Alien Romulus: Everything we know so far

It's been far too long since a proper Alien movie had a wide release. The last one, Alien: Covenant, from 2017, was Ridley Scott's sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus. While a Xenomorph may have made a brief cameo in Alien Covenant, both of Scott's last films really had very little to do with the original film, Ripley, or Xenomorphs in general. Instead, both films were more interested in tackling philosophy and to some extent, ancient alien theories. While both features are fine in their own right, Alien: Romulus appears to take the franchise back to the basics. As the August release date inches closer, here's everything that we know so far.

Who's directing and starring in Alien: Romulus?

Horror fans should be happy to know that Fede Alvarez was tapped to direct the latest installment in the Alien franchise. His resume includes the impressive and super bloody Evil Dead remake from 2013, Don't Breathe, and the more recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot on Netflix. While I wasn't the biggest fan of Netflix's TCM revamp, Alvarez's other films prove his horror chops.

We also know that Cailee Spaeny will star as Rain Carradine, likely the film's final girl, though not much else about her character is known at this time. Spaeny is an interesting choice. Her career started in music, though she's no stranger to sci-fi. Her first major role was 2018's Pacific Rim: Uprising. We also know that Isabela Merced will star as a character named Kay. Merced has acted in Transformers: The Last Knight and more recently, she had the lead role in Dora and the Lost City of Gold. The rest of the cast includes Archie Renaux, David Jonsson, Aileen Wu, and Spike Fearn, so it's primarily a young, up-and-coming cast, with no familiar faces from previous installments listed on IMDB.

Though Scott didn't direct or pen the script, he did sign on as producer, so this project certainly has his blessing. It's also been confirmed that another major player in the Alien franchise, James Cameron, who directed Aliens, has already seen the film and loved it. This is according to a recent interview that Alvarez gave to The Hollywood Reporter.

Alvarez said in that interview, "James Cameron is also someone I’ve met through the years, and when he learned that I was doing it, we started chatting about it. So I also had that conversation with him at the script level. He’s now seen the movie and loved it." Another positive sign is 20th Century's decision to release this in theaters instead of their initial plans for a direct to Hulu release.

What's the plot of Alien: Romulus?

While we don't quite know everything about the story of Alien: Romulus yet, we do have some key details. In that same Hollywood Reporter interview, Alvarez made clear that this film takes place between Alien and Aliens. The story focuses on a group of twenty-something space colonizers who meet a Xenomorph inside of an old space station. Likely, the Xenomorph will make short work out of most of the crew, so expect lots of intense scenes and a decent body count.

We also know that Alvarez found inspiration from a deleted scene in Cameron's Aliens, which was later included in a restored, extended Special Edition cut. “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?,'" he told The Hollywood Reporter, before adding that the specific scene made him want to follow that group of kids once they reach their early twenties.

What do we know based on the Alien: Romulus teaser?

So far, 20th Century has only released a teaser trailer, which is available to watch below. The beginning of it mirrors the opening to Alien, in that the POV is unclear, but we see someone or something, perhaps a Xenomorph, moving about the ship. We then hear a cacophony of voices pleading for help. This opening bit of dialogue is followed by a blood-curdling scream and an image of a bloody hibernation pod.

The rest of the trailer is pretty high-octane, with several face huggers chasing the crew, explosions, and all kinds of gnarly action. It ends with a shot of Spaeny holding a very Ripley-like weapon. We can venture to guess that she's about to go toe to toe with a Xenomorph or two. Though the teaser is only slightly more than a minute long, it certainly has us amped for the film. We also hope that Alvarez, like directors who navigated various Alien films prior, will put his own unique spin on this instead of rehashing the first two films. We're cautiously optimistic that will be the case based on his strong track record.

Alien: Romulus hits theaters on Aug. 16, 2024.

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