‘Alien’ Gets Back to Its Horror Roots in ‘Romulus’ Teaser

The Alien saga returns to its extraterrestrial roots with the franchise’s upcoming Alien: Romulus, a standalone installment hitting movie theaters this August.

The latest chapter takes place between the events of the franchise’s first two installments — 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens — and judging by the teaser released Wednesday, writer/director Fede Alvarez brings Romulus back to the more horror-influenced, marooned-in-space vibe of those early Alien movies, with face-hugging xenomorphs aplenty in the brief minute-long preview.

Alien: Romulus stars Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny along with The Last of Us’ Isabela Merced, Industry’s David Jonsson, Aftersun’s Spike Fearn, and Shadow and Bone’s Archie Renaux as “a group of young space colonizers” who “come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe while scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station,” the film’s synopsis states. 

Executive produced by original Alien director Ridley Scott, Alien: Romulus, out Aug. 16, marks the franchise’s first film since 2017’s Covenant, which served as the sequel to 2012’s Prometheus; both of those films, directed by Scott, were prequels to the original Alien.

After 45 years of invading multiplexes, the franchise will also take over the small screen next year with the arrival of Noah Hawley’s long-in-the-works television Alien series.

The Alien saga returns to its extraterrestrial roots with the franchise’s upcoming Alien: Romulus, a standalone installment hitting movie theaters this August.

The latest chapter takes place between the events of the franchise’s first two installments — 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens — and judging by the teaser released Wednesday, writer/director Fede Alvarez brings Romulus back to the more horror-influenced, marooned-in-space vibe of those early Alien movies, with face-hugging xenomorphs aplenty in the brief minute-long preview.

Alien: Romulus stars Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny along with The Last of Us’ Isabela Merced, Industry’s David Jonsson, Aftersun’s Spike Fearn, and Shadow and Bone’s Archie Renaux as “a group of young space colonizers” who “come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe while scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station,” the film’s synopsis states. 

Executive produced by original Alien director Ridley Scott, Alien: Romulus, out Aug. 16, marks the franchise’s first film since 2017’s Covenant, which served as the sequel to 2012’s Prometheus; both of those films, directed by Scott, were prequels to the original Alien.

After 45 years of invading multiplexes, the franchise will also take over the small screen next year with the arrival of Noah Hawley’s long-in-the-works television Alien series.