Following the release of Alien: Romulus’ trailer, writer and director Fede Alvarez spoke about how the frontier life of the family and children featured in Hadley’s Hope in Aliens: Special Edition had inspired the kind of characters he wanted to explore in his film. Talking to Entertainment Weekly in a new interview, Alvarez spoke more about the younger cast of Alien: Romulus and teased how the myth of Romulus factors into the character dynamics.
“My first instinct, just to try something different that hasn’t been seen before, was to approach it from the angle of characters who are not professionals or scientists; they’re not even adults. I liked this concept of putting people in the front seat of the story who are closer to what the audience is — not that the audience is young, more that the audience is completely virgin to the realities of space. When the characters are professionals, they know more than you do. But when they’re still in their early 20s, they don’t know how to operate the f—ing airlock.
All their parents probably worked on the same ship when they were kids, and that’s how they got to know each other. There’s a lot of history between them because they’re the only family they have. They truly act more like surrogate siblings; some of them even lived under the same roof. A lot of the big themes of the movie are about siblinghood and what does that mean? The Romulus of it all, and the bigger plot with Weyland-Yutani, is actually connected to that as well.”
Entertainment Weekly’s new interview also included two new images from the film, including another look at the damaged Xenomorph we’ve seen in other promotional material, as well as a new image of Cailee Spaeny’ Rain Carradine and Archie Renaux as Tyler in a pose that seems very reminiscent of Aliens’ scene in which Corporal Hicks shows Ellen Ripley the ins-and-outs of the M41A Pulse Rifle.
Talking further on the family dynamics at play in Alien: Romulus, Spaeny also elaborated on the role reversal from the usual portrayal of synthetic characters in the Alien films and how Rain grew up with an artifical brother.
“In this one, Rain’s brother is a synthetic. She loves him like her brother, but there are difficulties growing up with a synthetic, and some of the challenges that she faces during the film are related. That relationship dynamic is really interesting to flip on its head; it was really fun to explore having a synthetic as a family member and the questions it poses. David Jonsson, who plays that character, was so brilliant and really nailed that performance.”
Spaeny also re-iterated the practical nature of the film, talking about how the veteran effects crew would tell the younger cast members stories of working on the previous films, as well as the effect that sharing the frame with an actual Alien had on her.
“I remember we did one specific take of a scene where I’m with the Xenomorph and [director Fede Álvarez] kept it rolling for about…oh God, it felt like half an hour, but it was probably only 10 minutes. It was just pure terror for 10 minutes straight, with the Xenomorph right there. Fede was great at throwing in little surprises like that and catching us actors off-guard.”
Xenomorph
Head on over to Entertainment Weekly to check out the entire article. Thanks to Nightmare Asylum for the news.
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If you missed it, there's also subtle ribbing on that section as well.
Ahh, gotcha 😁👍 loving the nostalgia the Romulus head speculation is bringing to mind when thinking if the old toys though; I really can't wait to see the new alien in full... spent so much time focusing on the head I haven't considered the body design yet... more big chap? Stompy? Maybe a half way between one of those and the Covenant xeno (fleshy/biomechanical mix).. damnit I want to go into cryo sleep until August 16th 🤣
Interesting that you mention those toys, as whilst I posted the Alien Resurrection 10" Warrior Drone for the semi-partitioned head dome design, I'd forgotten that the xeno in the Aliens vs Predator set (from the 12" range) also has the sort of spike at the top of the frontal dome that @Mike's Monsters mentioned is seen in Romulus 😃
https://i.imgur.com/8tPW5Xf.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/mA3lOgv.jpeg
I wonder if Fede perhaps was inspired in part by the Kenner/Hasbro toys. 😊
Interesting name choice.
I still have one of these from when I was a kid
I'm very curious as to what role he'll play on the station, not being part of the Corbelan's crew. What will his interactions with Andy be like? Will he be under the same Special Orders Ash was? Will he have played a part in the demise of the Renaissance station? Or are we going to see a benevolent/helpful "Ash"?
https://i.imgur.com/T1ZW824.jpeg
No rubbers, no women, no guns... But we do have a thing for A3 baby.
Yes, join us! We have no f**king ice cream! 🤣
Don't you wanna join the Alien 3 cult club instead ?
Then you are not a part of this fanbase! Begone!
Lol who's "we" ? I'm certainly not a part of it.
No. What we DO want is a continuation!
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The recent still of the two actors using the gun recalling Ripley and Hicks, along with Spaeny in the elevator in the trailer, really don't give me confidence this will be much more than a memberberry salad with some neat setpieces thrown in.
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It's just shitty midquel energy.
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I'd like to be able to make an informed decision before seeing the film, preferably because the production has been transparent.
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I mean, sure, he might have changed his mind, but he clearly hadn't granted his likeness for a long time. There's no reason companies wouldn't have used it if it came part and parcel with making Kane figures.
The key point is that an actor's likeness is something that has to be released for specific usage by the actor and them appearing in a movie does not grant a studio carte blanche to do whatever they want.
Holm clearly didn't have an issue with using his likeness for merchandise.
Same with a certain android.
NECA has released a version of Kane in the spacesuit WITH his likeness.
But I agree, had the final act taken 10-15 minutes longer to really ramp up the tension, I think it would've been a more successful finale.
It was in one of the promo trailers 'She won't go quietly' here's the link;
https://youtu.be/d8LJSuO4aXA?si=al133mtWItTt6Vhw
:-)
That "4 meters above you" it's from the red corridor scene?
Agreed! I also lamented losing the "4 meters above you" scene... I always felt like whole baiting the Alien on the Covenant felt like it should have been longer (they disposed of it with ease in minutes in what usually takes entire movies). I know it's not the case, but it kinda feels like there's a good 20minutes extra held back and not released in deleted scenes for a 'Director's Cut' double dip that never came due to lower than expected reception by audiences.