Things are moving quickly for Noah Hawley‘s heavily anticipated Alien series that’s heading to FX. Taking place in the sci-fi universe that first introduced the Xenomorphs in the 1979 film of the same name, Alien will serve as a prequel to the classic films while also showing a new kind of conflict with the Xenomorph. Hawley has also hinted that the series will explore the concept of AI as shown in the prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming series:
Plot
While plot details for Alien are being kept closely under wraps, Hawley opened up to Vanity Fair back in July 2021 about when the FX series takes place in the franchise and why it will be set on Earth. According to Hawley, the series will be set 70 years before the first Alien film featuring Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, a character the showrunner will not be touching.
“She’s one of the great characters of all time, and I think the story has been told pretty perfectly, and I don’t want to mess with it,” Hawley told Vanity Fair before revealing that his series will focus on a Xenomorph infestation on Earth.
“The alien stories are always trapped,” Hawley said. “Trapped in a prison, trapped in a space ship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.”
Cast
Timothy Olyphant was recently added to the growing cast of Alien and was quickly followed by Fargo Season 5 star Daniel Rysdahl. Here’s Deadline with the details:
Rysdahl joins a cast that includes Sydney Chandler as the meta-human Wendy, Alex Lawther as soldier CJ, Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, a CEO, Essie Davis as Dame Silvia, Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, and Kit Young as Tootles. Announced as joining prior to Rysdahl was Timothy Olyphant, and while his role has not been confirmed, Deadline hears he’ll be playing Kirsh, a synth who acts as a mentor and trainer for Wendy, a character with the body of an adult, but the brain and consciousness of a child.
Release Date
Alien is currently aiming for an early 2025 release date. After being shut down by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, production is set to resume in January 2024.
Trailer
Considering Alien only shot a small amount of footage before the strikes, there is little in the way of promotional material as of this writing. Look for a trailer to possibly hit sometime in 2024. You can be sure we’ll update you whenever it drops.
(Via Deadline, Vanity Fair)