It's Finally Time for the Arrival of ‘Alien: Earth'
Set two years prior to the events of the 1979 classic Alien, Alien: Earth follows a special young woman, a "hybrid" synthetic named Wendy (Sydney Chandler) who leads a group of other synthetics to the crash site of the spaceship Maginot. There, in the middle of densely populated Southeast Asia, Wendy and her corporate overlords discover a terrifying threat to all living things on Earth.
In Esquire's review by Josh Rosenberg, Alien: Earth is "thrilling" and "surprisingly gruesome for TV" while still remaining an intelligent thriller that speculates humanity's relationship to the scientific unknown. Writes Rosenberg: "Alien: Earth may share much of its DNA with Jurassic Park and Westworld, but there's much more material to chew on than whether characters survive. Much like creating an Ex Machina–esque AI woman that only serves you if it remains in her best interests, the threat that any little hiccup from our planet's megacorporations could unlock world-ending carnage is far scarier than the ensuing bloodbath."
We're in the midst of a renaissance for both the Alien and Predator franchises, with last year's Alien: Romulus bringing Xenomorphs back to the big screen and the upcoming Predator: Badlands, in theaters this November, teeing up a whole new batch of Alien vs. Predator crossover movies. While Alien: Earth is stand-alone and doesn't seem to have any direct connections with Predator: Badlands, don't be surprised if a stray Easter egg or two spits in your face.
How to Watch Alien: Earth
Alien: Earth will premiere on the cable channel FX at 8 p.m. ET/PT on August 12. It'll also stream on Hulu (for U.S. subscribers) and Disney+ (for those outside the U.S.) at 8 p.m. ET on August 12. The first two episodes will debut this Tuesday night, with each successive episode premiering weekly until September 23. Below, we have the full release schedule for Alien: Earth.
Episode 1: "Neverland" — August 12
Episode 2: "Mr. October" — August 12
Episode 3: "Metamorphosis" — August 19
Episode 4: "Observation" — August 26
Episode 5: "In Space, No One..." — September 2
Episode 6: "TBA" — September 9
Episode 7: "TBA" — September 16
Episode 8: "TBA" — September 23
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
‘Alien: Earth' Episodes 1 and 2 Recap: Gross Encounters
Season 1, Episode 1 and 2: 'Neverland' and 'Mr. October' The year is 2120, and the planet is controlled by five gigantic, unaccountable corporations? Perhaps the 'Earth' part of 'Alien: Earth' doesn't sound so far-fetched. The 'Alien' element, however, remains gloriously alien. With its chitinous black body and projectile jaws, the creature that burst out of John Hurt's chest and into the public consciousness in 1979 has, at long last, arrived on both our planet and the small screen. When this prequel series, created by Noah Hawley, begins, the newest conglomerate on the block is Prodigy, the creation of a genius inventor with the Pynchonesque name Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin). He's the youngest trillionaire in history and a glib sociopath who sees a mass casualty event as an unexpected but welcome business opportunity. He is also the Dr. Frankenstein behind the latest techno-organic life form in town: hybrids, which are nearly indestructible adult-size artificial bodies into which the consciousnesses of dying human children are transferred. We're told only that children's minds are flexible enough to withstand the procedure, and since synthetic bodies don't grow, those minds have been stuffed into grown-up forms. This way, they can mentally and psychologically progress through adolescence and adulthood without looking like the Robot Little Rascals in the end. (This will also help the show avoid any 'Stranger Things'-style aging issues going forward.) The procedure's pioneer is a sweet young cancer patient named Marcy (Florence Bensberg), who is both the first of her kind and the show's protagonist. She rechristens herself Wendy when her mind is transferred because she feels her new body (in which she is portrayed by Sydney Chandler) 'looks like a Wendy.' Lucky for her, the so-called Boy Genius is very big on 'Peter Pan,' so 'Wendy' suits him just fine. Kavalier's research island, like Michael Jackson's ranch, is named Neverland. He calls his initial batch of hybrids 'the Lost Boys' and gives them the names of Peter Pan's gang in the J.M. Barrie book. There's also a Smee, who was Captain Hook's first mate and not a Lost Boy at all, but don't let's split hairs. Dumping children's minds into adult bodies and hoping for the best sounds preposterously unethical, and likely illegal, even in a completely corporatized world. Indeed, Wendy and her fellow Lost Boys are forbidden from having any further contact with their families, a price for remaining alive that all of them are just old enough to be willing to accept. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
'Alien: Earth' series asks: Which is scarier, a giant xenomorph or rogue AI?
Nobody pleaded that "Fargo," that 1996 cinematic gem from Joel and Ethan Coen, should be made into a TV series. And yet writer and director Noah Hawley has (so far) delivered five seasons and an award-winning hit, against steep odds. Now, Hawley is looking to smash another adaptation pitch into the bleachers with FX's "Alien: Earth" (streaming weekly starting Aug. 12 on Hulu), based on Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi opus that spawned eight movie sequels and prequels. So do we really need eight small-screen episodes – and possibly more, in future seasons - of multi-jawed monsters terrifying people in claustrophobic spaceships? No we don't. But, as actor Timothy Olyphant says, those fears are unfounded. "I started sleeping well the moment I heard Noah ask, 'If you take away the monster, what is the show?' He knew you couldn't lean on that little guy popping out of people's chests week after week." Review: FX's 'Alien Earth' is everything 'Alien' fans could want Hawley sums up his challenge simply. "It was in essence the same approach I had with 'Fargo,'" he says. "I tried to just figure out, what's the feeling I had when I watched that first 'Alien' movie, and how do I create the same emotions by telling you a different story?" What Hawley has crafted is part futuristic fright-fest, part timely allegory. The terrifying Xenomorph, created by Swiss artist H.R. Giger, very much appears, but almost in a cameo role. The focus instead is on Earth, which is now ruled by a handful of powerful tech companies each vying to create the dominant AI future. Sound familiar? While some of the companies are pushing for advancements in cyborg technology, others have banked on the rise of synths, or synthetic humans. Olyphant plays an unusually cagey synth named Kirsh who works for genius tech whiz Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), whose Prodigy Corporation is on to something revolutionary: infusing the human consciousness of dying children into artificial robotic bodies. The offbeat inspiration for Noah Hawley's 'Alien: Earth'? J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan' It gets heavier from there. The ailing children chosen for this journey reflect Kavalier's obsession with J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan." The kids' new-body names – Slightly, Tootles, Smee, Curly and Nibs – echo the Lost Boys from the famous 1904 book, which Kavalier reads from obsessively. And they are led by a fearless Wendy, played with wide-eyed wonder by Sydney Chandler. "Noah is taking some really big swings here, and that's great, because Ridley was the first person to say, 'What more can you really do with that (Xenomorph) creature?'" says David Zucker, chief creative officer for the director's production company Scott Free. "Ridley's feeling about doing this series was the same thing he stressed when they wanted to do a sequel to 'Blade Runner,' which is, this show has to have a reason for being," says Zucker, adding that the British director was not directly involved in the new TV series. "He's not really interested in revisiting things he's done before. But what excited him about this is that while it honored the aesthetic of the original, it took a very original approach." The story of these Neverland kids, who are pressed into dangerous service for Prodigy as they navigate the transition into their adult synthetic bodies, is indeed a new twist, one that asks big questions but also provides ample laughs as we watch adult actors behaving like preteens. It's a welcome break from those jump-scare jabs. "To me, the show is in part about how we are raising our children today. What morals are we giving them? Where are the real adults?" Hawley says. For Chandler, "jumping back into the mind of my younger self was amazing," says the avowed sci-fi and "Alien" fan, whose father is actor Kyle Chandler. "That feeling of bravery and honesty. Playing a kid in a synthetic body in a future world with aliens was a scary challenge, but one I was ready for." 'Alien: Earth' features massive sets built partly off the blueprints of the original Ridley Scott movie 'Alien' Helping Chandler get into character were massive sets "that I would always get lost on" and a frightening 9-foot-tall Xenomorph suit worn by a "sweet man named Cameron, who when he put that on and chased you, it was genuinely scary," she says. To enhance the horror and appeal to "Alien" fans, Hawley coordinated with Ridley Scott to get the blueprints for the set of the original ship, the USCSS Nostromo, to create the research vessel that, through a series of deadly mistakes, winds up plummeting out of orbit and plowing into buildings on Earth. "The cryochamber in our ship is a bit bigger than Ridley's, but otherwise the bridge is the same," he says. "It was fun to see the actors react to being there on set. It was like they had stepped into the movie of their childhood." Whenever possible, Hawley used old-fashioned costume-based special effects, resorting only when necessary to digital magic created by New Zealand-based masters Wētā FX. Monsters may scurry around 'Alien: Earth,' but Noah Hawley suggests the really terrifying characters might be human beings Hawley says preserving the sheer horror of the original films was integral to his project, and as viewers will see, the Xenomorph eventually gets some creepy friends. But even more chilling was the prospect of ceding control of Earth to machines of our own creation. Although "Alien: Earth" was written "before ChatGPT was even launched," Hawley says, he's surprised and grateful the series is landing when the debate about the oversight of AI is gathering steam. "The show is about humanity being trapped between its monster past when we all were just food and its AI future, and in both cases something's out to kill us," he says. "So it's important to talk about it. Is AI the next step in our evolution, or will it be the end of humanity? Are we going down the road of (Elon Musk's company) Neuralink, where technology will be added to our bodies, or are we going beyond that to a place where we will all be transhuman? "It's just amazing how fast things have progressed just since I started writing this show back in 2020." For Olyphant, who played to type as a U.S. marshal in Season 4 of Hawley's "Fargo," the chance to work with the writer/director again, on a project focused on big-picture ideas about our unsettling human future, proved irresistible. "Ultimately, in 'Alien: Earth' Noah is writing about what we're dealing with right now. It's this pursuit of living forever, of taking great technology but just trying to monetize it, of being willing to manipulate the lives of children for profit," he says. "And it's about this distrust of AI, this thing that is not human, and my character more than others encapsulates this issue. There are so many 'Alien' franchise diehards out there, so I can't wait to see who comes along on our trip."
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
When does 'Alien: Earth' Season 1 come out? Premiere date, cast, how to watch
Enthusiasts of the horror of the Alien movies are set to get a new fix in the shape of a new TV series, Alien: Earth, with the show set to make its debut on Tuesday, Aug. 12. Set in the year 2120, two years before the original Alien movie and 16 years after the events of Alien: Covenant, the show explores the aftermath of the deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot's crash-landing on Earth. ''Wendy' (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet's greatest threat in FX's Alien: Earth,' the show's description says. Here's what to know about Season 1 of "Alien: Earth," including the release date, episode schedule, and cast. When does 'Alien: Earth' Season 1 premiere? The first two episodes of Season 1 of "Alien: Earth" will premiere on FX on Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. ET. At the same time, the two episodes will be released on Hulu. Following Tuesday's double episode premiere, new episodes will come out every Tuesday through mid-September. How to watch 'Alien: Earth' Season 1 The first two episodes of Season 1 of "Alien: Earth" will premiere on Hulu on Tuesday, Aug. 12. The least-expensive plan (which requires watching commercials) is $9.99 per month (or $99.99/year), and it provides access to Hulu's ad-supported streaming library. Students can get that plan for $1.99 per month, if eligible. You can get a free trial of Hulu, but you do need to sign up and submit payment details. (You won't be charged until the end of your trial period – the trial length is different depending on the subscription tier you choose.) Other subscription options include Hulu bundled with Disney+, which costs $10.99 (with ads). Bundled with Disney+ and ESPN+, the cost is $16.99 (with ads) or $19.99 (without ads). For more plans and prices, visit the Hulu website. When is the 'Alien: Earth' Season 1 episode release? Here is the full list of release dates for Season 1 episodes of "Alien: Earth:" 'Alien: Earth' Season 1 cast Starring Sydney Chandler as Wendy, the cast of 'Alien: Earth' is a sizable one, featuring a long list of characters in the first season of the show. Here's the cast for Season 1: Watch the 'Alien: Earth' Season 1 trailer Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_. We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn't influence our coverage.
