Alien 2024: Why is the most anticipated sci-fi movie of the year named Romulus?

We owe him the Evil Dead reboot in 2013, the hilarious Don’t Breathe in 2016, and the Millenium reboot with Claire Foy. Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez is back with Alien: Romulus, the trailer for which was released last night.

This ninth opus of the saga started by Ridley Scott in 1979 is led by a young Kaley Spahn (Priscilla), Isabella Merced (Dora and the Lost City), Archie Reno (Morbius, Shadow and Bone), Spike Sheer (Batman, Aftersun). David Johnson Frey (Industry) and Eileen Wu. The latter finds herself stuck with a xenomorph like Sigourney Weaver before them.

During the launch of the trailer, the official content was also revealed. While excavating an abandoned space station, a group of young travelers come face-to-face with the world’s most terrifying life form…

Ahead of the trailer launch, we were able to speak with the director. The latter, a big fan of the franchise, pitched his script idea to Ridley Scott years ago. After the alien pact fell through, the director of the original film called Fede Alvarez to offer to bring his story to life. And the result seems to have met the expectations of the master, as Ridley Scott said that the film was excellent.

Alvarez explains here that he tried to connect his film with the previous parts. Alien: Romulus is “a love letter to every other film in the saga,” he tells us. However, it is not necessary to watch the other eight films as this feature film is completely independent from the other films.

Alien: Romulus Announced in our theaters on August 14th. familiarity.

AlloCiné: In an interview, Isabelle Merced, one of your characters, told us how the whole team had to look away from the screen while watching one of the scenes in this new film. Can we expect a bloody movie?

Fede Alvarez: The first film was already very graphic. It is difficult to reproduce the breast explosion that the audience saw in the film in 1979. But I think we’ve got some moments in the film that, based on the initial reactions from its screenings, really stand out in people’s minds in a unique way. But in these types of scenes, the best version ends up being more in your mind than what you actually see. That’s where the beauty of directing lies and how you do it. The scariest part is always in your mind, what you think is happening or what you think you saw. There are many in our film.

This movie is what I wanted to see as a fan.

AlloCiné: How does the movie “Alien” fit into the mythology of the franchise?

Fede Alvarez: This movie is what I wanted to see as a fan. And if you’re a young viewer who’s never seen any of these movies, you’ll still have a great time. I’m actually a little jealous of these people who discover this movie and then experience the whole world at once and discover all these incredible creatures Ridley ScottJames Cameron, David Fincher and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Discovering this world for the first time is incredible. But if you’ve seen them all, you’ll find a lot of connections in our film with other feature films: in the story, the characters, the creatures…

A love letter to all Saga films.

In a way, the film is connected to all the others. It really is a love letter to all the movies in the saga. I love all alien movies. Some more than others, of course. But each of them had such an impact on me. Even when I didn’t find what I wanted, there were things that stuck out and stayed with me forever. do you see what i mean

This does not apply to all films. Most of the movies we forget, we don’t even remember watching. An alien movie always impresses, doesn’t it? He always finds a way to surprise or even annoy you. At least for me. Each of them has a place in my heart. So I wanted our film to take every opportunity to connect with these stories.

AlloCiné: Will this film answer the questions left unanswered in Prometheus and Covenant?

Fede Alvarez: I don’t want to say much. There’s this quote that says art asks questions but doesn’t provide answers. My favorite movies are movies that don’t answer questions. The more I know, the less I fear. Because fear is the fear of the unknown.

The more I know, the less I fear.

So I would say that in a way, our film captures stories that we thought we would never hear again. I can tell you this. how to do it You will have to see the movie. But I didn’t want to leave the stories behind. I hate this. So we tried to connect with all these movies and I hope you feel that we did when you watch the movie.

AlloCiné: Would you say that this is a standalone film or that it’s the first in an arc that you’re building in your head, like a trilogy or something like that?

Fede Alvarez: No, I don’t think it will be a trilogy. It’s a film that holds its own, but leaves room to do more and develop the story from there. But I don’t think it’s the right way for the film. The best sagas ever made weren’t made with the thought of a second movie. Never. Making a film with the expectation that others will come later, in my view, spoils the creative process.

AlloCiné: What was the challenge of writing new characters when most viewers come mainly to see the creature?

Fede Alvarez: I think people come to see monsters, absolutely. But if you don’t care about the characters, it’s not terrible. I think during the first movie, people were coming to the creature. Everything was so new. It works so well. And what makes it so scary is the fact that we don’t really know what this creature is.

Today it is difficult to watch without this information. But then I still remember seeing it for the first time as a child. I didn’t know what it was until late in the movie. The fear of the unknown and the nature of this thing is what made the movie scary.

So it didn’t take a lot of characters to power that up. They had very characteristic characters, on the other hand, who seemed real and whose impression we already met and knew. That’s the beauty of this movie. The same goes for other alien movies. You have characters that you understand, but you never get too deep into their lives or their world.

The title is “Romulus” because it talks about siblings and the connections between the characters.

Ours is probably the Alien movie that has the most characterization, not in terms of the stories, but the more meaningful relationships between the characters. That’s why the title is Romulus because it talks about siblings and the bonds between characters. They are bonds of siblings, related by blood or friendship. They grew up together and considered each other as brothers. And the film asks what it means to be someone’s brother or sister. So there are many more elements to this. But if you care to see them die, believe me, you will see them die! Don’t worry about it.

AlloCiné: What was your approach to the creature? Is it different from other movies?

Fede Alvarez: Being is no different. I mean, he is and he isn’t. There is definitely more than one entity. We tried to go back to the basics, as you can see in the trailer. There is a lot of simplicity. It’s not a big world.

I really wanted to go back to the simplicity of the single creature and the simplicity of the facehuggers and the scale of the early films. Especially from the first movie. As for the monster design, there were certain moments in the movie where we wanted something similar to the original movies. How did we do it? We just used the same team that created the original creatures on Alien Returns.

These guys were in their 20’s then and are now in their 60’s and are the best at what they do. We brought them in to take care of creature creation, design and animation. They worked on Aliens, Alien: Resurrection… We put together this incredible team of creature creators to help us recreate the same thing, but also to jump from there when we needed to create new things.

AlloCiné: Tell us about your relationship with Ridley Scott. What was his involvement?

Fede Alvarez: Ridley was there from the beginning of the project when we had the beginnings of an idea and wondered what to do. We spoke to him, benefited from his wisdom and heard what he knows on the subject. No one knows the alien saga like Ridley. It was crucial to listen to him and understand more than what you can learn in movies, including the script. Once I had the script, I was able to share it.

The best part of making this movie was sitting at the table with Ridley Scott

The best part of making this film for me personally was sitting at the table with Ridley Scott, who is one of the masters of the art of this genre, and talking about cinema with him. This is the happiest day of your life.

After the film was finished, I was able to show it to him, discuss it, learn it, and discuss it. I have different views from him on certain aspects. And that’s what makes things interesting. I argued back and he brushed my prospects aside. This is what we look for when we want to collaborate with a filmmaker that we really admire and want to make a film with.

Comments collected by Emmanuel Eater in Los Angeles on March 18, 2024