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“alienThe next installment in the “Alien” series, “Alien: Romulus,” brought blood, gore and even chestbursters to San Diego. Comic-Con.
Director Fede Alvarez, along with cast members Cailee Spaeny, David Johnson, Archie Renaud, Isabella Merced, Spike Fern and Eileen Wu, appeared in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday to talk about the upcoming “Alien,” which hits theaters on August 16.
The film takes place between Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s popular sequel Alien 2. The story follows “a group of young people on a distant planet who come face to face with the most terrifying lifeforms in the universe.”
Three new clips from the film solidify the series’ blend of sci-fi and horror.
The first clip begins with a series of horrifying scenes as the newest “Alien” colonists face off against xenomorphs, facehuggers and chestbursters, while an ominous rendition of the verse “I Have A Rendezvous With Death” plays at the beginning. Andy, played by David Johnson, is attempting to repair himself using parts from another artifact that was torn in half. As the colonists attempt to repair him, they discover the room is filled with alien pods, which hatch and begin attacking the crew.
In another clip, Spaeny’s Layne Carradine is trapped in an escape craft with Eileen Wu’s Navarro, and they both discover, to their horror, that there’s an alien inside her – which soon emerges from her chest.
Just when you thought Hall H had been treated (or terrified?) enough, an audience question came up, with an attendee asking if those onstage had ever had nightmares about the aliens in the film, to which Alvarez responded by sharing that he had indeed had a nightmare as the exhibit hall went dark: red lights and sirens swept through Hall H, followed by an animatronic facehugger running across the stage and an actor succumbing to a chestburster.
After the skit, there was final footage of Spaeny’s Rain trying to escape down the ship’s corridor, where a fully formed Xenomorph had just hatched. Everyone in attendance was given an Alien facehugger mask and posed for a giant photo in Hall H with the cast and Alvarez.
“I think we all understood the pressure behind it,” Merced, who plays Kay in the films, said about joining the iconic series.
Johnson added that the cast’s goal was to “take the pressure off” of being part of the “Alien” world.
The universe’s fathers, Ridley Scott and Guillermo del Toro, appeared on television to ask Alvarez and his cast members questions, including whether they could rank their films from best to worst. Alvarez avoided naming a worst film, saying the original 1979 Alien was his favorite and that Alien vs. Predator: Requiem was probably “not that good.”
The original Alien stars Sigourney Weaver as astronaut Ellen Ripley as her crew faces off against a terrifying alien in space. Alien continues Ripley’s story as she awakens from cryosleep to once again face off against a terrifying alien threat during a mission to a remote space colony. Subsequent films in the Alien series include Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant and the 2004 crossover film Alien vs. Predator.
Watch the full Hall H stunt here:
