Alien: Romulus

Alien has never followed the standard franchise playbook. Instead of adhering to the trend of the time and swiftly putting together a sequel (e.g. Halloween II, Superman II, Exorcist II), 20th Century Fox waited seven years to issue a successor to Ridley Scott’s 1979 science fiction landmark. Even then, James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), an even bigger hit than its predecessor, was fundamentally different, more of an action film than a horror one. The next two sequels also took their time, but with less payoff; today, 1992’s Alien³ and 1997’s Alien Resurrection are best enjoyed by completists, not only of the series but of the esteemed directors (David Fincher and France’s Jean-Pierre Jeunet) on whose resumes they remain out of place.

The Alien saga seemed done by the time Fox coined the word Quadrilogy and released the four Sigourney Weaver space flicks in a 9-disc DVD box set in 2003. But the following year brought Alien vs. Predator, an unlikely crossover from Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) popular enough to inspire the 2007 sequel Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. Those films now feel like a pair of one-offs, something that fans of the dangerous universe conceived by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett barely discuss and rarely defend. And yet, the line didn’t end there.

In 2012, Scott, who had not been involved with the series in any form since directing the first, returned to the well as director and producer of Prometheus, a stealth project that hid its ties to the Alien universe as long as it could. A hit film whose reputation has settled in between the beloved first two movies and everything else, Prometheus gave way to 2017’s Scott-directed/produced Alien: Covenant, which drew a more muted reaction both critically and commercially.

When Disney bought Fox in 2017, the expectation was for enduring 20th Century franchises to join the roster of brands with which Disney was then dominating the world of entertainment. While COVID and superhero fatigue have challenged that dominance, this year has returned Disney to the industry’s top spot with the same mindset (all tentpoles, all the time) and the same CEO. The public may grumble about modern Disney’s lack of originality and minimal risk-taking, but only two films this year have grossed a half-billion domestically and a billion domestically: Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

According to official box office records, those two blockbuster sequels hail from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Alien: Romulus technically hails from 20th Century Studios, a division that this year has only given theaters Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a well-made and respectably-performing start to the summer movie season that defies easy classification. Now at the end of the summer movie season, Romulus resembles that film in that it too blurs the line between sequel and standalone entry.

Though technically the ninth Alien movie of all time, this one from Uruguay’s Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe, 2013’s Evil Dead) does not easily align with any of the three branches of the Alien family tree. Clearly, it is set in the same universe, a future where space has been mined and colonized for profit. Chronologically, it takes place in between the two installments considered the peaks of the franchise: the original Alien and Aliens. Narratively, it most directly ties into the former, with one original cast member posthumously reprising their role via the magic of CGI.

Our primary focus is on a group of rough young space colonists. The orphaned Rain (Cailee Spaeny of Priscilla and Civil War) has put in her time working for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and is supposed to be cleared to move on with her life. Unfortunately, her DMV-like appointment sees the company moving the goalposts and prescribing her another several years of hard labor. Bummed by that unexpected development, she reluctantly agrees to join some acquaintances on a potentially fruitful scavenging expedition to a derelict space station you’ll recognize as the Nostromo.

Joining Rain on this mission are Rain’s “brother”, the pun-loving android Andy (David Jonsson), plot mastermind Tyler (Archie Renaux), his secretly pregnant sister Kay (Isabela Merced), the unpredictable android-hating Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and the pilot Navarro (Aileen Wu).

The screenplay, which Álvarez wrote with his Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead co-writer Rodo Sayagues, deserves credit for devising a way for us to return to the original movie’s setting without simply recreating its beats. Beyond that premise, it does not do a great job of imbuing its story and characters with appeal and depth. These are not characters that will inspire cosplays and trading cards decades from now. Rain and Andy are one-note leads and the others don’t even get the one note.

With that said, many horror films are able to overcome thin characters with compelling conflict and texture. Taking its cues largely from the two most esteemed entries in the franchise, Romulus keeps us invested with rich suspense, gripping spectacle, and the incomparable production design that comes with the territory. Álvarez’s love for both Alien and Aliens is apparent and he approaches this addition with reverence, awe, and some explicit callbacks. That is certainly endearing for fans, but not endearing enough to elevate this to the lofty ranks of the franchise’s better installments.

Viewed in a large, comfortable IMAX theater devoid of the general public, Alien: Romulus made for one of the most comfortable and cinematic advance screenings I can remember. I only wish the movie was as easy to appreciate narratively as it is technically. The vast sets and nimble camerawork recall the purity of the original film that somehow turned 45 this year. The visual effects are, expectedly, a good deal more involved than they were in Scott’s economical $11 million production. They are mostly tasteful, although a climactic twist will certainly raise eyebrows, questions, and concerns. The same three things will be raised by the significant use of technology to resurrect Ian Holm, reopening the debates on VFX ethics that movies like Rogue One and Ghostbusters: Afterlife prompted. That approach provides the sturdiest link between this 2024 film and the original Alien, undoubtedly generating dramatic value along with some viewer unease.

With the exception of Prometheus, whose big budget requires a deep dive to quantify its success, the Alien saga has not been a huge lucrative draw since Cameron’s Aliens nearly forty years ago. Will Romulus recreate the commercial success of the installments it most directly channels? Coming this late in summer, with high school and college students about to return to school, suggests there is not a ton of opportunity for this to do repeat business. But a big opening weekend alone could set this on the right track, with a surprising reported production budget of just $80 million before marketing costs. Even ignoring inflation, that’s significantly less than Scott’s last two prequels cost.

It’s worth noting that when it was first announced in early 2022, Romulus was on track to go straight to Hulu, much like how the Predator prequel Prey did that same year. For a film with such visual allure and grandiosity, it’s hard to understand how that was ever the plan (other than to fulfill 20th Century Studios’ commitment to providing more than 10 movies a year for the streaming service). But perhaps it means that this theatrical release will be treated like found money for Disney, which seems to require little convincing to continue exploring respected worlds with built-in brand recognition.