Even though he didn’t direct “Alien 3” or “Alien: Resurrection,” the “Alien” franchise is arguably Ridley Scott‘s. After all, the 1979 original was a breakout hit for the director, and he revitalized the franchise last decade with “Prometheus” and “Alien: Convenant.” So it only makes sense that Fede Alvarez would want Scott’s blessing for his upcoming sequel, “Alien: Romulus.”
But did Alvarez get Scott’s endorsement for his movie? AVP Galaxy reports that Alvarez talked about sending an early director’s cut of “Alien: Romulus” for Scott to screen while on stage with Guillermo del Toro at the Directors Guild Of America Latino Summit. Alvarez knew how harsh a critic Scott could be, especially with his own films, but he needed to know if the director approved of his vision.
“I finished the director’s cut a week ago and had to go through the incredible tense process of obviously sending to Ridley,” Alvarez told del Toro. “I wanted him to see it before anybody. And everyone gave me the head’s up that Ridley is really tough. He’s really tough, particularly if it has something to do with his movies. He was really tough on “Blade Runner,” which I thought was a masterpiece, and he had issues with it because it’s really hard for him because it’s his work.”
But despite Scott’s reputation, Alvarez sent along his latest cut of the film anywayand insisted he meet him in person to discuss it. “So I was like ‘there’s no way I win this one,'” he continued. “Even if he didn’t ask for it, I was gonna go there and sit at a table and look at him and get it. Even if he was gonna say ‘you destroyed my legacy,’ I wanted to be in front of him and see him in the eye. I didn’t want to get an email where it says Ridley says…’. I was like, ‘I wanna see him, if you’ll see me, I want to talk to him right after.'”
So how did Scott receive “Alien: Romulus”? “I drove there,” Alvarez went on, “I see his executives, which couldn’t see it with him, because 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 f*cking great.’ For me it was like…ahhh…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.”
So Ridley Scott approves of Alvarez’s take on the “Alien” franchise, but what will audiences think? They’ll have to wait until August 16, 2024 to find out, when “Alien: Romulus” arrives in theaters. Alvarez’s sequel stars Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced as co-leads with David Jonsson, Archie Reneaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu also on board. A co-production between 20th Century Studios and Scott Free Productions, “Alien: Romulus” was initially supposed to be released on Hulu, but 20th Century Studios switched to a theatrical release this past June.
And along with Alvarez’s film, Noah Hawley also has his “Alien” prequel series on the way for FX on Hulu. That series takes place 70 years before the events of Scott’s 1979 film, but its connection to Alvarez’s film is undetermined right now. And given that production on Hawley’s show is halted due to the SAG-AFTRA guild strike, who knows when it’ll reach audiences? But with two “Alien” project on the way, the franchise that Scott built could see massive cultural resurgence soon.
