With success come sequels. That’s just how Hollywood works. While the business has certainly been more franchise-obsessed in recent years, it’s not as though it’s uncommon in the realm of horror for hits to be given the sequel treatment. So it’s not remotely surprising that this conversation has already begun in the wake of the success of “Alien: Romulus,” which was a big hit at the box office out of the gate. Fortunately for Disney, director Fede Alvarez already knows where to take things.
In a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Alvarez was asked if he could pitch a sequel to “Romulus” tomorrow, if asked. “I definitely can,” he replied. Alvarez, known for movies like “Don’t Breathe” and 2013’s “Evil Dead,” wrote the latest “Alien” film with his frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues. Alvarez elaborated:
“We tend to do that naturally, not even thinking about sequels. For us, movies have not become franchises, tentpoles and sequels. This is a language that I’ve only learned in the last ten years of my life working here. For me, it’s always been about story.”
For those who haven’t seen “Alien: Romulus,” this would be the time to turn back as we’re going to get into spoiler territory. (You’ve been warned!) Alvarez further elaborated on how the story led them to the idea for a sequel, and it all goes back to the ending of “Romulus.”
“Once we finished, we started thinking, ‘What do you think happens when or if they get to your Yvaga? Is it going to be great? Or is it a terrible place?’ We tend to believe it’s probably a terrible place that they think is great and fantasize about, so we naturally started thinking about where it goes and what’s going to happen. And then, a few minutes in, we go, “Oh, that sounds like a sequel.”
It might be a few years before we got a Romulus sequel
That does, indeed, sound like a sequel. Given where “Romulus” falls in the overall “Alien” timeline, it could easily work, too. The film takes place 20 years after the original “Alien,” leaving decades before the events of “Aliens.” The end of the film sees Cailee Spaeny’s Rain and David Jonsson’s Andy make it into the cryo pods, on their way to Yvaga, a planet that seemingly offers salvation from their hellish lives at the mining colony. But as Alvarez suggests, that salvation may not be a given.
We know that Disney is invested in this universe. Aside from the new movie, they also have Noah Hawley’s “Alien” TV show set to debut on FX in 2025. A sequel, or at the very least another “Alien” movie of some sort, seems more than likely. However, if the studio wants Alvarez to make this proposed sequel, it may be a while, because the director doesn’t feel the need to rush it.
“We really try to think about it more in terms of story and if it needs another chapter and whether people want to know what happens next. So we’ll wait to see what people think and if people ask for it. My philosophy is that you should never make [a sequel] in two years. You’ve got to get away. You’ve got to get the audience to really want it. If you think about Alien and Aliens, there’s seven years between them. But we definitely have ideas about where it should go.”
Whether or not Disney (or its shareholders) would want to wait seven years remains to be seen, but Alvarez is right in that James Cameron’s “Aliens” didn’t come out until 1986, a full seven years after Ridley Scott’s “Alien” arrived in 1979. We’ll see how things unfold in the coming weeks/months.
“Alien” Romulus” is in theaters now.
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