Alien is one of our weirder mega-franchises. Ridley Scott’s 1979 original was a nasty claustrophobic thriller that Scott himself once called a “haunted house movie in space.” It was followed by sequels that maintained its slasher format to exceedingly brutal degrees. When Scott returned to usher the franchise into the 21st century, he did something unexpected: He took a sharp left turn into cerebral sci-fi, delivering a ballsy prequel that delivered a cynical interpretation of humanity’s place in the universe. Prometheus and Scott’s even bleaker sequel, Alien: Covenant, were somewhat rejected by audiences who just wanted to watch a gross alien murder a bunch of people. So it makes sense that 20th Century Studios execs, in a panic over preserving one of their last staying pieces of IP, called on Fede Álvarez, whose breakout hit Don’t Breathe was a nasty claustrophobic thriller that practically screams “Hey, this guy could make a solid Alien movie.”
