A fresh take on 20th Century Studios iconic sci-fi/horror franchise, Alien: Romulus is set to offer audiences a “truly terrifying cinematic experience.” Directed by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead), the new film is a standalone story yet still deeply rooted in the existing mythology of the Alien franchise. The beginnings of the story took root in Álvarez‘s mind while watching a deleted scene from 1986’s Aliens. “There is a deleted scene in Aliens, where a bunch of kids are running among the workers in the colony,” explained Álvarez. “I remember thinking about what it would be like for teenagers to grow up in a colony so small and what would happen to them when they reached their early 20s.“
Álvarez presented his idea to Ridley Scott, who directed Alien, the groundbreaking 1979 film that birthed the franchise, who then pitched the idea to 20th Century Studios. Shortly after, Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues met with Aliens director James Cameron and began working on the script which features a core cast of young adults, a first for the franchise.
While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
-Official synopsis for Alien: Romulus
Opening on August 16th, Alien: Romulus is set to be one of the last big tentpole films of the Summer season. Whether you’re brand new to the Alien franchise or a longtime lover of the face-hugging/chest-bursting horror franchise, you’ll need to be prepared as you head into theaters. With that in mind, we present the Ultimate List of What to Watch Before Alien: Romulus!
Tier One
Alien: Romulus is a standalone adventure set within the Alien franchise, so technically, there’s no “required reading” necessary to enjoy the new horror flick. However, it is set in 2142, roughly 20 years after Ridley Scott‘s original which still stands as one of the best sci-fi/horror films of all time. So, whether you are a newbie or a vet, the bare minimum amount of prep you’ll need to do before heading to the theater is to check out the film that launched the franchise.
Alien (1979)
Set in the year 2122, Alien pits the crew of the commercial spaceship, the Nostromo, up against the terrifying Xenomorphs. After responding to what they believe is a distress signal, the crew–led by Sigourney Weaver‘s Ellen Ripley–discovers it was instead a warning and find themselves up against one of the universe’s most lethal organisms. Iconic doesn’t truly begin to describe Alien and if you’ve never seen it…well, what are you waiting for?
Tier Two
Alien: Romulus will be the seventh entry in the core Alien franchise. While it’s a standalone story, there’s still plenty of reason to view the other five films in the franchise after watching Alien. Although there’s no ongoing narrative you’ll need to be able to follow, these projects expand on the history and mythology of the Alien universe and provide a more comprehensive understanding of exactly what the young crew of Alien: Romulus is up against. The following projects are presented in the order in which they were released.
Aliens (1986)
Aliens finds Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley right back on the same moon where she first encountered the Xenomorphs 57 years prior. Ripley escorts a crew of Colonial Marines led by Michael Biehn‘s Corporal Hicks back to Acheron where they locate only one survivor: an orphan named Newt who survived a Xenomorph attack. As if having the original film directed by the legendary Ridley Scott wasn’t enough reason to start watching the franchise, Aliens is directed by another member of sci-fi’s Mount Rushmore: James Cameron. A classic ’80s flick and one of the best sci-fi movies ever made, Aliens is worth your time even if it is set 37 years after Alien: Romulus.
Alien 3 (1992)
An immediate sequel to Aliens, Aliens 3 is an underwhelming follow up to its predecessor. After struggling to find a director for the film, David Fincher was hired for his directorial debut. In 2010, Fincher said of the film that “No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me.” Now that you have an idea what you might be getting into, you should also know that Aliens Cubed was intended to be the last film in the series until…
Alien Ressurection (1997)
Even though Alien 3 was a critical dud, it raked in enough money to keep the studio interested in pumping out more Alien films. Given that Weaver’s Ripley sacrificed herself as the end of the previous entry, the studio had to find a work around. Writer Joss Whedon did so by setting the film in 2381, nearly 200 years after the events of Aliens and Alien 3, and “ressurecting” Ripley via cloning. Alien: Ressurection gets pretty nutty but it does star Winona Ryder and end in a way that leaves the future of the franchise wide open.
Prometheus (2021)
Rather than push further into the future (Whedon did develop a script for an Earth-set Alien 5) the studio went in the opposite direction. Ridley Scott returned to the franchise to direct Prometheus, a quasi-prequel to the Alien quadrilogy set in 2093. Scott, who developed the premise of the film with Cameron, explained that while Prometheus shares “strands of Alien‘s DNA” it also stands on its own, exploring themes of creation and the co-existence of religion and science. Prometheus has an absolutely killer cast with Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace and Guy Pearce leading the way and is loaded with Easter eggs and symbology. If you’re into mythology, you’ll be into Prometheus.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Set in 2104, 11 years after the events of Prometheus, Alien: Covenant serves as both a true sequel to that film and a true prequel to Alien. Fassbender reprises his role in Covenant and slays it while taking a sinister turn and the flick does a nice job of spanning the gap between Prometheus and Alien without serving as a direct set-up. While Scott has shared that he has plans for a third prequel film that would lead right into Alien, it’s unclear if Disney intends to proceed with it.
Tier Three
So you’ve made it through the first two tiers…
Once you’ve watched the 6 films listed above, you’ve fully immersed yourself in Alien canon; however, it turns out there’s more to the Alien universe than the Alien films…and then there may be more than that! And if you’re a completist, you’re going to have one helluva watchlist to work through which includes some of the best sci-fi/action films ever created.
While only the Alien films are considered canon in the Alien timeline, the Alien franchise crossed over with another great sci-fi franchise featuring a terrifying alien: the Predator franchise.
Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Two of the most surprising choices on the list, Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 make the list thanks to Ridley Scott who directed films in both franchises and himself made the case for their shared connective tissue.
There’s almost like a connective tissue between all the stuff I went through on Alien into the environment of the Nostromo and people living within close proximity to people who still have Earth-bound connections and here we have people on Earth, so almost this world could easily be the city that supports the crew that go out in Alien. So, in other words, when the crew of Alien come back in, they might go into this place and go into a bar off the street near where Deckard lives. That’s how I thought about it.
-Ridley Scott, Director’s Commentary on Blade Runner home media
In addition to Scott’s thoughts, a bonus feature on the 20th Anniversary Alien DVD indicates that Tom Skerrit‘s Nostromo captain, Arthur Dallas, once worked for the Tyrell Corporation, the company which is responsible for producing the genetically-engineered replicants that populate the Blade Runner franchise. A similar extra exists on the home release version of Prometheus that connects the creation of replicants to the Weyland androids that populate the Alien franchise and a quick shot of what appears to be a prototype Engineer is seen in Blade Runner 2049‘s first teaser.
Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018) and Prey (2022)
You son of a bitch. While there’s no direct link to the Alien universe in Predator, if you’re watching the Tier Three films there’s no reason not to watch one of the greatest sci-fi action movies ever made…get to the choppa!
If you’ve ever wondered to yourself, “Is that a Xenomorph skull on the Yautja’s trophy wall in that ship in Predator 2?”, the answer is yes. Predator director John McTiernan cut the idea from the original so rather than Arnold’s Dutch finding it, Danny “I’m Too Old for This Shit” Glover’s Lt. Harrigan got the honors. It was the first hint of a larger, shared universe in which Xenomorphs and Yautjas have a history…and a future.
2010’s Predators is a solid entry in the Predator franchise unlike 2018’s The Predator and while they both flesh out the mythology of the Yautja, they don’t have much of anything to do with their history with Xenomorphs and are only worth a watch if you REALLY feel the need to be a completist. 2022’s Prey, on the other hand, is an absolute must-watch despite also adding nothing to the shared history of the two fiercest aliens in the galaxy. A wonderful reinvention of the franchise and quite possibly the best Predator movie ever made, Prey (you can check out or rankings of all 7 Predator franchise films here) is also a great pre-Romulus watch in order to evaluate if the new direction of the Alien franchise can match Dan Trachtenberg‘s vision.
Alien vs. Predator (2004) & Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Let’s be honest: both of these movies are bad. Like all-time bad. It’s hard to imagine having to watch a pair of films like this when you’ll ultimately be comparing them to several classics but they do give you exactly what they promise: Xenomoroph on Yautja violence.
Soldier (1998)
While its inclusion, even in Tier Three, can be debated–mostly due to writer David Peoples not being able to keep his own story straight–Soldier is so bad that it’s good. Regardless of whatever Peoples takes during interviews that took place 40 years apart, there’s plenty of dialogue and even some visual cues to suggest that the adventures of Kurt Russel‘s Sergeant Todd 3465 are in fact part of a Blade Runner “sidequel” as originally stated by Peoples.
How to Watch the Core Alien Universe Films in Chronological Order
- Prometheus set in 2093
- Alien: Covenant set in 2104
- Alien set in 2122
- Alien: Romulus set in 2142
- Aliens set in 2179
- Alien 3 set in 2179
- Alien: Ressurection set in 2381
How to Watch the Expanded Alien Universe Films in Chronological Order
- Prey set in 1719
- Predator set in 1987
- Predator 2 set in 1997
- Alien vs. Predator set in 2004
- Alien vs. Predator: Requiem set in 2004
- Predators set in 2010
- The Predator set in 2018
- Blade Runner set in 2019
- Soldier set in 2036
- Blade Runner 2049 set, surprisingly enough, in 2049
- Prometheus set in 2093
- Alien: Covenant set in 2104
- Alien set in 2122
- Alien: Romulus set in 2142
- Aliens set in 2179
- Alien 3 set in 2179
- Alien: Ressurection set in 2381
About Alien: Romulus
A truly terrifying cinematic experience from producer Ridley Scott and director/writer Fede
-Official Press Announcement for 20th Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus
Alvarez, 20th Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus opens in theaters nationwide August 16, 2024. The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun) and Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Alien: Romulus is produced by Ridley Scott (Napoleon), who directed the original Alien and produced and directed the series’ entries Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Michael Pruss (Boston Strangler), and Walter Hill (Alien), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (Charlie’s Angels), Brent O’Connor (Bullet Train) and Tom Moran (Unstoppable) serving as executive producers.
Alien: Romulus will open exclusively in theaters nationwide August 16, 2024.
Source: 20th Century Studios Press Releases
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