Alien: Romulus director on fighting Ridley Scott’s notes: "It’s intimidating"
Fede Álvarez has taken the reins for the seventh entry in the beloved franchise – with Scott serving as a producer.
Stepping in to write and direct a new entry in one of the most beloved film franchises of all time must be a pretty nerve-wracking experience – and Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez has admitted he was occasionally "terrified" while crafting the new film.
Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott – who famously helmed the very first film in the series in addition to more recent prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant – serves as a producer on the new movie, and speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Álvarez explained that he was very anxious when the time came to show Scott the film.
"I think the right spirit here is, like, when you tackle it, and when you go in as a writer/directer, you have to come in with a sense of rebellion, in a way," he explained. "And you have to come in going like, ‘Oh, I'll show you how an Alien movie get's done.’ You got to have that spirit, right? And Ridley wants me to have that spirit when I go in."
He continued: "But then once you've made it and you have a cut, and then you go show it to them, that's when the humbling moment comes that you realise what you've done and like, Oh my God, you're terrified. Because how can you dare to pretend to show Ridley how an Alien movie is done? But, you know, that is the right spirit."
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He added that after Scott had seen the film and provided his notes, he took some of his feedback on board – but not necessarily all.
"I fight other ones," he said. "Like he wanted me to fight him on – every producer wants a director who has a strong point of view.
"That's what you always want, and that's the fun of it, and it's been truly a fascinating and amazing experience to work with Ridley, and also have [James] Cameron input at some point, when he was kind enough to watch the cut and give me his notes."
He added: "It's intimidating, but it should never be something that paralyses you because fear is the worst enemy of creativity."
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Romulus is the seventh film in the franchise and takes place between the events of the iconic first two instalments – Scott's Alien and Cameron's Aliens – with Cailee Spaeny leading a new cast of young space colonisers who find themselves in battle with xenomorphs after an ambitious mission goes awry.
Reviews for the new film have been largely positive, with RadioTimes.com's 4-star verdict calling it a "well directed, crowd-pleasing, appropriately gnarly film anchored by some terrific performances from its young cast".
Alien: Romulus is released in UK cinemas on Friday 16th August 2024.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
