Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Álvarez was a one-year-old baby when, in 1979, Alien: The Eighth Passenger was released, under the direction of Ridley Scott.
45 years after the release of the film, which gave rise to one of the most celebrated horror franchises, Álvarez agreed to direct Alien: Romulus with the idea, first, of telling a new story, and second, of having Scott’s support.
The legendary British director, who conceived Alien…, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), not only approached the South American creative, but also joined as his producer and advised him so that the film starring Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced and David Jonsson was based on the roots of the visceral terror of the first installment, created with artisanal effects.
“He knows what makes a fascinating and entertaining story is that it never stops and slows down, that was what helped me the most in the process of making it.
“He also wanted to remain faithful to the spirit of the original film. That was the most important thing for him, that it felt like an Alien movie and not something similar that took the brand,” said Álvarez, who has experience in franchises after having directed films such as Don’t Breathe and Millennium: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger.
In Romulus, the premise is the hair-raising adventure of a group of young people in one planetary system looking for a better opportunity in another.
But to get there they will have to take over some hypersleep capsules that are in an old abandoned space station.
What was once a great hope will soon turn into a bloody struggle for life.
“It was a privilege to take ideas from Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher (directors of other Alien installments) and put them into a new story and add more things so that people who have already seen the other films have that and more,” added Álvarez.
There are 57 years between the events of Alien: The Eighth Passenger and Alien: Romulus, during which technology seen in the second film was developed.
However, production and art director Naaman Marshall (Batman: The Dark Knight) decorated large sets very much in the style of the first installment, with a sort of haunted house look full of mazes.
The photography by Mexican Galo Olivares (Roma) is striking in backlighting, as digital effects and the use of green screens were eliminated so that the mechanical creatures looked real at all times.
It was the team that worked with James Cameron on Aliens: The Return (1986) that created the different animatronics of the xenomorphs and the facehuggers.
“As a fan of the series, I wanted to return to that claustrophobic spirit of tension and suspense that the first film had.
“Ridley Scott is the great master of this horror genre. He is 86 years old and has incredible energy because in the time I made this film he made two: Gladiator 2 and Napoleon,” concluded Álvarez.
The saga:
-Alien (directed by Ridley Scott. Released on November 21, 1979)
-Aliens: The Return (James Cameron. December 25, 1986)
-Alien 3 (David Fincher. May 22, 1992)
-Alien: The Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet. November 6, 1997)
-Aliens vs. Predator 2 (Greg and Colin Strause. December 25, 2007)
-Prometheus (Ridley Scott. June 15, 2012)
-Alien: Covenant (Ridley Scott. May 11, 2017)
Total collection
1,459,309,229 dollars, according to figures from The Numbers.
Inspired by the Alien universe:
-Alien vs. Predator (Paul WS Anderson, 2004).
-Alien vs. Predator 2 (Requiem) (Greg Strause and Colin Strause, 2007).
#Oldfashioned #horror #returns #Alien #Romulus
