Franchises refuse to die. Like some kind of alien spore species, they stick around and evolve and adapt ad infinitum for the purpose of money. Anyway, there’s going to be another Alien movie. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Fede Alvarez, the director behind Don’t Breathe and 2013’s Evil Dead, will write and direct an original standalone movie in the 43-year-old franchise. Ridley Scott, who directed the original Alien as well as the prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, will produce. Mare of Easttown‘s Cailee Spaeny will star in the movie.
Also joining the cast are David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. The movie, from 20th Century Studios, will evidently go directly to Hulu to compete in the streaming space. A short synopsis shares:
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.
The Hollywood Reporter says 20th Century plans to make more than 10 movies a year for the Disney-owned streaming service. Alien, a proven worldwide quantity, would likely entice people to subscribe to Hulu. Disney has a track record of sending prestigious movies to its streaming services; Turning Red will mark the third Pixar movie in a row to debut exclusively on Disney+.
This movie will not, as far as we know, have any direct connection to the upcoming Alien TV series set to debut on FX on Hulu in 2023. Hulu is, of course, the more adult side of Disney’s streaming machinations, keeping Disney+ mainly to family-friendly fare.
The Alien franchise has a total of eight films, including the two very bad Alien vs. Predator films. Though the news describes Alvarez’s movie as “standalone,” we don’t know if that means it will have absolutely no connection to any of the previous entries, or if it’ll just be outside the Ripley or David sagas. Alvarez’s most recent directorial work was as the writer and director of the animated horror series Calls on Apple TV+.
Regardless of which direction Alvarez goes for the film, we can be sure we’ll never have to wait too long again for a facehugger or Xenomorph to grace a screen.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
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