The Alien franchise launched with the tagline that in space, “no one can hear you scream.” But in the case of the new entry Alien: Romulus, it appears that while making an Alien movie, you absolutely can hear people scream, as Cailee Spaeney apparently did quite a bit of screaming, both on the set and even while doing ADR.
Spaeney appears in Alex Garland’s new movie Civil War this month, but she will also be a part of Alien: Romulus, the new movie by Fede Alvarez. The film is set between Ridley Scott’s original Alien and the James Cameron-directed sequel, making it the fourth movie if you were to watch the Alien movies in order. Considering the first two films are among the best science fiction movies ever made, the new film has a lot riding on it, which got Alvarerz to bring in some of the original VFX artists from Alien so that the new film looked just right, matching the films that came before. Spaeney told THR that the high-caliber talent meant some high-caliber effects, which were legitimately “horrifying” for the cast. She explained…
Because we had the best of the best, that also meant that we [as actors] had to watch those scenes play out right before our eyes, and it was truly disgusting and horrifying, which is great. So hopefully the audience appreciates that.
In an era of CGI where most actors don’t see the monsters until opening night, it certainly must have been a very different experience to work with the team that worked under Stan Winston, using the same practical effects that brought the Xenomorphs to life in Alien. While Cailee Spaeney calls the creatures disgusting and horrifying, she also said the experience was great. It sounds like Alien fans are in for something special.
The horror didn’t stop when production was over either. Apparently, the aliens look so great in Alien: Romulus that they still frightened Spaeney, even when she knew what was coming. She said that while watching the footage from the film during ADR dialogue recording, she was still terrified of them. She continued…
I was genuinely jumping and going, ‘Oh my God, no! This is terrible [in a good way]!’
If Alien: Romulus is scaring the hell out of the movie’s star the second time around, then that’s probably a good sign for fans who are excited to see it the first time. The movie certainly looks to be leaning strongly into the horror of the original Alien rather than the more action focus of Aliens, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Ridley Scott reportedly loves the new film, and he’s a man who isn’t shy about being critical when he doesn’t like a sequel to his work made by somebody else.
Alien: Romulus isn’t the only new piece of the franchise on the way, as an Alien prequel series is also on the way, so it’s a very exciting time to be an Alien fan. The Alien: Romulus release date is set for this August.