Fede Alvarez revealed that he’s decided not to return as the director for the upcoming “Alien Romulus” sequel, although he did help pen the script…
Fede Alvarez is still involved with the upcoming sequel to “Alien Romulus” but he’s no longer directing the film.
Following the smash success of the 2024 legacy sequel that earned over $350 million at the box office, which led to 20th Century Studios immediately ordering another film, Alvarez ultimately decided not to direct the movie, although he’s still helping to pen the script. Alvarez revealed his decision during an appearance at Halloween Horror Nights where he offered a brief update on plans for the “Alien” sequel.
“We just finished the script, actually, for a sequel for Romulus. But I’m gonna pass the torch on this one as director,” Alvarez told Too Fab “I’m going to produce it, with Ridley Scott, we’re gonna produce it together and we’re right now trying to find a new filmmaker to come in.
“I think that’s usually what has happened, except for Ridley, filmmakers come, you make one and you pass the baton to the next one. But we wrote the story because we really love what we started with Romulus and we want to continue the story. We love the story and now we just want to find a director that really wants to go for the jugular.”
Of course, Ridley Scott did direct the original “Alien” that was released in 1979 but the sequel didn’t drop until seven years later in 1986 and that was headed up by James Cameron with the film simply titled “Aliens.” Cameron’s film became a massive success and a fan favorite after following up on Scott’s original movie.
Now Scott did eventually return to the “Alien” franchise with the prequel films starting with “Prometheus” and he remains a producer on all of the major projects set in that universe.
With Alvarez stepping aside, there’s no word yet on who might take on the director’s chair for “Alien Romulus” but the film remains a high priority for 20th Century Studios, especially given the current success of Noah Hawley’s FX series “Alien Earth,” which is only keeping the franchise alive and popular between films.
As far as directing goes, Alvarez says he has another project in the works but it’s an original story rather than working on existing intellectual property, which is what he did with his “Evil Dead’ reboot as well as the legacy sequel for “Alien Romulus.”
“I want to work on a personal project that me and my co-writer, we’ve been keeping on the back burner for a while and we feel it’s the right time to go and work on an original,” Alvarez said.
The search continues for a new director for “Alien Romulus” but at least now the script is completed and the project is moving ahead as scheduled.
