Alien: Romulus is not the only project that will expand the franchise due to the looming release of Alien: Earth on FX on Hulu in 2025.
As part of Disney's Investor Day presentation in December 2020, Disney officially announced FX's Alien, with Fargo and Legion's Noah Hawley attached as its showrunner. Ridley Scott (Alien, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant) is attached as executive producer.
In July 2024, FX's Alien was renamed as Alien: Earth (per Collider). The series marks the franchise's foray into TV and it is set between 2092 (one year before the events of 2012's Prometheus) and 2122 (the year when the Nostromo incident happened in 1979's Alien).
When Will Alien: Earth Release?
Alien: Earth's filming was initially scheduled to begin in March 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Per Deadline, filming began production in Thailand in July 2023, but without some of its cast due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes. The crew reportedly began filming scenes that didn't include SAG-affiliated actors at The Studio Park.
The same Deadline report noted that production adjusted its shooting schedule to delay the participation of SAG-AFTRA members who are part of the cast while other members associated with the UK acting union Equity were present in Thailand.
As for the WGA strikes, Deadline's source mentioned that the show's scripts weren't affected because they were completed before the strike started in May.
However, production was then halted in August 2023 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but Deadline shared that crew members were still present and sets were still being built.
Filming then resumed in Thailand in April and it wrapped in July 2024.
Speaking with The Wrap in November 2023, showrunner Noah Hawley shared an estimate of when the series could premiere on FX on Hulu, noting that the "air date [is] somewhere in the first half of [2025]:"
“The plan right now is to go back in January and be shooting in February, and looks like shoot until July or so, which puts the air date somewhere in the first half of ’25.”
When asked by The Hollywood Reporter in August if the series was still on track for 2025, Hawley was non-commital, noting that "there's a large visual effects component that takes time:"
"We just wrapped. I’m in [post-production,] editing away. Obviously, there’s a large visual effects component that takes time. But I couldn’t be happier with the show that we shot. If people wanted a television series based on the world of 'Alien,' I think I’m going to give them something special."
Given that filming did wrap in July, there is a strong chance that Alien: Earth is still on track to be released sometime in 2025.
Whether it could be released in early 2025 is still a question mark, but it's possible that it could be pushed to the latter half of next year to give time to its visual effects artist.
Who's Cast in Alien: Earth?
Alien: Earth has a stacked cast led by Sydney Chandler (per Deadline) whose credits include Don't Worry Darling, Pistol, and Apple TV+'s Sugar.
In November 2023, Deadline shared that Chandler's character is named Wendy, an individual with the body of an adult but has the consciousness of a child.
Alex Lawther (The End of the F*cking World) and Samuel Blenkin (Black Mirror) joined the cast in July 2023. Lawther is set to portray a soldier named CJ while Blenkin will bring a CEO named Boy Kavalier to life.
Essie Davis (The Babadook), Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger), and Kit Young (Shadow and Bone) are part of the cast as Dame Silvia, Slightly, and Tootles, respectively.
Foundation actress Sandra Yi Sencindiver will play a senior employee working for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation (aka "the company" in the movies).
Another big name who has joined the show's stellar cast is Timothy Olyphant (The Mandalorian). He will play a synthetic/android named Kirsh who will act as a mentor to Chandler's Wendy.
Here's an overview of the confirmed cast list (so far) of Alien: Earth:
- Sydney Chandler - Wendy
- Alex Lawther - CJ
- Samuel Blenkin - Boy Kavalier
- Essie Davis - Dame Silvia
- Adarsh Gourav - Slightly
- Kit Young - Tootles
- Timothy Olyphant - Kirsh
- Sandra Yi Sencindiver
- David Rysdahl
- Babou Ceesay
- Jonathan Ajayi
- Erana James
- Lily Newmark
- Diêm Camille
- Adrian Edmondson
- Moe Bar-El
What Will Happen in Alien: Earth?
Alien: Earth is the first project of the franchise that takes place in, well, Earth, but little is known about its plot details.
At the Television Critics Association press tour in February 2022, FX chief John Landgraf (via The Hollywood Reporter) revealed that the series "takes place before Ripley (Sigourney Weaver's iconic character)" from the movies:
"['Alien: Earth'] takes place before Ripley. It’s the first story in the Alien franchise that takes place on Earth. It takes place on our planet, near the end of this century we’re currently in — 70-odd years from now."
The FX boss also confirmed that the Xenomorph will be part of the series, heavily teasing, "There are some big surprises in store for the audience:"
"All I can tell you is Ripley won’t be a part of it, and neither will any other characters — other than the alien itself. Noah has an incredible ability to both find a way of being faithful and showing fidelity to an original creation, like to the Coen brothers [with 'Fargo'] or to Ridley Scott’s movie and James Cameron’s follow-up 'Aliens,' but also to bring something new that represents both an extension and reinvention of a franchise at the same time. He’s done a masterful job with 'Alien' as he did with 'Fargo.' There are some big surprises in store for the audience."
Given that the series is set in 2092, its unique place in the timeline allows exciting exploration of the lore surrounding the Xenomorphs and the Weyland-Yutani corporation way before the Nostromo incident that happened in 2122.
Landgraf continued to tease how "interesting" it is for the show to be set on Earth:
“Setting it on Earth is really interesting. We have to think forward about the future of the planet in terms of the environment, governance, technology and create and design a version of the planet in the future … Noah wants to do that in a distinctive and original way.”
Ridley Scott's prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant expanded on the mythology by diving deep into the origins of the Xenomorph, showcasing different versions of the creature created by a rogue android named David.
While these two prequel films are considered canon and seemingly decanonize the multiple Alien vs. Predator movies, it looks like Alien: Earth will not tie as much to the mythology and technology shown in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Noah Hawley spoke with Variety to explain the reasons why he decided to veer away from the technology tied to those prequels, noting that he prefers "the retro-futurism of the first two movies [Alien and Aliens]:"
"In the prequels, Ridley made the technology thousands of years more advanced than the technology of ‘Alien,’ which is supposed to take place in those movies’ future. There’s something about that that doesn’t really compute for me. I prefer the retro-futurism of the first two films, and so that’s the choice I’ve made — there’s no holograms. The convenience of that beautiful Apple store technology is not available to me.”
This means that Alien: Earth will be its own thing and it allows more freedom for its storytellers since the Nostromo incident has yet to happen.
What makes the show even more unique is the inclusion of the Xenomorph on Earth, marking the first time that the creature will be present on the planet outside of the Alien vs. Predator movies.
It seems as if the people working at the Weyland-Yutani corporation will have their first encounter with the Xenomorph.
This clash could potentially be the main reason behind the company's obsession with the creature, leading to the Nostromo crew's discovery of LV-426 in Alien.
Hawley also teased that the Xenomorph "may have existed for a million years" already in space, hinting that it is not David (Michael Fassbender's rogue AI in the prequels) who created the creature in the first place:
“Ridley and I have talked about this — and many, many elements of the show. For me, and for a lot of people, this ‘perfect life form’ — as it was described in the first film — is the product of millions of years of evolution that created this creature that may have existed for a million years out there in space. The idea that, on some level, it was a bioweapon created half an hour ago, that’s just inherently less useful to me. And in terms of the mythology, what’s scary about this monster, is that when you look at those first two movies, you have this retro-futuristic technology. You have giant computer monitors, these weird keyboards … You have to make a choice. Am I doing that?”
Hawley's comments support the idea that the creature already exists since there is a Xenomorph-looking mural in Prometheus which could prove to be the basis of David's design.
Alien: Earth Trailer
A teaser trailer was shown ahead of screenings of Alien: Romulus in the United States.
The nine-second trailer shows a reflection of Earth along the smooth head of a Xenomorph before it emerges in deep space, seemingly setting its sights on the planet.
It is unknown if there is only one Xenomorph that could be present in its looming invasion or if there could be more creatures joining the alien to wreak havoc.
Watch the trailer below:
Alien: Earth is set to release on FX on Hulu in 2025.
Read more about the Alien franchise:
Alien Romulus: Ending Explained & Biggest Spoilers from Plot
Alien Romulus Timeline Explained: When Does It Take Place In Franchise Canon?
Alien: Romulus' Human Xenomorph Hybrid Explained: Who Is the Ending Creature?
