A new promo for Alien: Romulus has arrived online, and director Fede Alvarez has compared a chestburster scene to a nature doc
Director Fede Álvarez’s contribution to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, is set to reach theatres on August 16th – and movie-goers will have the chance to eat popcorn out of a very cool popcorn bucket when they go to see it at Cinemark theatres. With the release date one month away, a new promo for the film dropped onto social media, and Álvarez has given a quote where he compares the film’s chestburster scene to a nature documentary. You can see the promo and read the quote further down in this article.
When this project was announced near the start of 2022, it was said that Álvarez pitched the idea to Ridley Scott years ago and it stuck with Scott. So in late 2021, he called Álvarez and asked if he still wanted to make an Alien movie. Clearly, the answer was yes. 20th Century Studios division president Steve Asbell told The Hollywood Reporter that they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch. It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.“
It has also been said that the story Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues crafted for Alien: Romulus is not connected to the other films in the Alien franchise – but it’s not ignoring any of the other entries, either. Álvarez has been clear about the fact that his story takes place within the established franchise continuity. In fact, it slots right in between the events of Alien and Aliens. It has the following official logline: The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Industry), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). Merced has previously said there’s a scene in the film that’s so disgusting that a lot of viewers will have to look away. Graphic and gruesome is what we expected from this movie as soon as it was announced that it was being made by the director of Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe. It has received an R rating for bloody violent content and language.
Speaking with Total Film, Álvarez said there’s a chestburster scene that required nine puppeteers to properly bring the creature’s movements to the screen. He added, “It is done almost like a nature documentary. While we were seeing it on set we were joking, [like] ‘The creature is coming out slow. It’s looking for the scent of the mother…’ The creature’s not trying to be scary. The creature is trying to get the fuck out of that cocoon, that happens to be a person. It’s almost like this is more realistic in a way, but without betraying all the beautiful things of the original designs.“
This new Alien movie is coming to us from Momentum and 20th Century Studios, with Ridley Scott producing through his Scott Free banner.
Are you looking forward to Alien: Romulus? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at this promo: