Spoiler warning for Alien: Romulus.
Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny has revealed where on the Alien timeline upcoming movie Alien: Romulus takes place.
Spaeny told Variety that Romulus’ takes place between Alien and Aliens — that is, between the first and second movies in the sci-fi franchise.
“It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie,” Spaeny said. “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.”
Ridley Scott's 1979 horror classic Alien ends with Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in stasis as the sole survivor of the devastating alien attack on the Nostromo. James Cameron's 1986 action sci-fi masterpiece Aliens picks up the plot 57 years later, when Ripley is rescued from her shuttle.
Slotting Alien: Romulus between the two movies gives the scriptwriters plenty of wiggle room to create a new story that perhaps touches on familiar elements and even characters, without disturbing known events.
In March, 20th Century Studios announced the cast for Fede Alvarez's upcoming Alien movie and shared a brief synopsis of what fans of the franchise can expect.
The cast of Romulus, the ninth entry in the franchise, is led by the aforementioned Cailee Spaeny. Joining her is Industry's David Jonsson, Shadow and Bone's Archie Renaux, Rosaline's Isabela Merced, The Batman's Spike Fearn, and Away from Home's Aileen Wu.
As for the synopsis, it doesn't spoil too much, but it does hint that the adventure takes place in a far-off world and revolves around a younger group of people who are destined to cross paths with a terrifying threat.
"In this ninth entry in the immensely popular and enduring film series, a group of young people on a distant world find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe," the official synopsis reads.
Alvarez, who previously directed Evil Dead, The Girl in the Spider's Web, and Don't Breathe, also wrote the screenplay alongside his frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues. Ridley Scott, the director of the original Alien, serves as a producer with Michael Pruss. Brett O'Connor, Elizabeth Cantillon, and Tom Moran are executive producers.
This new Alien movie was announced back in 2022, when Ridley Scott shared that Alvarez, who is a series superfan, gave him a pitch for the film that stuck with him for many years.
The last Alien movie to be released was 2017's Alien: Covenant. In our review, we said it "strikes a more favorable balance between the unwieldy philosophical ideas of Prometheus and the classic horror and suspense of the 1979 original film." Alien: Romulus is set for release on August 16, 2024.
There’s more coming from the Aliens universe: there’s an Alien TV series from Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley and Ridley Scott in the works, too.
