Alien: Romulus Director Addresses a Potential Sequel

Alien: Romulus Director Addresses a Potential Sequel

As a lifelong fan of the Alien franchise, I can confidently say that Alien: Romulus has breathed new life into this iconic series. With its gripping storyline and stunning visual effects, it’s clear that director Fede Alvarez is a true master of horror and science fiction.


The Alien series continues to thrive, with Alien: Romulus contributing significantly by earning a substantial amount during its first weekend at the box office. This indicates that fans remain as passionate about the series as they were when it debuted in 1979. Though the franchise has diversified into comic books and video games, Alien: Romulus is the ninth live-action film in the series, which also includes films that intertwined with the Predator series. Given the series’ tendency to traverse through time, the director of Alien: Romulus, Fede ?lvarez, has already begun contemplating potential themes for a sequel. Meanwhile, James Cameron’s Aliens serves as the next chronological chapter in the series. Currently, Alien: Romulus is playing in cinemas.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Alien: Romulus

The movie tells the story of Cailee Spaeny’s character, Rain, and David Jonsson’s character, Andy, trying to escape their existence on a mining station. Their journey leads them to the Romulus/Remus space station, but they and their team are ambushed by terrifying creatures. Miraculously, only Rain and Andy survive this encounter. The movie ends with them traveling towards planet Yvaga, leaving viewers wondering if they reach it safely and what kind of life awaits them there.

When The Hollywood Reporter inquired if he could conceptualize a follow-up, Alvarez affirmed, “Absolutely, I certainly can. We unconsciously delve into such ideas without planning for sequels. In our perspective, films aren’t just franchises, tentpoles, or sequels; they are narratives that evolve naturally over time. This is a concept I have only grasped in the last decade of my career here. For me, it has always been about storytelling. As soon as we completed our work, we began to ponder, ‘What might transpire when or if they reach Yvaga? Could it be wonderful or dreadful?’ We tend to envision it as a potentially horrific place that they imagine to be fantastic, and thus we organically started considering where the story could go and what would happen next. It was only a few minutes later that we realized, ‘This sounds like a sequel.'”

In the first Alien film, Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley believed she would be rescued from her cryochamber, but it wasn’t until almost a century later that she was found in Aliens. Similarly, Aliens ended with everyone in cryosleep not making it to their destination. This leaves room for many events to unfold between the two films.

Instead of constantly producing sequels every decade like some franchises do, Alvarez stressed the importance of not hurrying with a new Romulus film.

The director explained that they prefer to approach their work as if it’s a story with potential for more chapters, and gauge the audience’s interest before moving forward. They believe in waiting some time after a project is complete to see if there’s demand for a sequel. Citing examples like Alien and Aliens, which had a gap of seven years between them, they shared that they have ideas about where the story could continue.

Alien: Romulus is in theaters now.

Fancy discussing the possibility of a Romulus sequel? Reach out to Patrick Cavanaugh either on Twitter or Instagram for Star Wars and horror chats!

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2024-08-21 01:40