Alien: Romulus release date, cast, and everything else you need to know about the new movie

There are still a few months to go before Alien: Romulus arrives on the big screen, but we couldn’t be more excited. The movie is the seventh installment in the Alien franchise and the first entry since 2017’s Alien: Covenant and, this time, Evil Dead helmer Fede Álvarez is taking a seat in the director’s chair – so expect plenty of screams and scares.

Set between the events of the first and second movies, Alien: Romulus centers around a group of young explorers in an abandoned research facility where they come face to face(hugger) with some familiar foes. While the movie is predictably still shrouded in a suitable amount of mystery, we have a trailer to dissect and some exclusive quotes from star Cailee Spaeny and Álvarez, as well as everything you need to know about the film’s release date and the rest of the cast list.

Alien: Romulus release date

Alien: Romulus will be released in cinemas on August 16, 2024. The film was initially going to get a straight-to-streaming release on Hulu, but this was switched to a theatrical release right before filming kicked off.

Alien: Romulus trailer

The first Alien: Romulus teaser trailer gave us a short but sweet idea of what to expect from the movie – bloodcurdling screams, plenty of blood, and some gnarly Facehuggers. The trailer opens with some shots of abandoned corridors, while voices cry out for help in the background. “Help! Someone help me, please!” someone shouts. “No, no, I don’t… I don’t know what it is!” says another, while a third cries, “Get it away from me!” Cailee Spaeny’s Raines gets a very cool introduction, too, as she steps into frame holding a pulse rifle in an homage to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley in Aliens. You can read director Fede Álvarez go long on the trailer here.

Alien: Romulus plot

Alien Romulus

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Alien: Romulus is set between the events of Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron‘s Aliens. “We were talking about, ‘How could this be a child of the two?’ So we have those heightened moments, but then proper horror,” Spaeny told Total Film. Álvarez has also described the movie as a “survival horror.”

The film is set to follow a group of young space colonizers who find themselves getting up close and personal with the xenomorph while scavenging a derelict research station, the Renaissance – and it seems like Spaeny’s character Raines seems set to follow in the footsteps of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. “I definitely did everything that I could to bring that character to life. Watching Sigourney play that role – she’s part of the changing of the game that those films did,” Spaeny told Total Film. “I could never be her. But I injected whatever I have in me into that character, and tried to make it three-dimensional – as three-dimensional as possible. So I hope that that’s there, and it comes alive.”

Alien: Romulus is a standalone story, too, according to Álvarez. “This is the way this movie works: if you haven’t seen any Alien movie ever, you’ll have a great time,” he told Total Film. “You won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything. But if you’ve seen one or more – oh, boy, you’ll have a blast. At least, I hope you will! The reality is that it is a standalone story, but it’s filled with references to every movie. It is truly a love letter to all the other movies.”

If you were wondering about the relevance of the title, Álvarez confirmed that it’s inspired by the myth of Romulus and Remus. “If people aren’t familiar, it’s the creation myth of Rome. Romulus killed Remus. It’s not a siblinghood that went down the right path. [Alien: Romulus] is a film about siblinghood. A lot of the character stories are related to siblinghood,” he teased.