Alien: Romulus's chestburster scene was inspired by David Attenborough nature documentaries, says director Fede Alvarez

Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez has made no secret of the fact that the sci-fi horror sequel is piggybacks off a deleted scene from James Cameron‘s Aliens. One particular moment, though, found inspiration in a much more surprising place: nature documentaries.

Breaking down the film’s iconic chestburster scene – which you can see in the movie’s trailer – in the new issue of Total Film, which hits newsstands on Thursday, July 19 and features the sci-fi horror on the cover, Alvarez recalls how the cast and crew would narrate the Xenomorph’s movements on set. Much like David Attenborough would in the likes of Blue Planet or Planet Earth…

“It is done almost like a nature documentary,” Alvarez says of the sequence, which required nine puppeteers to achieve. “While we were seeing it on set we were joking, [like] ‘The creature is coming out slow. It’s looking for the scent of the mother…’ The creature’s not trying to be scary. The creature is trying to get the fuck out of that cocoon, that happens to be a person. It’s almost like this is more realistic in a way, but without betraying all the beautiful things of the original designs.”

Starring Isabela Merced, Eileen Wu, Archie Renaux, David Jonsson, and Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny, Alien: Romulus takes place in the 57 years between Ridley Scott’s Alien and the aforementioned Aliens. It follows the latter’s Rain Carradine, as she leads a team of young volunteers who swap their humdrum life on a mining colony for a exploratory scavenging mission. The important task takes a dark turn, however, when they come face to face with the most terrifying lifeform in the cosmos.

Alien: Romulus lands in cinemas on August 16. You can read more about it, and a whole lot else besides, in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, July 19.

Check out the covers below:

The xenomorph on the cover of Total Film's Alien: Romulus issue — (Image credit: 20th Century Studios/Disney)

Pre-order the issue here to bag your copy, or click here to subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive. You’ll get every issue before it’s in stores, and you’ll get subscriber-exclusive covers.