Contenting the original creator of a cult work can be scary, very scary. And the director of ‘Alien: Romulus’ is good at the suspense and horror genre. The Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Álvarez, who has directed ‘No Respires’ and the remakes of ‘Infernal Possession’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, has dared with a new installment of a film classic (and there is already a trailer!) . After ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Alien: Covenant’, projects that were splashed by the blood of critics, tempers were a bit heated. Now, the director will have to demonstrate to the public whether his vision is correct or not… but what do Ridley Scott and James Cameron say?
Ridley Scott’s reaction has been known for months, since the director of ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Napoleon’ had the opportunity to see the first cut of the film last year. Álvarez stressed that everyone had told him that Scott was “really harsh in his assessments,” especially when it came to works originally created by him. “I was intimidated if he was going to tell me that he had destroyed his legacy,” but his intention was for the veteran filmmaker to look him in the eyes and tell him what he thought, without palliatives. “When he entered the room his whole reaction was: ‘Fede, what can I tell you? It’s fucking cool.’”
Cameron and Scott, two different perspectives
In interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Álvarez has reiterated that it was an intimidating situation. “Even if it were, it’s the best thing regarding working on something like that. It is a dream for all of us to sit with the masters of our art and have a conversation regarding what we have to do to learn and do better.” The director has assured that this film has given him this experience with Ridley Scott: “As far as the story is concerned, the first thing we did was tell him what I was planning to capture. Later, when he read it, we discussed the script. Later, when he saw it, we discussed my cut, so I consider each of those moments and those creative conversations with Ridley to be a milestone of my career and my life.”
And what happened to James Cameron? Álvarez has stated that he had already known him for a long time, but when he found out that he was working on ‘Alien: Romulus’ he started talking to the Uruguayan filmmaker. “I spoke with him regarding the script, he has seen the film and he loved it. I am fascinated because the comments of [Cameron y Scott] They are completely different”, they do not have any common point. They were all “very intelligent comments” from different perspectives.
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‘Alien: Romulus’, an independent film that takes place at this point in the chronology
No, ‘Alien: Romulus’ is not a continuation of ‘Coventant’, but rather a separate project that does not follow the plot guidelines of the most recent films. The new production takes place between ‘Alien: The Eighth Passenger’ and ‘Aliens: The Return’, the first two films in the saga. Hardly anything is known regarding the plot, although the trailer shows a space station, in which certain scientific experiments are taking place. Survival, the most primal horror, will once once more be part of the narrative.
At the time in which it takes place, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley was asleep, in a cryogenic dream. Therefore, those expecting a surprise appearance should know that the character did not wake up until several decades later. It’s already bad luck to wake up from such a deep sleep to have to face another monster like the one in ‘Aliens: The Return’, but that’s exactly what happened to him.
In addition to ‘Alien Romulus’, Disney+ is preparing a series set in the saga universe. The film will be released on August 16 only in theaters.