With nearly 45 years of history across film, comics, and plenty of other mediums, director Fede Alvarez has plenty to pull from for the latest entry in the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus. However, it was the original two, and arguably most beloved, films the director admitted played the biggest part in influencing Romulus and how he went about crafting the Xenomorph’s latest story.

Alvarez spoke about the process of finding a narrative and tonal direction for Alien: Romulus, specifically if it should pay homage to Ridley Scott’s original 1979 sci-fi horror classic or the more action-packed James Cameron directed sequel. After mulling it over for some time, Alvarez told Empire that he stumbled upon a simple solution – channel both films.

“To ask an Alien fan to choose between them is a perverse question,” Alvarez told Empire. “So I thought, ‘How do I do both?’” Get ready, then, for a film that aims to conjure the slow-build scares of Alien with the oh-god-they’re-everywhere assault of Aliens, set at a point between the events of those original two movies.”

He added that this influence extended into the overall look of the film, with the space station Romulus is set on sharing design aspects of the Nostromo and the infested colony of Hadley’s Hope.

“There’s a moment where the characters are walking around areas familiar from the Nostromo,” Alvarez said. “Then they cross through that building and on the other side: boom! You’re in a hallway that looks like Hadley’s Hope [from Aliens].”

Alien: Romulus taking influence from the first two films in the franchise also makes sense from a narrative perspective due to the new film being set in between Alien and Aliens. It can be seen in what has been shown in the trailers released, with swarms of facehuggers and teases of multiple Xenomorphs akin to the hive Ellen Ripley and the colonial marines faced in Aliens while maintaining the tension and isolation the crew of the Nostromo felt as they were stalked by a single Xenomorph in Alien.

Terror in Space

Alien: Romulus serves as the seventh entry in the near-45-year-old franchise, taking place at some point in the 57-year gap between the events of Alien and Aliens.

The new film follows a young crew of colonists who arrive with cargo in tow at Renaissance Station, a massive space station split between the newer Romulus section and partially abandoned Remus section. However, they quickly discover the station overrun with terrifying alien lifeforms that begins to hunt down the crew one-by-one.

Cailee Spaney leads the relatively young cast of up-and-comers as Rain Carradine, though little else is known about the character. David Jonsson co-stars as Andy, an android who Alvarez described as a sort of foster brother and “caretaker” for Rain. The cast is rounded out by Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Feam, and Aileen Wu.

Alien: Romulus is scheduled to release in theaters on August 16, 2024.