Alien: Romulus was a big success for the venerable sci-fi/horror franchise, reviving the film series with some homages to the old classic, and some new ideas. But the sequel might be a bit different, as Romulus director Fede Álvarez says he's stepping back to allow a "new filmmaker" to come in and take the reins.
Nonetheless, Álvarez tells TooFab that he's not leaving the Alien: Romulus sequel entirely, as he will stay on to produce the film alongside original Alien director Ridley Scott, and what's more, their script for the sequel is now ready to go.
"We just finished the script, actually, for a sequel for Romulus. But I'm gonna pass the torch on this one as director," Álvarez says. "I'm going to produce it, with Ridley Scott, we're gonna produce it together and we're right now trying to find a new filmmaker to come in.
"I think that's usually what has happened, except for Ridley, filmmakers come, you make one and you pass the baton to the next one," he elaborates. "But we wrote the story because we really love what we started with Romulus and we want to continue the story. We love the story and now we just want to find a director that really wants to go for the jugular."
Álvarez previously planned to direct the sequel himself, stating earlier this year that it would begin filming in October. It's not yet clear if that's still in the cards.
Speaking as someone for whom Alien is in my top five films of all time, I'm glad to see the story of Romulus continue, presumably picking up the threads of the movie's ending in which a new human/xenomorph hybrid creature is birthed.
That said, I hope whoever comes next learns some lessons from Romulus. It wasn't without its faults. It relied a little too much on repeating shots and tricks from the original Alien and Aliens, and its use of AI to recreate Ian Holm's synthetic Ash, while well intentioned and done with the participation of the actor's family, was a little too uncanny valley to really work.
No release date for Alien: Romulus has been announced. While we wait, revisit the previous films with our guide to how to watch all the Alien movies in order.
