Alien: Romulus is headed to HBO Max next week. The film that helped revive the Alien franchise will make its debut on the streaming service in the United States on April 3, a move that follows Alien: Romulus dominating the HBO streaming charts internationally.
Alien: Romulus is the first Alien movie to hit theaters since Disney gained the rights to the 47-year-old sci-fi franchise via its acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The movie was a box office hit, earning $350.9 million worldwide on a budget of $80 million.
What Is Alien: Romulus About?
Alien: Romulus is set between the original Alien movie and its first sequel, Aliens. However, while it touches on some specific events from Alien, it is not a direct sequel to that story. Instead, Romulus introduces a new cast of characters, a group of young people who find themselves trapped on a space station with a Xenomorph.
Alien: Romulus proved a critical hit, earning a “certified fresh” Rotten Tomatoes score of 80% positive, and an 88% positive rating from the website’s users on the Popcornmeter. Reviews credit Romulus with managing to be duly reverent of the best films in the Alien franchise, while still introducing new ideas into the long-running sci-fi horror series.
Ridley Scott, who directed the first Alien, was also a fan of Romulus, according to director Fede Álvarez. “He was in the theater, and I wanted to see him right away,” Álvarez told Collider in 2024. “I really wanted to get his fresh reaction out of the film and what he felt. I went to see him, sat down, waited on the table, I had a notepad and a pen next to me just waiting just to hear whatever he had to say to write it down. I remember what his first reaction was: he walked in, and he said, ‘What can I say? It’s f***ing great.’ And then he said, ‘You have a big movie here.’”
Álvarez directed Alien: Romulus from a screenplay he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues. The film stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.
Will Alien: Romulus Get a Sequel?
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Alien: Romulus proved successful enough that Disney wasted little time putting a sequel into development. Álvarez likely will not direct Alien: Romulus 2, but was determined to write the script himself for a specific reason inspired by a notorious decision in Alien 3.
“I don’t think I was ever going to [direct Romulus 2]. We always knew right when we finished – this is one of those things where you come in and you do one, and get out. [James] Cameron, [David] Fincher… all those directors I love, they went and did one. Obviously, Ridley [Scott] created it; he has the right to make a bunch of them,” Álvarez said at the HorrorHound Weekend in February 2025.
He went on to say, “We did want to write it. Honestly, it’s because we love the characters we created, so we want to make sure no one kills them right at the beginning of the next one. They went and killed Hicks and Newt just like that [in Alien 3], hey, let’s not let that happen. We wrote it and made sure they stayed alive, and now we can let someone else make it.”
Alien: Romulus comes to HBO Max on April 3.
Release Date
August 16, 2024
Runtime
119 Minutes
Director
Fede Alvarez
