Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus is a 2024 science fiction horror film directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues. It is the seventh installment in the Alien film series, set between the events of Alien and Aliens. The film stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu as six downtrodden young space colonists who encounter hostile creatures while scavenging a derelict space station in which they plan to navigate to another planet.
At CinemaCon in April 2019, 20th Century Studios announced plans to produce future Alien films. Álvarez was attached as director in March 2022, and Spaeny joined as the lead later that year. Filming took place from March to July 2023.
Alien: Romulus premiered in Los Angeles on August 12, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by 20th Century Studios on August 16. The film grossed $350.9 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics. It received several industry nominations, namely for its technical aspects, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. A sequel is in development.
Plot
In 2142, a Weyland-Yutani probe recovers a large cocoon from the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo. Months later, at the run-down Jackson's Star mining colony on the perpetually dark planet LV-410, orphaned colonist Rain Carradine discovers that Weyland-Yutani has forcibly extended her work contract. Determined to escape, she teams up with her adopted brother Andy, her ex-boyfriend Tyler, his pregnant sister Kay, their cousin Bjorn, and Bjorn's adopted sister Navarro. The group commandeers the hauler Corbelan IV to reach Renaissance, a seemingly abandoned Weyland-Yutani station split into the modules Romulus and Remus, intending to steal cryostasis equipment to survive the nine-year journey to Yvaga III, an apparently idyllic planet unaffiliated with Weyland-Yutani.Bjorn taunts Andy with the fact that Yvaga III does not allow androids, meaning he will have to remain behind, leaving Rain guilt-ridden. Tyler and Bjorn attempt to retrieve cryostasis fuel but unintentionally trigger a lockdown and release dozens of facehugger parasites. In desperation, Rain upgrades Andy's security access with a control chip from the station's damaged science officer android, Rook. However, this reprogramming shifts Andy's loyalty from Rain to Weyland-Yutani. Andy leads the group to safety, but not before a facehugger impregnates Navarro.
Rain reactivates Rook, who reveals that the cocoon contained the xenomorph that killed most of the Nostromo crew. Renaissance scientists experimented on the alien, reverse bioengineering the facehuggers. However, the xenomorph escaped and massacred most of the crew; those remaining died when the xenomorph was killed, as its acidic blood melted through Remus hull, causing explosive decompression.
Bjorn attempts to flee with Navarro and Kay on the Corbelan, but an infant xenomorph bursts from Navarro's chest, killing her and causing the ship to crash into Romulus hangar, accelerating the station's collision course with LV-410's planetary rings. As the infant rapidly matures, Bjorn wounds it with a stun baton and is killed by its acid blood. Kay escapes into Romulus, pursued by the creature. Rain and Tyler attempt to rescue her, but Andy, suspecting the xenomorph is using her as bait, refuses to open the door between them. Helpless, they watch as it abducts Kay.
Rook instructs Andy to retrieve Z-01, a potent fluid harvested from the facehuggers that can rapidly rewrite and adapt DNA. Weyland-Yutani plans to use it to create genetically perfect humans capable of thriving in space. He orders that it be taken to Jackson's Star, or he will not release the Corbelan. Rain and Tyler arm themselves with rifles, but Andy warns them against injuring the xenomorph to avoid another explosive decompression.
The group discovers a xenomorph nest, where they rescue a badly injured Kay. Andy gives her a vial of Z-01 to heal, which she keeps. Hordes of facehuggers and xenomorphs attack them, and Tyler sacrifices himself to protect Rain and Kay while Andy is incapacitated. Rain drags Kay to safety and returns to rescue Andy, restoring his original programming. With xenomorphs and facehuggers surrounding them, Rain disables the station's gravity, allowing her to shoot them without their blood touching the hull. As the gravity reactivates, Rain is confronted by the Navarro xenomorph, but Andy intervenes and kills it. Rain and Andy escape aboard the Corbelan as Renaissance is destroyed by LV-410's rings.
Rain prepares Andy for the trip to Yvaga III, insisting they will remain together despite the planet's rules against androids. Kay—having injected herself with the Z-01—gives birth to a human–xenomorph hybrid mutated by the substance. The hybrid kills Kay and disables Andy before Rain ejects it into LV-410's rings, disintegrating it. After setting course for Yvaga III, Rain and Andy enter cryostasis.
Cast
- Cailee Spaeny as Marie Raines "Rain" Carradine, an orphaned miner
- David Jonsson as Andy, an android reprogrammed by Rain's late father as her surrogate brother
- Archie Renaux as Tyler Harrison, Rain's ex-boyfriend
- Isabela Merced as Kay Harrison, Tyler's younger sister who is pregnant
- Spike Fearn as Bjorn, Tyler and Kay's cousin who lost his mother to an android
- Aileen Wu as Navarro, a pilot and Bjorn's adopted sister
Trevor Newlin portrays the xenomorph, while the human–xenomorph hybrid is portrayed by Romanian former basketball player Robert Bobroczkyi. To portray the Offspring, Bobroczkyi wore full body prosthetic makeup created by Legacy Effects, with the exception of the creature's tail which was CGI.
Production
Development
After the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Fox confirmed at the 2019 CinemaCon that future Alien films were in development. In March 2022, it was reported that Fede Álvarez would write and direct a seventh Alien film after pitching his own story, said to be "unconnected" to the previous films in the franchise, with the project set to be released on Hulu. Álvarez later clarified that the film was not a standalone story. The film was said to take place between the events of Alien and Aliens, with some technical crew members returning from the latter film.Álvarez stuck as close as possible to the established canon of the film series and used the fan wiki Xenopedia as a reference point while writing the story. The film features connections and references to all of the six prior Alien films—Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant —in some capacity, as well as the novel Alien: The Cold Forge by Alex White. In particular, the film ties directly to Alien and Prometheus, with Weyland-Yutani recovering the xenomorph that attacked Ellen Ripley in Alien from the USCSS Nostromo, an android named Rook who physically resembles Ash from the first film, and the "black goo" from Prometheus that gives birth to a human–xenomorph hybrid resembling an Engineer from Prometheus and the creature from the ending of Resurrection, and to The Cold Forge in Rook seeking to harvest the Plagiarus Praepotens from that novel to develop human immortality. Rook appears via an animatronic with the likeness of the late Ian Holm, who previously portrayed Ash. Álvarez confirmed the connections to Prometheus and stated that the hybrid's resemblance to the Engineers was intentional; this was done to bridge the gap between the prequels and the original films. The film also draws inspiration from the video game Alien: Isolation. This involved integrating the emergency phone registration points from the game into the film's set design. These phones, which functioned as save points in the game, served as easter eggs that would foreshadow impending danger for the audience. The pregnancy of character Kay was inspired by Dina from The Last of Us Part II, who ironically would later be portrayed by the same actress, due to Álvarez playing the game while writing the film. The story centers on three pairs of siblings, whether blood relatives or found family.
Casting
By November 2022, Cailee Spaeny had entered negotiations to star. In March 2023, Isabela Merced was set to co-star opposite Spaeny. Later that month, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu joined the cast. Renaux also auditioned for Jonsson's role and was secretly cast in December 2022; while Fearn was cast in February 2023 after two quick self tapes. Fearn initially tried to do an American accent but the director asked him to keep his own British accent.Filming
took place in Budapest from March 9 to July 3, 2023, utilizing unique locations including a working power plant for the Jackson's Star mining colony. Production designer Naaman Marshall aimed to reinterpret the Alien world while honoring the franchise's legacy, particularly the first two films in the series. As such, the Romulus section of the Renaissance space station was designed to be reminiscent of the set design seen in the film Alien and the video game Alien: Isolation, influenced by the original Alien concept art by Ron Cobb, as well as industrial heavy-lift machinery and vehicles. Meanwhile, the more advanced Remus section was designed to be reminiscent of the production design depicted in the film Aliens. Sets were built as enclosed spaces, with the cockpit of the Corbelan IV hauler built on a gimbal to simulate flight.The film was filmed chronologically and emphasized practical effects, using physical sets and creature designs to enhance realism. This approach focused on creating a tangible, immersive experience, contrasting with the heavier reliance on CGI in modern productions. To that end, effects companies Legacy Effects, Studio Gillis, and Wētā Workshop created the film's practical adult Xenomorphs, chestbursters and facehuggers, respectively, and the production would alternate between using animatronics, rod puppets or creature suits depending on the amount of movement required for the shot. The Xenomorph was made to more closely resemble H. R. Giger's original Alien design from the first film, rather than designs from the sequels. However the Xenomorphs' design was altered to feature serrated skin resembling that of a shark, to give the impression that someone could be cut just by touching it. Filmefex Studios created the prosthetic makeup for the actors as well as the film's dead bodies, while a sequence showing time lapse security footage of a rat being crushed and regenerated was stop motion animation created by Phil Tippett. One notable design element is the pulse rifle, which merges features from the original Alien flamethrower and the Aliens pulse rifle. This hybrid design reflects the film's intent to blend elements from both films, creating something familiar yet new.
Cinematographer Galo Olivares shot the film using Arri Alexa 35 digital cameras with Arri Master Prime and Ultra Prime spherical lenses for a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio. This was chosen to be a visual balance between Alien, which was shot using anamorphic lenses in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and Aliens, which was filmed using spherical lenses for a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Olivares would begin filming scenes with wide angle lenses, and gradually switch to increasingly longer lenses as scenes became more intense, with a 75mm lens being the longest lens used. Álvarez selected an orange hue as the film's defining color, diverging from the blue tones of earlier "Alien" films. This choice aimed to give the film a distinct visual identity while maintaining a connection to the franchise's established aesthetic.
Álvarez consulted Alien director Ridley Scott and Aliens director James Cameron during the film's production, who both expressed approval.