It’s official: Noah Hawley‘s “Alien” TV series at FX is in post-production, and THR reports that show has a new subtitle. “We are wrapped — just wrapped,” Hawley confirmed to the outlet earlier this week. “I’m in post, editing away, and obviously there’s a large visual effects component that takes time. But I couldn’t be happier with the show we shot.” And as for the series’ full title. It’s “Alien: Earth;” not exactly catchy, but it’s a better name than, says, “Alien: Covenant.”
READ MORE: ‘Alien’: Noah Hawley Teases More Seasons Of His FX Prequel Series
And the title makes sense, too, considering Hawley’s show will be the first project in the “Alien” franchise set on Earth (yeah, “Alien: Resurrection” fans, Earth gets glimpsed at the tail-end of that sequel, but that’s it). Set in the late-21st century before the events of Ridley Scott‘s 1979 original film, “Alien: Earth” will follow the rise of corporate entity Weyland-Yultani. Hawley described the show earlier this year as humanity “trapped between its primordial parasitic past and its AI future, and they’re both trying to kill us,” and confirmed his show won’t be directly related to Scott’s “Prometheus” or its 2017 sequel. But it’s safe to expect the show will have plenty of secret corporate plans, parasitic lifeforms, and androids with slippery ethics: the “Alien” franchise basics.
Hawley couldn’t help but tease how he think “Alien: Earth” will do once it premieres next year. “If people wanted a television series based on the world of “Alien,” I think I’m gonna give them something special,” he said of his new show. Hawley has already established himself at FX as a TV juggernaut, with his “Fargo” spinoff series notching over a dozen Emmy nods over its seasons. But “Alien: Earth” has had a more arduous gestation process since FX chief John Landgraf first announced it back in December 2020. After a couple of years of development, the 2023 guild strikes forced Hawley to shut down the show’s set in Thailand last May. Hawley shot with UK actors not affiliated with SAG for a time, but production didn’t resume in full until the unions agreed to new contracts. Since then, shooting “Alien: Earth” was smooth sailing.
Still, it’ll be about half a decade from the announcement of “Alien: Earth” and its television premiere; a long time to work on one project. “It’s crazy to think that it took three to five years to make the first season of “Alien,”” opined Hawley. “I think that I set myself a high bar dramatically, to turn what is one of the great horror and action franchises in cinema into something that takes more time with character and theme and does more than just create a horror story about trying to escape from death. And I’m very happy with how it turned out and the performances that that the actors gave and the work of all artisans. I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Stay tuned for an official premiere date for “Alien: Earth” on FX in 2025. The series stars Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, David Rysdahl, Babou Ceesay, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diêm Camille, Adrian Edmondson, and more.