The horror genre has seen a resurgence in the last decade and one of the directors that many horror fans have fallen in love with is Fede Álvarez. After taking on Deadites in his 2013 Evil Dead reboot and creating his own unique horror-thriller franchise of his own in Don’t Breathe, it looks like Álvarez has found his next project. Reported exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter, Álvarez will write and direct a new stand-alone Alien film for 20th Century Studios and original series' director Ridley Scott will produce the project through his Scott Free banner. The new film will be made for Hulu, rather than theaters, as part of an ambitious plan for 20th Century to make ten films a year for the Disney-owned platform.
Not much is known about the film at this time, but THR’s sources say that it is not connected to the previous films in the franchise. Those same sources say that Álvarez is a massive fan of the series and that he casually pitched the idea for this film to Scott years ago. That idea apparently stayed in Scott’s head all these years later, and he called Álvarez last year asking him if he still wanted to do it. The Don’t Breathe director did not waste any time agreeing to the project and said yes.
It seems to be quite the idea as 20th Century Division President Steve Asbell said they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch.” He continued on by saying, “It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.” Asbell also talked about the Hulu aspect of the project and how that allows them not to compromise their vision for a theatrical release. He stated, “It’s not a film that has to be all things to all people with those gargantuan budgets. They get to be authentically what they are. And this is closer to its genre roots.”
While it is very disappointing that this film will not get a theatrical release given that horror is always better with an audience in a large dark theater, at least it sounds like the series is going back to its deep horror aesthetic. The original 1979 Alien was such a unique film as it was a mash-up of a claustrophobic haunted house thriller and a slasher monster movie. The subsequent films went for a more action-heavy approach starting with James Cameron’s Aliens. Alien 3 as well as Alien: Resurrection mainly followed suit with that direction. Scott would return to the franchise in 2012 with the critically divided Prometheus which was a more mythology-heavy prequel film focused on the lore of the Alien universe rather than a return to form for the series. Scott would return again for another prequel in 2017 for the last film in the franchise thus far, Alien: Covenant, which was a blend of Prometheus’ mythology and classic Alien claustrophobic terror. The franchise also currently has a limited series in the works for the FX Network.
It will be great to see Alien go full-blown horror again and if you are going to hire someone other than Scott to do it, Álvarez is a great choice. As mentioned previously, Álvarez already has experience rebooting a major horror franchise with Evil Dead which also successfully introduced now fan beloved new characters in that decade-old series. On top of that, 2016’s Don’t Breathe is hailed as a modern horror classic, and it actually has many similarities to the original Alien with its extremely tense claustrophobic vibe and the main characters being hunted by a monstrous force. Álvarez also co-wrote and produced its underrated sequel Don’t Breathe 2 last year and just this past month the director produced and co-wrote the story for the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre legacy sequel for Netflix.
Álvarez has experience with big franchises and streaming services, so that will most likely help this new film hit the ground running. Also, with Alvarez’s deep love for the franchise as well as his great eye for horrific visuals, it will be interesting to see what his take on the Xenomorphs are given that this sounds like a reboot and if characters like the iconic Ridley will make an appearance of some kind in the film. For all the latest on this new Alien film, stick with Collider.