The Alien franchise, a cinematic marvel that has enthralled audiences for decades, has seen its fair share of highs and lows. While Ridley Scott’s original 1979 masterpiece set the gold standard for sci-fi horror, subsequent entries have been a mixed bag, to say the least. Now that Fede Alvarez’s new installment, Alien: Romulus, has begun to gain momentum, many fans, including myself, will be wondering: Is this the revival the series desperately needs?
Alvarez, known for his work on Don’t Breathe and the Evil Dead reboot, recently unveiled that he’s completed the director’s cut of the upcoming Alien film. However, the Uruguayan filmmaker was quite ready to give Scott a sneak peek at the film, as first reported by Variety.
Speaking to fellow filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro at the DGA Latino Summit 2023, Alvarez shared his apprehensions about showing the film to Scott, given the latter’s reputation for being brutally honest, especially when it comes to his own creations. But, to Alvarez’s relief and surprise, Scott’s feedback was nothing short of glowing.
He wanted to watch it on his own. Because it was Alien. It was very important to him. He didn’t want to have anybody in the room. That makes me even more terrified while I’m waiting. And then he walks into the room and he did say, ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s fucking great’. My family knows it was one of the best moments of my life to have a master like him, which I admired so much, to even watch a movie I made, but particularly something like this, and talk to me for an hour about what he liked about it.
While Scott’s endorsement is undoubtedly a promising sign, fans might want to temper their expectations. After all, the Alien franchise has been down this road before. While it wasn’t a full-on reboot, in 2012, Prometheus attempted to breathe new life into the Alien universe on the big screen.
This venture came on the heels of the less-than-stellar Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, a film whose abysmal lighting was far worse than Game of Thrones’ Season 8 episode, “The Long Night.” To make it worse, five years later, Ridley Scott followed this up with Alien: Covenant, whose plot made as much sense as roughneck oil drillers heading into space to blow up an asteroid.
So, while Ridley Scott might be lending his seal of approval to Alien: Romulus, you can understand my lack of immediate enthusiasm to snag a ticket to see it. As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me three times, well… that’s just not going to happen!”
Alien: Romulus is scheduled for release on August 16, 2024.
