Alien: Romulus - Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) to write/direct

ianh

ianh

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As mentioned above, it seems to get the look and feel right - from the limited trailer TBF - but its very obviously got visual callbacks to both Alien and Aliens with the shot choices picked for the trailer. I'm intrigued but, as a huge "Alien" universe fan, I've been bitten so many times that I no longer trust the hand that feeds me so I'm tempering my excitement right now.
 

VincentHanna

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Further information: https://www.gamesradar.com/alien-romulus-trailer-breakdown-fede-alvarez-interview/

The Tech

Q: The first thing anyone watching the new trailer will be struck by is how your film’s retro-futuristic production design recalls the Nostromo. Is it your hope that Romulus will feel of a piece with Ridley Scott’s Alien?


A: It takes place 20 years after the first film. Technology in the world of Alien can change vastly, but I think it’s not dependent on time. It’s dependent on place. Where you are.

So the characters of this movie and the world are very blue-collar. The technology is still very low-tech and analog. And, look, I’m a kid from the ‘80s. Any monitor with some VHS tracking issues puts a lot of joy in my heart.
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Location
Weyland-Yutani, which is the big company in the Alien movies, has this obsession with Rome and Imperialist iconography. You really have to go deep into the canon, but a lot of the planets, and a lot of names come out of the early Roman Empire, either from rivers or cities.

And there’s a station where most of the story takes place. It’s called the Renaissance Station, and it’s made of two big models that are connected. One is Remus, the other one is Romulus. And that’s as much as I can tell you…
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CGI vs Practical
Q: One of the first shots we see after establishing the Renaissance is a swarm of Facehuggers bursting through a door. How much are you utilizing CGI versus practical creature effects?

A: Just like anybody else, I’ve been appalled by bad CG in movies that have ruined my experience of it. But I’m not against it. I think you have to do whatever’s best for the shot, and whatever technique does it better, you should do it.

We went to crazy extents in this movie to do things practically. We had Weta Workshop doing a lot of the Facehuggers. And not only that, we brought back the guys that worked on Aliens. Shane Mahan, who [sculpted] the Queen’s head himself, was the one in charge of building all the Xenomorphs for our movie.

And when I say "build", we built them. We did full animatronics for all the creatures in the movie. It was one of the best experiences in my career, just to see these guys that I admire so much, back [working together].

There were moments when we’d need nine puppeteers to make a creature work, and you had all those guys, now in their 60s, under the table. And I’m there with them because there’s not enough hands. I got to be under the table, puppeteering these things, with the guys that worked on the original Aliens. So that’s been the best part.

And then CG just comes when you really go, "Oh, if we do something here, we could do something really cool that the puppets never could." And you go there. But we really tried… and we really succeeded.
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Real sets
Q: Did that commitment extend to the sets as well?

A: We went out of our way to build our sets. There are no set extensions. Today, usually, you build the minimum amount, and you extend in CG. For me, it’s really about me traveling there physically, and being there. I was in that station which you saw in the trailer. I spent the best part of last year in that place.

You want to show up in the morning, and go, "Wow," and look down the hallways, and it goes as far as you can see in both directions. You can get lost walking inside those sets, which is the way Ridley described the set of the Nostromo. You can walk around the whole thing, and get lost in there, trying to find your way out.

That definitely happened here. We built everything until the last corner. In that respect, it was all old techniques. A lot of the approaches to effects, they were all based on way more old-school approaches to moviemaking.
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hudson86

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The new hugger mobility looks great.

Also the Ripley esq shot at the end with a pulse rifle, yes please.

End of the trailer said "Only in Theatres 16 8 24" , thought this was a Hulu exclusive? Has it been bumped up to a full theatrical release ?
 

Rroff

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Looks like they've leaned heavily on the movie which was originally floated as the concept for Alien 3, rather than what it ended up being.

Trailer has me interested.
 

mid_gen

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Apart from having a serious case of Incredibly-Generic-2020s-Cookie-Cutter-Movie-Trailer-Itis.....it does look quite promising.

A little concerned by how many 'action' shots there were.....Alien didn't have a lot of running around being chased etc, the tension was built more subtly.

The visuals of people being impregnated is pretty grim and something we've not seen before in film.
 

Mr Jack

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The trailer seems pretty empty - a by-the-numbers appeal to fans of the first two movies - but the comments from the director above are encouraging. Physical props aren't a panacea, and CGI isn't evil, but we've seen too many movies were they've descended into a tedious CGI fest lately, at least starting with physical stuff makes them ground it a little.

Hope level currently rising to around 4.
 
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