Summary
With the premiere ofAlien: Romulusfast approaching, director Fede Álvarez teases the practical effects and the upcoming film’s body count. The midquelboasts a cast led by Cailee Spaeny and also stars David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. Separate from the storylines of the previously releasedPrometheusandAlien: Covenant,Alien: Romulus' storywill follow a band of thieves who board the titular abandoned space station to steal expensive tech, only to encounter the alien entities inside.
In theAlien: Romuluspanel atSan Diego Comic-Con, of whichScreen Rantwas in attendance, star Renaux and director Álvarez open up about the practical effects.Renaux said that he spoke with Álvarez and was reassured that a lot of the sets and effects were practical, stating that the world was captured well. Álvarez also spoke to the film’s practical effects and the good time he had making the film, revealing that the movie was shot chronologically, while going on to tease that “there’s a lot of death” in the upcoming movie. Read their full comments below:
Archie Renaux: Everything was very, very practical, and that was nice. When I first spoke to Fede about this project, he explained that everything was going to be built and the world was going to be very, very real, and that’s just what you want, as an actor. I’ve never done the tennis ball thing, but if anyone wants to give me a job with a tennis ball, I’ll do it. But for me, I think, as soon as Fede said everything’s going to be practical and all very built, I was like, “Yeah.” I think the world was captured very, very well.
Fede Álvarez: It’s quite a challenge when you come in and have to make another movie in that world. But usually the pressure goes away when you subtly realize that you’re in a, for me, might not make sense to a lot of people, but when suddenly you realize, you look around, and I’m on a Weyland-Yutani shake and bake colony and every vehicle that goes around is real, and I can look around and there’s a neon sign, the bar sign fromAliensand a whole bunch of stuff that is [incredible], so be able to be on this real spaceship. [We] shot the movie chronologically, so the first day was the first part of the story, so we could all together go through that story, you know, and every time, spoiler alert, someone died … People die in this movie. There’s a lot of death in this movie.
The Return To Practical Effects Is A Green Flag For Alien: Romulus
It Might Be On Track To Be The Best Alien Movie Since Prometheus And Alien: Covenant
The late H.R. Giger’s design of the titular monster should be unburdened by the uncanny valley flair of CGI, and it sounds likeAlien: Romulusis restoring the franchise to its practical glory.
All the talk about practical sets and effects is agood thing forAlien: Romulus. It’s a good move away from the CGI alien inAlien: Covenant, which was spotted easily and criticized heavily.The return to practical effects hint at a creative team that’s dedicated to the gritty horror of the firstAlienfilms, especially the original. The late H.R. Giger’s design of the titular monster should be unburdened by the uncanny valley flair of CGI, and it sounds likeAlien: Romulusis restoring the franchise to its practical glory.
Prometheuswas considered a solid filmby critics, but chose to go in a direction many fans of the franchise didn’t want, as didAlien: Covenant. With the new movie,however, it seems like the franchise is going back to its roots, and that decision has been warmly welcomed by fans so far, even if theAlien: Romulustrailers seemed to have given so much away. With what’s known of the story, the movie focuses on the simple idea ofa band of people stumbling upon a horror that could spell their end, without the encumbering addition of a synthetic that gets more attention and development than its human counterparts.
PrometheusandAlien: Covenantheavily featured the latter, focusing onDavid’s (played by Michael Fassbender) developmentmore than the humans. While it was at times intriguing, and while Fassbender’s performance was well-received, it overshadowed the horror that befell the human characters.Alien: Romulusdoesn’t seem to follow this same mistake,focusing more on the story of its human characters to develop them and make them more relatable, so their possible deaths could be more impactful.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
