A new film in the Alien franchise is always likely to bring a mixture of anticipation and caution. Ever since the series began with two bonafide masterpieces in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and James Cameron's Aliens (1986), none of the subsequent additions to the franchise have managed to find anywhere near that universal acclaim – even if some of them do have their champions. But there are genuine hopes that the latest entry, Fede Àlvarez's Alien: Romulus might finally address that and deliver a satisfying update to the xenomorph saga.
It has the approval of both Scott and Cameron, while the early reactions from critics have been extremely promising – hinting at a film that pays homage to the originals while also creating its own path. The film is set in between those first two classics, and introduces a young new batch of space colonisers led by Cailee Spaeny's Rain, while Rye Lane and Industry star David Jonsson has a key role as the customary synthetic human, Andy. A number of trailers have been released hinting at plenty of gnarly gore and featuring plenty of the franchise's famous iconography – from Facehuggers and Chestbursters to pulse rifles – and it looks like Àlvarez has been true to his word in crafting a "love letter to all the other movies".
"This is the way this movie works: if you haven’t seen any Alien movie ever, you’ll have a great time," he previously told Total Film . "You won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything. But if you’ve.