Alien: Romulus – 2024 American Science Fiction Horror Film

Alien: Romulus is an science fiction horror film and 7th installment in Alien franchise, a standalone interquel set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). Directed by Fede Álvarez, it stars Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced

Alien: Romulus : Movie Name
Directed by: Fede Álvarez
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Running Time: 119 Minutes
Release Date: 23 August, 2024
Rating:
Production Companies: Scott Free Productions, Brandywine Productions
Budget: $80 million

Set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), the story concerns a group of young space colonists who, while scavenging a derelict space station, come face to face with the most terrifying life form in their universe.

Alien: Romulus – Overview

Alien: Romulus is an upcoming American science fiction horror film. It is the seventh installment in the Alien franchise and is set between the events of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). Directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote it with Rodo Sayagues, the film was produced by Scott Free Productions and Brandywine Productions. It stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.

The film is scheduled to be theatrically released by 20th Century Studios on August 16, 2024.

After the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company, it was officially confirmed at the 2019 CinemaCon that future Alien films are in development. In March 2022, it was announced that Fede Álvarez would be writing and directing the film after pitching his own story, and was said to be “unconnected” to the previous films in the franchise, with the project set to be released on Hulu in the United States. By November, Cailee Spaeny had entered negotiations to star. In March 2023, Isabela Merced was cast in an undisclosed role, set to co-star opposite Spaeny. Later that month, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu joined the cast in undisclosed roles. In November 2023, it was announced that the film would take place between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), with some technical crew members returning from the latter film.

Principal photography took place in Budapest from March 9 to July 3, 2023.

The film’s score was composed by Benjamin Wallfisch.

Alien: Romulus was originally scheduled to be released on Hulu, but was switched to a theatrical release shortly before filming commenced. It is scheduled to be released by 20th Century Studios on August 16, 2024.

Movie Trailer:

#FinalTrailer

Movie Review:

Nothing Alien here, just re-vitalising the franchise with familiar template

There have been nine editions in the ‘Alien’ franchise, and the story has nowhere to go except to mirror and reference past events with newer younger actors. The template remains the same, with a few diversions here and there. ‘Romulus’ stays faithful to the ‘Alien’ franchise’s gold standard. But the Xenomorph creature has been stripped of all mystery. It does much the same as it has done before. It sees humans only as food and ideal hosts for egg incubation.

The setting is simple, the premise involves escape only to find themselves in greater peril. They are orphans all — Navarro (Aileen Wu), Tyler (Archie Renaux), Tyler’s sister Kay (Isabella Merced), cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn), Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson), whom Rain considers as a brother even though he is an outdated version of a “synthetic person” and defective to boot. They are the ones hoping to migrate to a better future because their ringed planet has been overtaken by corporate marauders, who have bought an unending cycle of disease and death to the inhabitants.

This sequel is a return to an old-fashioned simpler ‘Alien’ schema as compared to Ridley Scott’s two prequels: ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Covenant’. The young hopefuls become aware that a decommissioned WY ship with functioning cryopods is floating in space, not far off. They plan their escape from Jackson’s Star. Once onboard, they realise the pods don’t have enough juice for all of them to survive the long journey, so they scramble on to a conveniently decommissioned space station, divided into halves, named Romulus and Remus. And that’s when the action begins.

Everything happens a little too easily for the group, to be wholly convincing. They don’t have permission to leave, so their take-off from their oppressive colony without any restrictions from their oppressors is a bit baffling. Every clanking industrial noise, movement, turbulence and rocky tethering is amplified enough to keep the audience distracted. But there’s a sense of urgency developing around frequent computer-generated warnings that the station is expected to crash into the ring-system surrounding the planet in several hours.

Romulus, as per Alvarez’s vision, has rusted exteriors and primitive computer interfaces. So, you are clearly evidencing ancient ‘Alien’ cinema history being rehashed. The characters are broadly sketched and have little backstory and the nihilistic action comes to the fore before you even get familiar with any of them. The derelict station was obviously abandoned years before and only a half-ruined corpse of Rook (the late Ian Holm) has a clue of what happened. But then, he still has a memory with a corporate agenda to fulfil.