If you’ve seen the films of Fede Alvarez, you’ll know the man doesn’t mess around. His 2013 Evil Dead culminates in one of the bloodiest finales ever to grace the screen; his Don’t Breathe takes a juicy and brutal premise (home invaders sneak into a house they really shouldn’t have) and drives it straight to hell. So, handed the keys to the Alien saga, it’s not surprise to see that Alvarez is going straight for the jugular – this second trailer for Alien: Romulus is a foot-on-the-gas ripper, promising intense interstellar carnage set between the events of Alien and Aliens. Check it out:
Can open, facehuggers everywhere – this is a gripping look at what Alvarez has cooked up, offering up a little more of Priscilla's Cailee Spaeny as new protagonist Rain, and David Jonsson as her android brother-of-sorts Andy. But it’s mostly a vehicle for Xenomorphian horror – with rib-cracking chestbursters, subaquatic facehuggers poking fleshy tubes into mouths, and a full-grown alien beastie to boot. And that ringing-ear final stretch of the trailer, with Rain coming face-to-snapping-jawed-faced with the Alien itself, is strong stuff. Hopefully Alvarez can really bring a sense of terror back to one of cinema’s most nightmarish creatures.
The film, which Alvarez co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues, is produced by Ridley Scott himself, and also stars Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Archie Renaux, and Aileen Wu – and, according to the studio-approved blurb, is all about taking Alien “back to its roots”. Which means, thankfully, in cinemas (and not straight to Disney+, as initially intended) everyone will hear you scream from 16 August.