Ridley Scott and James Cameron both “loved” Alien: Romulus

Fede Alvarez says he was advised by the two leading directors of the saga.

Long before revealing the first teaser ofAlien: Romulus -scary as hell-, Ridley Scott said he found the film of Fede Alvarez “downright awesome”. The director told him about his idea while he was refining Don't Breathe, his thriller released in 2016 at the cinema. At that time, the director of the first opus of the saga, which revolutionized sci-fi cinema in 1979, was preparing his second prequel, Covenant.

In The Hollywood Reporter, Alvarez details the making this new page of the horror franchise. He says, for example, that he had the initial idea when he saw a scene cut fromAliensthe second opus directed by James Cameronreleased in 1986: a sequence where children run in the corridors of a colony, located on a planet currently being terraformed. He wanted to develop a story around these younger characters, destined to take up their parents' work and grow up on a planet without nature, without “real life”.

He then specifies that he shared his concept with Ridley Scott, who appreciated the idea because it offered a new point of view compared to previous ones. Alien. Fede says he was enormously supported by his producer, but also by Cameron.

Asked if Ridley Scott spent an hour complimenting him after seeing the first cut of RomulusFede Alvarez confides with pride:

“It's totally true. As intimidating as it is, that's the best thing about having the opportunity to work on a saga like this. For every director, the dream is to sit down with the masters , the best in your profession, and to discuss what we do, to learn alongside them to do even better. The process of creating Romulus definitely taught me a lot of things. At all levels: he was there from the writing, when I told him for the first time what we were planning to do. I was able to discuss the scenario in detail with him. Then when he saw a first version, we talked about editing. All these conversations with Ridley are for me the best moments of my career, and even of my life.

Fede Alvarez then recounts how James Cameron also advised him to conceive Romulus.

“James Cameron is someone I've met several times over the years, and when he found out I was going to work on this, we started talking about it. He also agreed to discuss the script with me. Then he saw the film… and he loved it. What's fascinating is that their feedback on my film was very different (laughs). Their notes were never repeated. No matter what Ridley advised me, Cameron said something else entirely. They both made very clever comments, their remarks on the film or its direction were relevant… but they clearly did not have the same approach. It's fantastic to have been able to make this film and to have had the chance to work with them like that.”

Worn by Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (You and me ?), Isabella Merced (The Last of Us), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (Aftersun) and Aileen Wu (this is her first film role), Alien: Romulus will be released on August 14 in French cinemas.

According to Sigourney Weaver, Aliens, the Return of James Cameron is Ripley's best film