Alien: Romulus Brought Back The Team That Built The Original Alien Queen
Consider this a rite of passage for the "Alien" franchise. Any time a new movie is set to debut, the most pressing question on the minds of fans typically manifests around how the Xenomorph design will look this time around. Every movie has brought its own twist on the formula of H.R. Giger's classic original conception, either opting for a more animalistic look (as in "Alien 3") or more like an unholy mash-up prototype (on display in both "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant") that mostly only hints at the well-known creature from the original. But arguably no director added to the lore and made it their own quite like James Cameron did with "Aliens," introducing the concept of the Xenomorph queen and reimagining the species as an insect-like hive.
While the rest of us are still coming down from the high produced by the excellent "Alien: Romulus" teaser, director Fede Álvarez has already addressed many of the biggest concerns fans undoubtedly had. While we don't get a real look at his take on the xenomorph in motion (the official image above comes directly from the studio), that isn't stopping him from teasing the "perfect organism" that's caused so much death and destruction throughout the "Alien" universe.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the horror filmmaker revealed that he's taking his cues from Cameron:
"We brought back the team that worked on 'Aliens,' the Stan Winston team. They were all guys in their early 20s back then, and if you look at some behind-the-scenes footage, you'll see the three of them sitting there talking about how they built the Alien Queen. They have all these big companies of their own now because they've become masters of their craft, but I went out of my way to make sure I got each one."
'We're faithful to the spirit of the original movies'
Everything about "Alien: Romulus" sounds like a return to the franchise's roots, in more ways than one. Not only does the horror imagery and claustrophobic sets evoke Ridley Scott's "Alien," but now we know that director Fede Álvarez is bringing back the actual craftspeople who had a direct hand in bringing the xenomorph queen to life in James Cameron's "Aliens," as well. After certain complaints that recent movies like "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant" relied a bit too much on digital visual effects to depict their respective xenomorphs, fans can rest assured that the new movie will bring a mix of new and old-school filmmaking. As Álvarez went on to say:
"We've got puppeteering, animatronics, all the old-school techniques. We had the right guys because they worked on the originals. So, for some creatures, we needed those guys to nail the look and make them exactly as you've seen them in the past. But then when we needed something new, we had those guys as well, so that we made sure we're faithful to the spirit of the original movies."
When in doubt, filmmakers can do a lot worse than to go right back to the source. "Aliens" famously made use of special-effects mastermind Stan Winston to translate Cameron's ambitious concepts to the big screen and help lend a sense of verisimilitude to the proceedings, and the final result is one of the most technologically impressive movies ever made. The expectations aren't quite as imposing for "Alien: Romulus," which merely needs to feel like a return to form for a franchise that continues to hold so much storytelling potential, but it sure doesn't hurt to take a page out of the James Cameron playbook.
"Alien: Romulus" will (chest)burst into theaters August 16, 2024.