With ‘Alien’ back in theaters, director teases how new film connects
LOS ANGELES >> Ridley Scott’s “Alien” was back in theaters Friday for its 45th anniversary and to get audiences excited about the new installment coming in August.
The Alien franchise has sunk its teeth into different genres over the years, but for “Alien: Romulus,” filmmaker Fede Álvarez wanted to take it back to its roots: Horror.
“It’s a return to form,” Álvarez told The Associated Press. “At its core, at its heart, it’s a horror thriller.”
The original two films were formative for Álvarez, known for the 2013 “Evil Dead” reboot and the 2016 horror “Don’t Breathe.” He recalled a “primal memory” of watching them on VHS and feeling like he was watching an R-rated “Star Wars.”
“It was a world that felt familiar, that I thought I knew, but it was going into way more adult and scary places,” he said.
The new film (opening Aug. 16) is set around the time of “Alien” and “Aliens,” focusing on a group of 20-somethings, including Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson and Isabela Merced, looking to escape their dull lives in a mining colony. But of course, it comes with some complications from that terrifying creature who likes to lurk in the corners.
He enlisted a lot of the behind-thescenes creatives and concept artists who worked on the Scott and James Cameron films to help get the look right. Sometimes, they were excited to use new technologies that weren’t available in the 1970s and ’80s. And other times, they realized the old school way is still the best way. Case in point: Álvarez said a big question was how they were going to get the set to melt when it’s hit with the alien’s blood.
“It’s not an easy CG thing to create,” he said. “It’s like it has to be practical.”
Luckily, special effects expert and creature creator Alec Gillis was there to help.