Alien: Romulus sequel confirmed – Fede Alvarez’s plans explained

The Xenomorphs are back, and they’re here to stay: an Alien: Romulus sequel has just been confirmed, so here’s everything we know about the follow-up.

Acclaimed director Fede Alvarez has made a pretty great Alien movie, and the Romulus ending introduces new monsters and concepts that could easily feed further stories.

Its place in the Alien timeline certainly leaves some space for more, too. With seven movies already in the tank, will we get another entry in the franchise on the back of this latest success?

Alien: Romulus sequel in development

An Alien: Romulus sequel is officially in the works, according to 20th Century Studios boss Steve Asbel.

“We’re working on a sequel idea now. We haven’t quite closed our deal with Fede [Alvarez], but we are going to, and he has an idea that we’re working on,” he said.

“The two survivors, Rain and Andy, played by Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson, were real highlights of the film. And so I always think of it like, ‘Wow, where do people want to see them go next?’ We know there’s going to be aliens. We know there’s going to be great horror set pieces. But I fell in love with both of them and I want to see what their story is.”

It seemed like an inevitability. The sci-fi movie took over $108 million in its opening weekend, against a reported $80 million budget. That’s pretty good going, and the film is certainly getting people talking – for better or worse – so the Alien: Romulus box office should continue to thrive in the coming weeks.

With that in mind, and the general popularity of Alien as a franchise, it’s not surprising that another entry is in the works. That said, Romulus ended in such a way that, if it never got a follow-up, it would still work on its own. But, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is still alive by the end, so there’s every chance she returns to continue her story in much the same way Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley did, as a survivor of the Xenomorph.

Fede Alvarez wants Alien vs Predator

While it wouldn’t necessarily be a direct sequel to Romulus, Fede Alvarez has publicly stated he wants to direct another Alien movie. The catch is, he wants to work with Prey director, Dan Trachtenberg, to make a new Alien vs Predator flick.

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Speaking to Deadline, Alvarez said: “It depends on how well this does… it would be something I’d maybe have to co-direct with my buddy Dan [Trachtenberg]. Like a Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez on From Dusk Till Dawn thing. I do one half, he does the other half. If people want to see that.”

Prey came out in 2022 to rave reviews. The monster action movie offered fans a stylish, gnarly prequel to the Predator story, and there’s plenty of talk of Prey 2 being in the works.

Trachtenberg himself told Dexerto that any potential AvP movie would be “far down the road,” but that was before the success of Romulus possibly changed the conversation.

There had been plans for Alien vs Predator 3 way back when, but the critical panning of the second movie in that series, twinned with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, killed the idea indefinitely.

Let’s see if Alvarez gets his wish. We’d be front and center if he and Trachtenberg did join forces for a new movie, that’s for sure. Until then, check out our Alien: Romulus review, how Ian Holm returned for Romulus, or see what’s going on with Alien: Earth.