Alien (franchise)
Alien is an American science fiction horror and action media franchise created by screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, which began as the 1979 film Alien. The series primarily follows deadly encounters between humans and the extraterrestrial Xenomorphs in the future.
Released as seven films distributed by 20th Century Studios and produced by Brandywine Productions since 1979, the series has led to numerous novels, comics, and video games, and a 2025 television series created by Noah Hawley titled Alien: Earth. Sigourney Weaver starred as warrant officer Ellen Ripley in the first four films, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection. The other three films follow different characters, and include prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and Alien: Romulus, which are set between the first two films. The films were directed by Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Fede Álvarez. An eighth film is in preproduction as of 2025.
The film series has also inspired a number of spin-offs—most notably the Alien vs. Predator series, which combines the continuities of the Alien franchise with the Predator franchise and consists of two films as well as various series of comics, books, and video games.
Premise
The Alien franchise depicts a series of deadly encounters, predominantly spanning the 22nd and 24th centuries, between humanity and the Xenomorph; a hostile, endoparasitoid, extraterrestrial species. Humanity is depicted as a space-faring species with an interstellar dominion; space journeys typically last months, even years, and require the use of cryosleep. Throughout the series, characters are repeatedly manipulated and endangered by the unscrupulous megacorporation Weyland-Yutani Corp, which seeks to profit from the Xenomorph.The series fictionalizes the origin of the human race. A member of an ancient humanoid species called the Engineers sacrifices himself, allowing his DNA to spark the genesis of mankind. The Engineers' other experiments, designed to exterminate the human race through the means of a deadly mutagen, pave the way for the Xenomorphs to rise and populate through the traumatic implantation of larvae in hosts. Incidents across several generations are chronicled throughout the franchise.
Background
Writer Dan O'Bannon, wanting to write a science-fiction action film, collaborated with screenwriter Ronald Shusett on a script, initially titled Star Beast, but eventually changed to Alien. Brandywine Productions, a company which had a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, bought the script. The writers expected it to be a low-budget film, but the success of Star Wars inclined Fox to invest millions.In the original script, the ship had an all-male crew, though it noted that all roles could be played by men or women without major changes to the film. The Ripley character was initially to be played by Tom Skerritt, but when Fox president Alan Ladd Jr. and the producers at Brandywine heard rumors of Fox working on other titles with strong female leads, it was decided to cast a female as Ripley and Skerritt became Captain Dallas. Ridley Scott came on as director.
Swiss painter and sculptor H. R. Giger designed the alien creature's adult form and the derelict ship, while French artist Mœbius created the look of the spacesuits and Ron Cobb provided most of the industrial design for the sets.
While Alien was a critical and financial success upon its 1979 release, Fox did not consider a sequel until 1983. That year, James Cameron expressed his interest to producer David Giler in continuing the Alien story. After Cameron's The Terminator became a box office hit in 1984, Cameron and partner Gale Anne Hurd were given approval to direct and produce the sequel to Alien, scheduled for a 1986 release. Cameron wrote the screenplay for Aliens from a story he developed with Giler and Walter Hill.
Following the second film, Weaver was not interested in returning to the series, so Giler and Hill commissioned a sequel without the Ripley character. Fox's president Joe Roth opposed Ripley's removal, and Weaver was offered a $5 million salary and a producer credit to make Alien 3. Giler, Hill and Larry Ferguson wrote the screenplay, based on a story from an earlier script by Vincent Ward, intended to bring closure to the Alien franchise by killing off Ripley, the principal character. Alien 3 faced a mired production, with extensive script difficulties, trouble securing a director, production beginning prior to the completion of a final script, as well as profuse studio interference.
While fans and critics initially did not receive Alien 3 well, and director David Fincher disowned it, the film was a worldwide success and piqued Fox's interest in continuing the franchise. The Assembly Cut, which restored many of the scenes cut from the theatrical version, would later receive more positive reviews, with the film considered a cult classic in some quarters.
In 1996, production on the fourth Alien film, Alien Resurrection, began. Ripley was not in the script's first draft, and Weaver was not interested in reprising the role. She joined the project after being offered an $11 million salary and more creative control, including director approval. The script, set 200 years after Alien 3, resurrected the Ripley character via human cloning. The film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, experienced an extended production, and screenwriter Joss Whedon later said that he thought it had done "everything wrong" with his script. The film was released in 1997 to mixed reviews and modest box office returns. It has since gained fans for its camp style and dark humor.
Development of a prequel story began in the early 2000s when both Ridley Scott and James Cameron started to develop ideas for a story that would explore the origins of the Alien. In 2002, the development of Alien vs. Predator had taken precedence and the prequel project remained dormant until 2009. Jon Spaihts wrote the first screenplay for the project, but Scott then opted for a different direction and hired Damon Lindelof in 2010, to rewrite the script into a story that focused on the creators of the Aliens, rather than the Aliens themselves. The film, titled Prometheus, was released in 2012 to box office success grossing over $400 million worldwide, and received generally positive reviews.
By 2014, development on the second prequel was underway, with Scott returning as director. The film's screenplay was initially written by Jack Paglen in 2013, but was subsequently rewritten by Michael Green and Dante Harper, before Scott's collaborator from Gladiator, John Logan, wrote the final version. The film, titled Alien: Covenant, commenced production in February 2016 and was released on May 19, 2017. Alien: Covenant was a box office disappointment, grossing $240 million worldwide against a production budget of $97–111 million, while also receiving lukewarm critical reviews.
In March 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Hulu would release a new Alien film, initially reported as a standalone entry in the franchise, to be directed by Fede Álvarez and produced by Ridley Scott. Álvarez had pitched the idea to Scott years prior. It was later clarified that the film was set between Alien and Aliens. Cailee Spaeny was announced to be in talks for the lead role from November of that year. Production on the film Alien: Romulus began in March 2023. It was released in theaters on August 16, 2024. It received positive reviews from critics, and was a box office success having grossed $350 million on a production budget of $80 million.
In October 2024, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell said, "We're working on a sequel idea now. We haven't quite closed our deal with Fede , but we are going to, and he has an idea that we're working on." By February 2025, Álvarez confirmed that he is currently writing the script for a sequel stating that it would be the next project on which he begins production, and principal photography tentatively scheduled for later that year. In June, Álvarez stated that pre-production for the sequel was underway, with filming slated to begin in October. In September, Álvarez confirmed he and co-writer Rodo Sayagues have completed a script but will not be returning as director for the sequel, opting instead to be a producer alongside Ridley Scott.