios have corrected course, and horror cinema can be as lucrative as ever, generating sequels and more sequels in an orderly manner. Usually without grand aspirations to match the creative triumph of the original films—whether on streaming or not, the serialized-exploitative nature of these major franchises is taken for granted—but behold, 2024 has already given us two big surprises. A few months ago, it was The First Omen. Now it’s Alien: Romulus.
