Movie franchises are a lot like memories…they may fade away, but they’ll never die. The latest example of this adage is the current rebirth of the 44-year-old Alien movie franchise. Despite numerous attempts to reignite the franchise with Alien: Resurrection, the Alien vs. Predator films, Prometheus, and a Neil Blomkamp-directed sequel that was ultimately canceled, the franchise sputtered to a halt in 2017 with Alien: Covenant.
But now, six years later, the Alien franchise has come roaring back to life onscreen. Noah Hawley (Fargo) is working on an Alien series for FX, and the ninth Alien movie is on its way. Though the two productions exist in the same franchise, the plots of the series and the movie and series are unconnected…as of now, anyway. Meanwhile, here’s everything we know so far bout the ninth Alien movie.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on July 4.
What’s Been Going On With the Alien Movies So Far?
In outer space, no one can hear you scream. But movie audiences don’t seem to mind, as the Alien movie, written by Dan O’Bannon proved in 1979. Originally called Star Beast, the first treatment reworked O’Bannon’s original idea of gremlins attacking a B-17 Bomber during World War II. And the most crucial new element was the alien entity, the Xenomorph. O’Bannon had been working for Chilean cult director Alejandro Jodorowksy’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, along with surrealist Swiss artist H.R. Giger. Disturbed and fascinated by Giger’s macabre “biomechanical” drawings (especially his 1976 painting “Necronom IV”), O’Bannon envisioned an alien monster unlike anything ever seen onscreen before. Both O’Bannon and director Ridley Scott were also inspired which led to the creation of the Xenomorph’s nasty, but incredibly memorable, appearance. The final creation is a wedge-headed, metallic, bipedal creature with acid for blood, a scorpion tail, and a nasty habit of thrusting its eggs down an unsuspecting human’s mouth until they hatch and violently tear open their host’s stomach to escape. The classic maneuver was reportedly inspired by Francis Bacon’s 1944 painting “Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion,”
When the movie came out in 1979, fans were thrilled with the blend of creepy horror and hi-tech science fiction, and with Sigourney Weaver’s tough heroine Ellen Ripley, who becomes a grizzled survivor of multiple alien encounters. Originally intended to be the Xenomorph’s last victim, the movie’s ending was changed so that Ripley is the sole survivor (along with Jonesy the cat). The movie ends with Ripley blasting the Xenomorph out into space and blowing it up with the ship’s engine. The movie was also a huge influence on horror films with the scene where an alien bursts out of John Hurt’s chest. Aside from Hurt and Scott, the scene was a total surprise to the rest of the cast–and most movie audiences. The first Alien movie’s success made it a cultural touchstone, spawned the franchise, jump-started Sigourney Weaver’s acting career, and influenced innumerable movies, television shows, and video games. The Xenomorph, called the “perfect organism” by one hapless character, has appeared in a total of eight movies so far: three sequels, two crossover films with another human-hunting alien, The Predator, and two prequels. Revered directors James Cameron and David Fincher came on board to direct the sequels, and Weaver would appear in three more Alien films.
Who’s in the Cast of Alien 9?
Though you won’t see Sigourney Weaver’s iconic heroine Ripley in the latest Alien movie, Cailee Spaeny leads the cast as a similarly tough-skinned and feminist action hero. Spaeny is most known for her roles in the Emmy-winning HBO limited series Mare of Easttown, Alex Garland’s Devs, Drew Goddard’s neo-noir Bad Times at the El Royale, and Pacific Rim: Uprising, among others.
Also joining the cast is Spike Fearn (The Batman), David Jonsson (Rye Lane), Archie Reneaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (Rosaline), and relative newcomer Aileen Wu. No word on what the characters will be like, but Spaeny’s role is said to be similar to Weaver’s in the original Alien films.
Is There a Trailer for Alien 9?
As of April 2023, there’s no trailer for the film on the horizon.
Will Sigourney Weaver Appear in the New Alien Movie?
Weaver hasn’t specifically stated that she was done with the franchise–and her supposed death in Alien: Resurrection shouldn’t bar her from returning. After all, Jamie Lee Curtis continues to battle Mike Myers after seven Halloween movies. However, fans hoping that Ripley might appear in the movie will likely be disappointed, as Weaver has given no hints that she’s attached to the latest Alien project.
What’s the Plot of Alien 9?
Alien movies typically focus on scientists, soldiers, or corporate employees, often in outer space or on another planet, and their usually lethal encounters with one or more Xenomorphs. And fans who point out that the “trapped with killer aliens” trope is the same in all films aren’t wrong. The new movie is said to change the formula slightly by making its much-younger characters civilians rather than military, perhaps moving into Friday-the-13th teenage slasher flick territory. The action will also take place on a distant planet rather than on a spaceship or on Earth.
Like the most recent Predator movie Prey, the ninth Alien movie will be a standalone feature film with no connection to either the upcoming television series or any previous movies.
And though there’s still no word whether the franchise’s other antagonist, the evil Weyland-Yuanti corporation, will appear, one can always hope. The company’s obsession with using the Xenomorphs as bioweapons and its tendency to quickly discard inconvenient humans in its quest for profit suggested still-unexplored themes like the blurred boundaries between artificial and human intelligence, the expansion of corporate dystopia over day-to-day life and the unpredictable lure of biological weapons. Here’s hoping the company makes an appearance.
The official plot synopsis for the film via 20th Century Studios reads:
In this ninth entry in the immensely popular and enduring film series, a group of young people on a distant world find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Who’s Behind Alien 9 (And When Was It Filmed)?
The continuation of the Alien franchise was officially confirmed at the 2019 CinemaCon. Initially, there was some talk that the film would connect to the plots of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant before Fede Alvarez came on board to write and direct in March 2022, Years earlier, Alvarez, a longtime fan of the Alien franchise, had casually pitched a new Alien story to Ridley Scott, who remembered Alvarez’s story enough to invite him to write and direct the next film when it went into production. Alvarez is most known for directing the 2013 Evil Dead reboot as well as the 2016 sleeper hit Don’t Breathe. He seems like the perfect director to capture the unique combination of science fiction and horror of the Alien movies, and 20th Century Fox picked up the project solely on the strength of Alvarez’s story,
Cinematographer Galo Olivares (Gretel & Hansel) has also joined the production. And though there’s no word on an official title for the film, rumors online have been referring to it as Alien: Romulus. The film kicked off production in Budapest, Hungary on March 9, 2023. On July 3, it was revealed that filming had wrapped.
What Is The Release Date for Alien 9?
The film will hit theaters on August 16, 2024. It’s still a ways off, but next year isn’t too long of a wait for the next Alien sequel. Hopefully, we can get an official title and trailer later this year.
