‘Alien: Earth' and the art of the perfect needle drop
To be fair, 'Alien: Earth' can afford the good stuff; FX doesn't release budget figures, but reports, and the eye test, confirm that it's an expensive show.
Advertisement
Chris Vognar can be reached at
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Gizmodo
Timothy Olyphant's 8 Greatest Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Roles
After Deadwood and Justified, Timothy Olyphant will forever be linked first and foremost to Westerns. And while he's clearly aware of that—playing off that association in roles that veer into other genres—he's also a versatile star who's popped up in comedies and dramas, as well as the sci-fi, horror, and fantasy tales we cover at io9. Here are our eight favorite genre roles so far, starting with his current project… The newly launched FX sci-fi series is mapping out a fresh small-screen story for the Alien movie universe, with plenty of familiar callbacks for film fans. Nearly unrecognizable with pale hair and carefully blank eyes, Olyphant plays Kirsh, a synthetic who seems sympathetic enough after the first two episodes. But will he end up being more of a manipulative Ash or a heroic Bishop? It's been nearly 30 years since Olyphant's mainstream breakthrough in Scream 2. When the first film's Final Girl heads to college, the slashing briefly screeches to a halt for a scene set in a film studies class, with Olyphant playing an outspoken nerd with strong pop-culture opinions (Aliens comes up in the discussion, as does Terminator 2—long before Olyphant's involvement in either franchise). Multi-decade spoiler here, but he's also unmasked one of the film's Ghostfaces, a freelance maniac enlisted by the main killer to help with her revenge scheme. When Stephen King fans think of the best adaptations of his work, Dreamcatcher is traditionally not a top-tier ranker. But if you're rounding up the weirdest King adaptations, this 2003 film would certainly lead the pack. Olyphant co-stars with Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, and Thomas Jane as lifelong friends linked by psychic powers who must battle both terrifying aliens and, in a rare villainous role, Morgan Freeman as a military colonel obsessed with containing the extraterrestrial threat. Hollywood sometimes remembers that George A. Romero made films beyond his zombie series, which explains why 1973's The Crazies got a 2010 remake. Olyphant leads a decent sci-fi horror tale as a small-town sheriff scrambling to survive after his community is accidentally inundated by a biological weapon that makes nearly everyone act like a lunatic. The government tries to do damage control and predictably makes things worse. It's not unlike a zombie movie, in other words. This entry recognizes Olyphant's many guest roles across animated films and TV (Archer, The Simpsons, Rick and Morty, etc.), but we chose this 2011 release because he plays 'the Spirit of the West,' a mystical advice-giver, and the casting clearly leans into his fame as a Western star. HE PLAYS HIMSELF! Or, a version of himself, anyway. When the gang needs to convince Gen the Judge (an Olyphant superfan) to rethink that whole 'reset the entire universe' thing, Janet conjures a convivial version of the star, complete with cowboy hat, to help Eleanor and company make their case. (It works.) Two Star Wars shows, one Olyphant. He played Cobb Vanth, the marshal roaming Tatooine in Boba Fett's famous armor—who later calls upon the Mandalorian's help when his town gets caught in a crossfire of bad guys and even badder bounty hunters. Yes, it's another lawman role… but a very different sort of wild, wild west. Netflix's Terminator anime was cool in many, many ways—including the fact that its English-language cast featured Olyphant as its Terminator. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
Now Streaming: Paramount announces seven-year UFC media rights pact
'Now Streaming' is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. PLAYING THIS WEEKEND: Among this weekend's top new streaming content is science fiction horror series 'Alien: Earth,' a prequel to 1979 film 'Alien.' The first two episodes can be watched on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ (DIS) internationally. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video (AMZN) subscribers can catch spy thriller series 'Butterfly' starring Daniel Dae Kim. Additionally, Netflix (NFLX) users can watch season 2 of reality show 'Love is Blind U.K.,' as well as adult animated film 'Fixed,' which is directed by 'Dexter's Laboratory' creator Genndy Tartakovsky. PARAMOUNT/UFC: Paramount, a Skydance Corporation (PSKY), and TKO Group (TKO) announced a seven-year media rights agreement in which Paramount will become the exclusive home of all UFC events in the U.S. Starting in 2026, Paramount will exclusively distribute UFC's full slate of 13 marquee numbered events and 30 Fight Nights via its direct-to-consumer streaming platform, Paramount+, with select numbered events to be simulcast on CBS, Paramount's leading broadcast network. As part of the agreement, UFC and Paramount will move away from UFC's existing Pay-Per-View model in favor of making these premium events available at no additional cost to the expansive U.S. subscriber base of Paramount+. This shift in distribution strategy will unlock greater accessibility and discoverability for sports fans and provide an important catalyst for driving engagement and further subscriber growth for Paramount+. Paramount intends to explore UFC rights outside the U.S. as they become available in the future. The seven-year term, which begins in 2026, has an average annual value of $1.1B. The contract's payment schedule is weighted more toward the back end of the deal. The announcement comes after Disney's ESPN and TKO's WWE announced a landmark rights agreement as ESPN platforms, including the new ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service, will become the exclusive U.S. domestic home of all WWE Premium Live Events, including the two-night cultural phenomenon WrestleMania, starting in 2026. ESPN/ FOX ONE: Meanwhile, ESPN's upcoming direct-to-consumer service and FOX One, Fox Corporation's (FOXA) wholly-owned direct to consumer streaming service, announced earlier this week an agreement that will give consumers the opportunity to purchase the two services bundled together starting October 2 for $39.99 per month. 'Working with FOX One on this bundle offer allows us to bring ESPN's world-class sports content to even more fans in a seamless and innovative way,' said Sean Breen, EVP, Disney Platform Distribution. 'This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to delivering premium experiences across platforms and meeting consumers where they are – anytime, anywhere.' The ESPN DTC offering will give fans access to all of ESPN's linear networks – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes – in addition to ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, SECN+, and ACCNX, covering 47,000 live events each year, on-demand replays, studio shows, original programming, as well as newly expanded NFL content and more. FOX One will bring all of FOX's News, Sports and Entertainment branded content together in one streaming platform. The ESPN DTC offering and FOX One service will both individually become available to consumers beginning August 21 and the combined bundle will be available for purchase beginning on October 2. WORLD SOCCER TICKET: On Wednesday, Comcast (CMCSA) announced the launch of 'World Soccer Ticket' exclusively for Xfinity customers, calling it 'the industry's first video package custom-built for soccer fans.' World Soccer Ticket is available for an all-in monthly price of $85 and includes nearly 60 broadcast, cable news, and English- and Spanish-language sports channels and a subscription to Peacock Premium, the company noted. 'Now, customers can seamlessly enjoy more than 1,500 matches from the world's best leagues, including Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Major League Soccer, LALIGA, Liga MX, the FIFA World Cup, and more, all in one place,' Comcast stated.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Platonic' bosses keep the friend zone unhinged with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, plus streaming recs
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who struggles with setting boundaries in any type of relationship. That sound you hear is the lingering sigh of relief — or is it sadness? Confusion? The frustration over what could have been? — as 'And Just Like That' completed its last sprint in heels this week. The 'Sex and the City' sequel concluded its three-season run with a Thanksgiving from hell and an epilogue for Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, Lisa and Seema that will surely generate plenty of TikTok analysis to occupy us all weekend. The decision to end the series was surprising, sure, but hardly shocking — even if it still feels like a fever dream that's not quite over. Our crew of dedicated watchers unpacked some of what they're feeling — grab a slice of pie, pull up a chair and join the attempt to process it all. It's a safe place. But don't fret, there are some other peeps you can add to your friend group to help ease the loss. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen prove that men and women can be strictly (incredibly co-dependent) friends in Apple TV+'s 'Platonic.' The comedy returned earlier this month for its second season, and creators Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller dropped by Guest Spot to discuss the challenges of making opposite-sex friendship more compelling than a romance, plus the story behind the perfectly pathetic pet name they have Rogen's character saying all season. Also in this week's Screen Gab, our streaming recommendations include a crime drama that sees a 'Clueless' star enter her sleuth era? That's right, TV critic Robert Lloyd tells you about a new Acorn series that stars Alicia Silverstone as an L.A. divorce lawyer who hightails it to Ireland after receiving a mysterious message from her estranged father. If you're in the camp of people who prefer shows with a lighter touch on death, culture columnist Mary McNamara drops in to suggest an old-fashioned workplace/fish-out-of-water comedy set in the world of probate law — Huh, you say? Trust us! It's funny! Must-read stories you might have missed Daniel Dae Kim hopes 'Butterfly' can be the 'KPop Demon Hunters' of spy thrillers: The actor discusses bridging Korean and American culture on his new show, how 'inclusive' isn't a bad word and good allyship in action. Developing 'Alien: Earth' was all about building suspense — and getting classic 'Alien' lore just right for TV: Noah Hawley leaned into the 'Alien' franchise's retro-futurism when making 'Alien: Earth,' adding Peter Pan mythology and Easter eggs. How John Slattery and Milo Callaghan learned to spar (and put on an accent) in 'The Rainmaker': The veteran actor and newcomer star in USA's adaptation of the bestselling John Grisham novel. Hollywood takes a wrecking ball to Los Angeles: Filmmakers seem to take a special pleasure in depicting an apocalyptic future for Los Angeles — how come? Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times 'Irish Blood' (Acorn) Alicia Silverstone stars as Fiona Murphy, an American divorce lawyer — no husband for her! — whose unsuspected past comes calling in form of a photograph mailed from Ireland, showing a picture of a locker with a phone number written on the backside. Not being me, she calls it right away and so begins a dark treasure hunt that brings her to Wicklow, Ireland, where she discovers the father (Jason O'Mara in flashbacks) who left on her 10th birthday was living, and is now dead, under possibly suspicious circumstances. She also discovers a briefcase full of clues; family she didn't know she had; an inherited house; potential romance with the local owner of a boxing gym (Leonardo Taiwo); and a quirky policewoman (Ruth Codd), excited to help when Fiona is mysteriously attacked. As in many, or most, stories in which a city person travels to the country — 'I Know Where I'm Going' or 'Local Hero,' just to be Celtic about it — Fiona will experience a feeling of renewal, notwithstanding the threat of death. The mystery keeps you guessing, the characters are appealing, and Silverstone gives a lovely, lived-in performance. — Robert Lloyd 'Fisk' (Netflix, Season 3 premieres Wednesday) I can't say I was looking for a comedy that revolved around Australian probate law, but one found me and now I'm hooked. Co-created by and starring Australian comedian Kitty Flanagan, 'Fisk' is an old-fashioned workplace/fish-out-of-water comedy that follows recently divorced Helen Tudor-Fisk (Flanagan), who has fled the shining lights of Sydney for the more sedate Melbourne where her father, a retired Supreme Court justice, lives. And she needs a job. After a disastrous interview with a legal recruitment firm — Fisk only wears brown, has no references and 'is not a people person' — she lands at Gruber & Gruber, a small firm dealing mostly with wills. Ray Gruber (Marty Sheargold), an easily distracted schlub, is thrilled to hire the daughter of a Supreme Court justice; his sister Roz (Julia Zemiro), a woman so tightly wound she controls the key to the firm's one restroom, is not. But Roz has been suspended; hence the need for Helen. Misanthropic and quietly contentious, Helen has little patience for client hand-holding, social niceties and, well, patience; but, as time inevitably tells, she is a good lawyer and her heart is not nearly as hard as she wants everyone to believe it is. With a revolving cast of clients, and the requisite Gen Z assistant (here played to great effect by Aaron Chen), 'Fisk' is a deceptively small show — 'The Office' seems hectic and flashy by comparison — but it deftly mines the mundane and often quiet absurdities of life to laugh-out-loud effect. Flanagan, too, plays it close to the vest (or in this case, an over-large brown suit), making Helen the queen of the raised eyebrow and muttered aside. She is neither savior nor saint — many of her problems are of her own making — but anyone who has ever wondered why ordering a smoothie, or renting an Airbnb, or having a straight-forward conversation about just about anything has to be so complicated these days will find a 'but that makes no sense' advocate in 'Fisk.' — Mary McNamara A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they're working on — and what they're watching In 'Platonic,' the only will-they/won't-they tension is about whether two longtime friends with co-dependency issues can avoid a breakup of their friendship. The Apple TV+ series stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as formerly estranged besties who, in the first season, rekindled their friendship at pivotal junctures in their lives — Sylvia (Byrne) is a married mother of three children who feels unfulfilled, while Will (Rogen) is a middle-aged hipster and brewer going through a divorce — and help each other in their quest to get back on track. The series returned earlier this month with Will experiencing cold feet at the prospect of marrying his fiancée (and boss), while Sylvia, who is helping to plan the ceremony, gets caught in the crosshairs just as she must contend with developing sore spots in her own marriage. Creators Delbanco and Stoller stopped by Guest Spot to discuss how platonic friendships can be love stories, too, and the story behind this season's embarrassing pet name. What is the challenge in depicting a platonic friendship between people of the opposite sex when viewers enjoy character shipping? How do you make 'just friends' something to root for? Stoller: It's definitely a challenge to break story as almost all TV show plots involve either sex or murder. But the funniest comedies explore human relationships honestly. Our artistic project with 'Platonic' is to delve into the complications and rewards of male-female friendships. We think anyone who's ever had this kind of friendship will find the show relatable. While 'Platonic' is a hang-out show, we also are invested in the show having a strong story drive. We think we have figured out series arcs for our characters that go deep on midlife and hopefully will make you laugh out loud. Delbanco: In a way, platonic friendships are love stories too — not exactly the same kind of love stories, of course, but they do have certain similar preoccupations: Can we survive our disagreements? Are we ultimately good for each other or not? Is our relationship going to last through all of the phases of our lives as we change and grow? Ultimately, we're hoping we can make viewers feel the same degree of investment in 'will they make it' as friends that we're all accustomed to feeling in rom-coms. It's definitely a creative challenge, but we all know how important friendships are to our overall emotional health, so it stands to reason that they deserve some exploration onscreen too. This season provides an opportunity to explore the intimidation factor of a new significant other experiencing the Sylvia-Will dynamic. How did that make you think about Will's fiancée, Jenna [Rachel Rosenbloom]? Stoller: We originally conceived of 'Platonic' as an anthology series where we were going to explore a different platonic friendship each season. While shooting the first season, we had such a great time making it that we asked Seth and Rose if they wanted to do more of the show together, and luckily for us they said yes. The Jenna character had been created to give Will a happy ending. We knew that to make more episodes of the show we would have to give Will a new conflict. We knew that Sylvia needed to understand Will in a way Jenna just didn't. But we also wanted Jenna to be a legitimate partner for Will. So in the Season 2 writers' room, we reconceived Jenna to just be operating at a slightly different wavelength than both Will and Sylvia. We worked with Rachel Rosenbloom, who plays Jenna and is super funny, to figure out a character that was just a little out of step with both Will and Sylvia. Delbanco: We really wanted to write Jenna as a human, relatable character rather than a one-dimensional 'lame girlfriend' type of comedy villain, because at its core, the insecurity that Jenna feels about Sylvia is a feeling most of us have had before: Who is this woman my boyfriend/fiancé/husband spends so much time with, and how can I be sure he isn't actually in love with her? Likewise, we didn't want Jenna to be someone Sylvia could easily dismiss: In many ways she's good for Will, and intimidating in her own right. There have been so many amazing comedies about introducing a significant other to your parents, and your family, but there's a lot of great dramatic tension to mine when new love interests collide with old friends. What is the backstory with the 'penguini' pet name? What were other iterations before you landed on that one? Stoller: We just tried to think of the most embarrassing thing that Will would have to say in front of Sylvia. And so 'penguini' was born. Hilariously, one of our locations where we shot this season turned out to be right next to a restaurant called Caffe Pinguini. Delbanco: It made us laugh so hard to imagine Seth having to use a private baby-talk, lovey-dovey voice — it just doesn't suit his character, and it's so mortifying to be overheard in that mode. It felt like a strong way to announce that something new was going on with him this season. What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know? Stoller: I just watched the Billy Joel documentary ['Billy Joel: And So It Goes,' HBO Max]. I've always been a fan of his, but the documentary uncovers a lot of pain and history I was unaware of. It made me revisit his music and understand it in a whole new light. I also just saw the film 'Sorry, Baby' [VOD], which is hilarious, beautifully-shot, moving and even, at times, slightly scary. Delbanco: I recently finished the second season of 'Wolf Hall' [ and I can't stop thinking about it — I loved the novels and was floored that they were adapted for the screen with such incredible depth and power. The finale is still haunting me even though I watched it weeks ago. Main takeaway: I am so freaking glad I wasn't born during the reign of Henry VIII. What's your go-to 'comfort watch,' the movie or TV show you go back to again and again? Stoller: I watch 'Rushmore' [Hulu, Disney+], 'When Harry Met Sally' [VOD] and 'The Shining' [VOD] once a year. The endings of both 'Rushmore' and 'When Harry Met Sally' never fail to make me cry. Every time I watch 'Rushmore,' I notice a new detail. And 'The Shining' casts a hypnotic spell that makes me want to revisit the Overlook [Hotel] again and again. Delbanco: I guess we're an early Wes Anderson household, because 'The Royal Tenenbaums' [Hulu, Disney+] is the movie I see on repeat when I close my eyes. It makes me laugh and also cry in all the right ways, and I love its desultory, romantic mood. I don't think any scene has ever worked for me as well as Gwyneth Paltrow's walk towards Luke Wilson when she gets off the bus. The bus station! Her fur coat! Nico! What could ever top it?
