Alvarez returns ‘Alien’ saga to roots with ‘Romulus’

MONTEVIDEO (AFP) – It’s back to basics for the Alien film franchise: Alien: Romulus hits theaters worldwide this week and director Fede Alvarez is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Ridley Scott, who launched the saga in 1979. In an interview with AFP , Alvarez explained how he was forever marked by the series’ early chapters as a kid growing up in Uruguay. After Scott, James Cameron ( Aliens , 1986), David Fincher ( Alien 3 , 1992) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet ( Alien Resurrection , 1997), Disney has entrusted this installment to Alvarez, who is far less known.

Scott rebooted the franchise in the 2010s with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and is still one of the producers. Alvarez, whose previous films include Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe – deems the first two Alien installments as “fundamental” to his work and for cinema in general. Romulus – which takes place almost entirely within the confines of a drifting spaceship – is set at the time of the first films, when teams of space travelers discover, in deadly fashion, the existence of xenomorphs, formidable extraterrestrials.

“There’s a scene in the 1986 film where we see a bunch of children and young people running around a space station. I thought, ‘What is it going to be like for these kids when they grow up?” wonders the director, who is now based in Hollywood. The film is also meant to bring back the gore and horror of the first film.

Alvarez faithfully reproduces the familiar motifs and scenes, inc.