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Geek Tyrant
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Noah Hawley Wants ALIEN: EARTH To Define the Franchise's Future Mythology — GeekTyrant
It's an exciting time for fans of the Alien franchise. With Alien: Earth set to drop on Hulu August 12, the world of Xenomorphs is expanding. Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley has big hopes for what he's created and he wants the show's newly built Earth-based mythology to ripple out and shape the future of the Alien universe across all mediums. Speaking with GamesRadar+ during a press event in London, Hawley talked about how Alien: Earth exists in its own lane, apart from Alien: Romulus . But he's already been in touch with directors Fede Alvarez ( Romulus ) and Dan Trachtenberg ( Badlands ) to ensure they're at least aware of what each other is building. 'We talk to the degree that we're trying to avoid duplication of story or inadvertent mimicry of something I might do, or that Dan might do, or Fede [Alvarez],' Hawley said. 'But in general, they're not all coordinated. What I've suggested, since there's a surprising paucity of mythology in the seven films, other than that there's a company called Weyland-Yutani... 'I've said, 'Well, you know, so if this show is a prequel to the movies, and I've made some choices about how humanity is organized: it might be helpful if you adopt those [choices] should the issue come up in your films,' Right? But otherwise, we're not really coordinating with each other.' In Alien: Earth , humanity's future is shaped by five corporate powerhouses: Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic, Threshold, and Prodigy. The latter, run by a brilliant young CEO named Boy Kavalier, played by Samuel Blenkin, is behind a groundbreaking hybrid tech that could change the world. That is, until a Xenomorph crashes the party in a region known as New Siam. David Zucker, producer of Alien: Earth and longtime Scott Free collaborator, explained why the show's independence from the films is such a rare thing. 'The possibility of TV projects like Alien: Earth crossing over with films like Alien: Romulus was just simply unapproachable for the longest time. I mean, feature and television, particularly for these valuable film franchises, was just not a conversation you were even permitted to have,' said Zucker. 'It's interesting because we are still maintaining separate tracks, so there's an awareness. But probably to the benefit of both endeavours, Noah's been given his independence to really find the story he wants to tell, the way he wants to tell it.' While Alien: Earth serves as a prequel to Alien , it avoids the deeper backstory laid out in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant . That means no Engineers, no answers to the infamous Space Jockey, at least not yet. '[The Space Jockey is] not really involved in our story to date, you know,' Hawley added. 'Maybe I'll think about it in the future.' Whether or not future Alien films adopt the backstory Hawley's crafted remains to be seen. But with Alien: Earth diving into fresh territory just two years before the events of Alien , it's clear this isn't just another rehash. It's laying the groundwork for something bigger. Alien: Earth debuts with a two-episode premiere on Hulu August 12.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Everything to Remember Before Watching ‘Alien: Earth'
One of the best things about the new show, Alien: Earth, is that you do not need to be an Alien superfan to enjoy it. It's not dependent on the plots of the seven-plus films in the franchise and is only connected to them in a few tangential ways. For now, at least. Nevertheless, there are a few things worth keeping in mind as we get closer to the August 12 debut. Here they are. The Alien franchise began in 1979 with Ridley Scott's film, Alien. It continued in 1986 with James Cameron's sequel, Aliens, which was then followed by the 1992 David Fincher sequel Alien 3 and then 1997's Alien: Resurrection by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Those all take place in chronological order. The franchise continued in a few mostly unrelated crossover Alien vs. Predator films before being reimagined in 2012 by Ridley Scott's return to the franchise, Prometheus. That was a prequel to everything that came before and was followed by 2017's Alien: Covenant. Most recently, Fede Alvarez made a movie called Alien: Romulus, which is set between the events of the first two movies. Basically, if you want to have a blast mainlining Alien movies, you can, but almost all of that is superfluous to the new show, save for the following. One of the things Alien: Earth does assume you remember about the Alien franchise is the aliens themselves. Though we often just refer to them as 'aliens,' the proper in-universe name is 'xenomorph.' Where the xenomorphs came from, where they live, and most of the backstory for them are largely left unanswered in the franchise, though Prometheus and Covenant do offer a few clues. What is definitely known is how they are created, and that's very important. A xenomorph queen lays an egg. That egg has a spider-like creature in it often referred to as a 'facehugger.' It's called that because the egg hatches when it senses a viable host, and the creature hugs the face of the being, implanting the being with an embryo. That embryo then grows inside the being, eventually hatching by bursting out of their chest. This is a baby xenomorph, nicknamed a 'chestburster' for obvious reasons. The chestburster then feeds and grows rapidly into the fully grown xenomorph. A xenomorph is a straight killing machine. Fast, nimble, and deadly. It also has a natural defense mechanism in that its blood is acid, so it burns anything that makes it bleed. All of which is very important information to know as you dive into Alien: Earth. Alien: Earth is set in 2120, which is three years before the events of the first Alien film. What that means is the crew of the Nostromo, the ship that's invaded by a xenomorph in the first film, is still in cryosleep on their way home to Earth from a deep-space mining mission. In three years, for some reason, they'll be woken up by a distress call that just so happens to draw them to a planet filled with xenomorph eggs. Whether or not that has anything to do with the events we see in Alien: Earth is one of the show's biggest mysteries and certainly a potential future storyline. But that's a few years away in canon. Once the Nostromo gets the call, though, the events of the movie Alien take place over a few days. Then Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is lost in space for 57 years. Once awake, she learns the planet the Nostromo landed on, LV-426, now has a full colony of people on it, and so begins the plots of the next few movies. We mention all this because, in regard to Alien: Earth, there's about a 63-year window where it can operate without messing too much with the continuity of the original films. There is an exception, though, which we'll get to after explaining some more. In Alien, Ripley and her Nostromo crew work for a company called Weyland-Yutani. A company that, we later learn, knowingly sent the ship to LV-426 to pick up a xenomorph so that it could be brought back to Earth to study. A company that deemed the crew members expendable compared to the xenomorph. A company that, in Aliens and Alien 3, tries to do the same in different ways. It just really, really wants a xenomorph to study and, somehow, figure out how to weaponize. Alien: Earth starts on a Weyland-Yutani ship, the USCSS Maginot, which has been in space for 65 years. However, unlike the Nostromo, which was a mining ship, the Maginot has been specifically acquiring alien life forms, including the xenomorph. That ship, for reasons revealed on the show, then crash lands on Earth in a city controlled by a rival company, Prodigy. So, what Alien: Earth is saying is Weyland-Yutani is aware of xenomorphs (among other creatures) well before the events of the films and was *this close* to getting one back to Earth. The Weyland-Yutani mega-corporation was created due to a merger of two companies founded by the Weyland family and the Yutani family. We don't learn a lot about them in the early films, but in Prometheus, we see that Peter Weyland had grand plans about 30 years before the events of the show. Alien: Earth doesn't negate any of that, but it doesn't deal with it either. Instead, we spend a lot of time with the Yutanis, who are—at least in this moment—controlling the company. Basically, even though Prometheus takes place before Alien: Earth and certainly offers some larger context in regard to the xenomorphs and advancement of human technology, it's not crucial to the plot in any way. It just lives on its own. Watch it if you'd like, think about that it happened, but it doesn't play a role yet. As mentioned above, basically every Alien story is about people on Earth (mostly Weyland-Yutani employees) hoping to capture and harness the power of the xenomorph. To what end specifically? The movies never get there because the xenos almost always kill everyone first. But it's important to know that the drive for technological and financial superiority is crucial to the franchise. Whoever controls the xenomorphs could wield incredible power. If they can control them. One other crucial piece of Alien DNA that's in Alien: Earth is androids. Seemingly every Alien film has a Weyland-Yutani android as part of the plot. They are human-looking robots with white goo for blood who are loyal to their makers to a fault. That continues in Alien: Earth too, but we get to learn much more about them and their evolutions. Alien: Earth debuts with a two-part premiere August 12 on both Hulu and FX and will continue each Tuesday after that. Episodes drop at 8 p.m. ET on Hulu and 8 p.m. ET/PT on FX. 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
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
3 clues that an 'Alien vs. Predator' reboot could be in the works
The two " Alien vs. Predator" movies were widely panned — but it looks like Disney could be setting up a rematch between the iconic monsters. The studio, which has owned both the "Alien" and " Predator" franchises since it bought 20th Century Studios in 2019, hasn't announced a new crossover but has seemingly set the stage for the Xenomorphs and the Yautja to battle once again. Audiences still have plenty of love for both characters: 2024's " Alien: Romulus" earned $350 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, and the " Predator: Badlands" trailer was watched 15 million times on YouTube in the three days following its release on July 22. Here are three clues that fans think suggest Disney is planning a new cosmic beatdown. The biggest clue comes from the trailer of the upcoming "Predator: Badlands" movie, which shows that an android called Thia (Elle Fanning) has the logo of Weyland-Yutani, the nefarious corporation in the "Alien" franchise, printed on the back of her eyes. The film is set in the future on a distant planet, where a young Yautja hunter named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), an outcast from his clan, has to kill something bigger than himself to reclaim his honor. Weyland-Yutani will be a key player in the " Alien: Earth" TV series, which will stream weekly on Hulu and Disney+ from August 12. 20th Century Studios is contemplating what a new 'Alien vs. Predator' could look like Obviously, it's one thing to include a fun Easter egg to the wider universe, but it's another to explore those connections in a crossover movie. (Representatives from 20th Century Studios did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.) However, in October 2024, the 20th Century Studios executive Steve Asbell revealed that the company has discussed an "Alien vs. Predator" project. "It wouldn't be in the way you think. That's the thing. Not in the way that it will just be called 'Alien vs. Predator' or anything like the original movies," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "If we do this, they'll be organically created out of these two franchises that we've continued with characters that we fall in love with, and those characters will combine…perhaps. But we haven't gotten to that point. And we're not just going to bang it out." The 'Alien: Romulus' director Fede Alvarez has a unique idea for a new 'Alien vs. Predator' movie The plot of a potential crossover is unknown, but the "Alien: Romulus" director Fede Alvarez explained how he would approach such a film when speaking to Deadline. "Maybe it's something I have to co-direct with my buddy Dan," he said in August 2024, referring to the "Predator: Badlands" director. "Maybe we should do like Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez did with 'Dusk Till Dawn.' I'll direct a half, and he'll direct another half." The concept of having two directors helm each half of a film sounds like a recipe for disaster. But considering both Alvarez and Trachtenberg appear too have a good handle on depicting their respective monsters, it could make for an interesting experiment. For now, fans will have to wait and see whether there are any more crossovers between the two when "Alien: Earth" starts streaming on August 12 and "Predator: Badlands" releases on November 7.
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Official Alien Role Playing Game Evolves On Kickstarter
Director Fede Alvarez (L) and actor Cailee Spaeny (R) on the set of the film, 'Alien: Romulus', ... More Budapest, Hungary, 2023. (Photo by) The Alien franchise has emerged from a cryosleep-like state the past few years. Alien Romulus provided a solid cinematic entry to the franchise last year. Alien: Earth hopes to continue the winning streak when it premieres on FX sometime later this year. Fans of tabletop role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons have had a lot to be excited by as well. Free League Publishing put out an official Alien Role Playing Game in December of 2019 as part of a fresh batch of space horror games. Now, the company has taken an updated version to Kickstarter. The Alien Role Playing Game casts players as humans on the edge of a hostile universe. They may be the crew of a space freighter, a band of Colonial Marines or the settlers of a corporate colony. Not only must they deal with the titular xenomorph and all the spin-offs from the other movies in the series but there are the harsh realities of frontier worlds and company policy that can be just as deadly. The game can be played in cinematic or campaign modes. Campaign games are the classic long term games where players might fight a space war or manage a settlement. Cinematic games are meant for one or two sessions full of tense moments, human intrigue and alien slaughter. One of the most innovate things about the game is how it handles stress and fear. Taking on stress gives a player stress dice which can make it easier to succeed as a character focuses up knowing that there's a deadly alien about. But too many stress dice make it easier for a character to freak out and fail hard, leaving them a weepy mess when the creature finally comes calling. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Alien Evolved Edition looks to refine the award winning game play of the original while also expanding it based on feedback from players over the last five years. The Kickstarter features three main titles on an ambitious release schedule. In addition, fans are excited to pick up official miniatures sets to paint and portray desperate battles between humans and Xenomorphs on the table top. The corebook offers refinements on stress, stealth rules, talents and more. It's also including material from Alien: Romulus such as weapons, technology and locations players can use in their own campaigns. It's also going through a refreshed look that keeps the gorgeous, brooding art while shifting to an easier to read layout. The Starter Set provided several materials that make running the game easier such as dice, reference sheets, gear cards and even a Xenomorph miniature. The box included an expanded edition of Hope's Last Day, the killer introduction adventure that's been played by thousands of Alien fans. It's a cinematic adventure that sticks players in the colony of Hadley's Hope in the worst possible time; before the events of Aliens take place but after the Xenomorphs have started taking over. Rapture Protocol is the first in a series of campaign boxed sets with maps, character cards and full-color maps. The players are a crew of a small freighter caught between human factions on a remote colony. Soon enough, the xenomorph appears to kick everything into a higher gear. As a long time fan of the franchise, I am a huge fan of this role playing game. I'm looking forward to see where they go with it in the next few years. Even with uncertainty looming in the tabletop games industry, I know Free League will put out an excellent update to their most popular game soon. Alien Evolved Edition is on Kickstarter until April 17th, 2025. Backer rewards are expected in late Q3 of this year.
