20th Century Studios has announced that its new Alien movie Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown) is set to begin production in Budapest on March 9.
The cast has also expanded, adding David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), Aileen Wu (Away from Home), and the recently announced Isabela Merced (Rosaline). The latter is probably the biggest star, but some newly revealed plot details might go some way in explaining why the reboot hasn't enlisted an A-List cast.
"In this ninth entry in the immensely popular and enduring film series," reads the official synopsis, "a group of young people on a distant world find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe."
It sounds like we're going back to basics, a relief after the convoluted events of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Don’t Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with his frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues. Ridley Scott, who directed the original Alien and produced and directed the aforementioned latest two instalments, and Michael Pruss (Boston Strangler) are producing under their Scott Free banner.
Brent O’Connor (Bullet Train), Elizabeth Cantillon (Persuasion) and Tom Moran (The Donut King) all serve as executive producers.
We don't have a release date for the movie and it's unclear whether this will be a theatrical release or, like Prey, one that heads straight to Hulu.
It's previously been reported that Alvarez pitched a new Alien movie to Scott several years ago, with the legendary filmmaker contacting him a couple of years ago to make it a reality. We'd be shocked if there isn't some connective tissue to the original franchise here, but don't anticipate any of these characters having "Ripley" as a surname!
Stay tuned for updates on the Alien reboot as we have them.