New Earth-set "Alien" TV series coming to FX

[Andrew NDB]

Coming from Noah Hawley, the showrunner of Legion and Fargo.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/earth-set-alien-tv-series-coming-to-fx/

[neatoman]

Isn't the whole point of the series that the first four movies (as well as the prequels too I guess) that the Aliens need to be kept away from earth? Because their rapid reproduction means earth would be ****ed if they ever got there. If the idea here is that they've finally reached earth, then the characters will be fighting a pointless battle. Or is the idea that WY are sending out different parties into space to find various different aliens for experimentation, and earth is just an HQ that pops up in every episode?

[TigerClaw]

Isn't the whole point of the series that the first four movies (as well as the prequels too I guess) that the Aliens need to be kept away from earth? Because their rapid reproduction means earth would be ****ed if they ever got there. If the idea here is that they've finally reached earth, then the characters will be fighting a pointless battle. Or is the idea that WY are sending out different parties into space to find various different aliens for experimentation, and earth is just an HQ that pops up in every episode?
You have to take into account the company Weyland-Yutani was responsible for this entire mess. They wanna bring these aliens to earth and weaponize them. They are putting all its employees at risk doing this. They don't care if somebody is killed. all they care about is bringing them to earth. They are a shady company with an agenda.

I bet the TV show will explore this more in depth

[neatoman]

You have to take into account the company Weyland-Yutani was responsible for this entire mess. They wanna bring these aliens to earth and weaponize them. They are putting all its employees at risk doing this. They don't care if somebody is killed. all they care about is bringing them to earth. They are a shady company with an agenda.

I bet the TV show will explore this more in depth

I'm aware of that but if the aliens are already on earth, what chance do the protagonists even have of getting them off earth? Or even just surviving for that matter? Bring a single alien to earth and if you fail to kill before it can start abducting people, you'll soon have a colony of them.

[TigerClaw]

I'm aware of that but if the aliens are already on earth, what chance do the protagonists even have of getting them off earth? Or even just surviving for that matter? Bring a single alien to earth and if you fail to kill before it can start abducting people, you'll soon have a colony of them.
The question is where does this show take place in the timeline? Prometheus and Alien Covenant were prequels. Alien Resurrections was the last movie chronologically.

[Andrew NDB]

The question is where does this show take place in the timeline? Prometheus and Alien Covenant were prequels. Alien Resurrections was the last movie chronologically.

The answer is "not far in the future," they've said. So before Prometheus and all of that. Somehow.

[neatoman]

The answer is "not far in the future," they've said. So before Prometheus and all of that. Somehow.

OK, we can assume that AVP is non-canon because clearly Prometheus did... But then... Are Prometheus and Covenant canon then? God... I thought this sort of fluid canonicity thing would stay in comic book/video game form.

[Leo656]

According to the people who make movies and TV shows, you're not supposed to think about it so much, and if you do, you're a nerd. "We don't make sh*t for nerds, bruh."

That's pretty much what it boils down to.

That's where the entertainment industry is now. A bunch of "geek culture" movies and TV shows being put together by people who can't read.

[frank_one]

Are Prometheus and Covenant canon then? God... I thought this sort of fluid canonicity thing would stay in comic book/video game form.Ridley Scott is involved as executive producer through his Scott Free company, so they're canon... I guess :-?

[Andrew NDB]

Difficult to get excited about, really.

Is it a ship of Colonial Marines in the far future, bug-hunting world to world? Is it the realization of the Blomkamp "Alien 5" with Ripley and Newt and all that? Do we get to finally see the Alien homeworld? Do we get the wrapup of what David was doing at the end of Covenant? Do we get to see how that fossilized Engineer ended up on LV-426 with that queen at last? Do we get to explore the Engineers' culture and planet and why they wanted to wipe us out 2000 years ago?

Basically, a "no" to all of those. Instead, "how about some stuff on Earth in the year 2030 with probably scientists dicking around and accidentally make Aliens?"

[frank_one]

What will the tagline be for this one?
"On Earth everyone can hear you scream."
Nah.

[Andrew NDB]

What will the tagline be for this one?
"On Earth everyone can hear you scream."
Nah.

That was the poster for AVPR.

https://www.avpgalaxy.net/2007/10/05/uk-avp-requiem-poster/

[TigerClaw]

Difficult to get excited about, really.

Is it a ship of Colonial Marines in the far future, bug-hunting world to world? Is it the realization of the Blomkamp "Alien 5" with Ripley and Newt and all that? Do we get to finally see the Alien homeworld? Do we get the wrapup of what David was doing at the end of Covenant? Do we get to see how that fossilized Engineer ended up on LV-426 with that queen at last? Do we get to explore the Engineers' culture and planet and why they wanted to wipe us out 2000 years ago?

Basically, a "no" to all of those. Instead, "how about some stuff on Earth in the year 2030 with probably scientists dicking around and accidentally make Aliens?"
In the Investor thing. I believe they mention that the action would be the like the 2nd Aliens.

But how much can they push the mythology. In Prometheus we learned when they come from. Then Alien Covenant took it further and they were the result of David doing experiments.

So the mystery behind where the Xenomorphs came from was demystified thanks to that movie.

I wish these movies explored the Engineers more deeply so we can find out where they came from. Since they were the result why Earth had life.

[Andrew NDB]

In the Investor thing. I believe they mention that the action would be the like the 2nd Aliens.

They did. Although... on Earth, close to our present day? What are they going to be actioning?

[frank_one]

That was the poster for AVPR.

https://www.avpgalaxy.net/2007/10/05/uk-avp-requiem-poster/You are right! Apparently that movie poster is so ugly I've actually never taken the time to give it a second look and read it.

[TigerClaw]

This is what was said from the Investor Day stream about the show.
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/2020/12/11/alien-fx-series-development-announced/
Landgraf described the series as combining elements from Alien and Aliens, having “both the timeless horror of the first Alien film with the non-stop action of the second.”

Info about this can be heard 8 minutes into the video below.

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[oldmanwinters]

Seems like a bad idea, but maybe they'll draw inspiration from the early ALIEN comics from Dark Horse? Nah...

[Sumac]

Sounds like a pile of dung attempting to recapture glory of two best movies in the franchise, while creating nothing of its own.

[Powder]

I don't see how this could possibly work. I love the property, so I'll keep an eye on things, but I expect nothing & will still likely be disappointed.

[Andrew NDB]

"The first Alien story set on Earth."

https://www.darkhorizons.com/scott-talks-alien-blade-runner-series/

[oldmanwinters]

"The first Alien story set on Earth."

https://www.darkhorizons.com/scott-talks-alien-blade-runner-series/

30 Years after they teased it! :tlol:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_x9W1xKng

[Andrew NDB]

30 Years after they teased it! :tlol:
Bk_x9W1xKng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_x9W1xKng

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. What a farce. Even if they went with Gibson's draft, that hardly involved Earth.

[oldmanwinters]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. What a farce. Even if they went with Gibson's draft, that hardly involved Earth.

I think Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan had a similar strategy.

[Andrew NDB]

Ripley's not in it. Well, no sh**.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/dont-expect-ripley-in-fxs-alien-series/

[neatoman]

Well Weaver is 72 years old and made weird demands about the franchise when Alien 3 was in production. I'm not exactly surprised she's not coming back for this (presumably lower budget) TV show. Maybe she'll come back for like Alien 7 or something whenever that is greenlit, just not a TV show.

... Yeah yeah, I know Ripley died in Alien 3 and the less said about the clone abomination from Alien 4 the better, but is anyone actually going to bother acknowledging 3 and 4 in anything but the most basic sense? Fincher has even stated how much he hated making Alien 3 and thinks it crap, Alien 3 would be ignored even if the people who made it went on to work on Alien 7. At best a future movie would hanwave them away with "Those events were just a VR simulation W-Y used to test how to handle Ripley" or something like that.

[Andrew NDB]

Well, of course it's not surprising that Weaver wouldn't want to come do an Alien TV show (although, she did do The Defenders, didn't she?). It's surprising that they were thinking anyone would be expecting or wanting her to be in an Alien TV show, particularly one they've already said is set in the nearish future.

[Andrew NDB]

They have their lead:

https://www.darkhorizons.com/sydney-chandler-to-lead-alien-tv-series/

[IMJ]

Well Weaver is 72 years old and made weird demands about the franchise when Alien 3 was in production.

Did she? I would've assumed she asked for more money of course - but what weirdness ensued?

[neatoman]

Did she? I would've assumed she asked for more money of course - but what weirdness ensued?

She allegedly wanted a scene where she had sex with an alien. Though I've seen conflicting reports on which of the movies she wanted it in though and it might just be a rumor upon closer inspection. I thought it was 3 but that might not be the one.

https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2017/01/27/silver-linings-alien-resurrection

[IMJ]

Wow. Okay. Alright well..... that would've been artistic.

[Andrew NDB]

https://www.darkhorizons.com/alien-series-title-plans-romulus-bucket/

The title is "Alien: Earth," apparently.

[neatoman]

https://www.darkhorizons.com/alien-series-title-plans-romulus-bucket/

The title is "Alien: Earth," apparently.

That's the most boring title imaginable.

[ZariusTwo]

https://www.darkhorizons.com/alien-series-title-plans-romulus-bucket/

The title is "Alien: Earth," apparently.

Ah...Earth...I name thee Earth

[Andrew NDB]

So... it involves a space ship crashing on Earth. That's probably where the Aliens in this come from.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/tv/3828909/fx-officially-releases-the-teaser-trailer-for-alien-earth-watch/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFFmBpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYTQHW_Ps_hn nTqPmTTVvOc8K8TwFDMOkYQa75FcxWAt0FSAr7psQGisQg_aem _UnAyxcElDbgmUpt-n88SDw

And the article can't be right about Weyland-Yutani... because there is not Weyland-Yutani yet, just Weyland. And I'm really wondering what sort of mileage they're going to be able to possibly get out of Aliens in a pre-Prometheus setting. Because sooner or later, whatever they encounter of the Aliens has to be completely burned away/annihilated/erased for the movies to make any sense.

[Andrew NDB]

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So it's set in 2120... just 2 years before Alien. So that changes things a lot. Just 2 years before Alien, a ship crashes on Earth and we get Aliens. Also, presumably David has been doing his Aliens thing on Origae-6 for 6 years now. I wonder if there's a bigger link than we've been led to believe? We're probably going to see the Nostromo.

Also, this is a lot like Romulus in that while there CAN be Aliens in it, we know that by the time the series ends there can't be any shred left of them... otherwise the later movies and Weyland-Yutani's motivations don't make any sense. Like, if they already had access to Aliens, why would Burke be trying to smuggle back facehugged space marines 60 years later? Or why they'd be chasing after Ripley in 3, or cloning her 8 times for 200 years in 4?

[Andrew NDB]

The most substantial trailer so far:


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[Coola Yagami]

I hate how they continue to run these franchises into the ground. Like they don't even have anything to do with Ripley anymore.

[Andrew NDB]

I hate how they continue to run these franchises into the ground. Like they don't even have anything to do with Ripley anymore.

I'm OK with no Ripley anymore, but they HAVE to find something interesting to replace her with. Ripley clones (both literal AND figurative) aren't it, nor is just over and over again basically doing a "Greatest Hits" of moments from the best movies any kind of a great idea, which is all that Covenant and Romulus were.

* Let's visit the Alien homeworld.

* Let's visit the REAL Engineer homeworld.

* Let's see Aliens on a macro level on a planet. Maybe with the Queen Mother like seen in the comics.

* A proper Aliens vs. Predator movie.

That's about all I want to see out of the Aliens anymore.

[Andrew NDB]

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I admit, I was confused -- and still am -- that we were about to watch an actual gestation inside a human (or something) and then the chestburst. But it appears to be a chestburster being created... inside one of the "pods" that we saw in Romulus?

[Andrew NDB]

Final trailer.

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idk... still seems like more "Greatest hits."

"Remember the Nostromo?"

"Remember when they woke up from cryosleep?"

And at 00:57 that straight up looks like they used some AI to make that shot.

[neatoman]

So seriously, is there any hope for this franchise? Every movie past the second one has been garbage. 3 and Resurrection just feel kinda pointless, the Predator crossovers are just stupid, Prometheus and Covenant seem interesting on paper but are lacking in practice, Romulus does not and this show don't really seem like they have much interesting going.

I'm sure something good could be made but that just doesn't seem to be the case.

[IMJ]

Alien, Aliens, Prometheus and Romulus are the solid movies in the franchise. Romulus went a long way towards shoring up a much needed win.

Prometheus is a terrific movie with a terrific cast and some really great, deep lore and practically photo-real VFX. Honestly - it makes no sense on almost any level for that movie to be maligned other than the terse wake-up call for the viewer that there may not be an afterlife.

[Andrew NDB]

Alien 3 - It's taken a long time for it to earn the respect it has at large, but it's still a major misstep that sunk the series and completely fumbled the energetic -- and perfect -- baton pass from Ailens.

Alien Resurrection - Great on paper, horrible casting and execution. Kind of embarrassing to get to, even after Alien 3.

Prometheus - Beautifully shot, beautifully storyboarded and all of the lore and hints at this and that, all perfect. It's just... it's full of REALLY stupid characters that only double down in their stupidity and it really, really hurts the movie.

Covenant - One part tripling down on really, REALLY stupid characters doing stupid things like in Prometheus, but also a great big Greatest Hits from the Alien movies people love. Tons of bits stolen from Alien, Aliens, even Alien 3.

Romulus - Greatest Hits Part II: The Movie. Some new set pieces but the same Greatest Hits collection, just rote recycling of moments from Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and even Alien: Resurrection this time. I like the movie but it has literally nothing new to say about anything.

And obviously the AVP movies didn't really "expand" the Aliens in any way. They're mostly Predator movies with some Aliens in them, but that's kind of the way any AVP story would go for the most part.

So yeah... not exactly glowing sequels since Aliens. I would've either liked to have seen a direct sequel to Alien: Resurrection from a different director or that Blomkamp movie, but obviously the ship has probably sailed on both of those things. I wonder what the gimmick was going to be in Blomkamp's Alien: Awakening, though? He's said Ripley, Newt, Hicks would have made it home somehow... but ALSO Alien 3 still happened as-is.

[Andrew NDB]

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Looks like a lot of Prometheus type stuff is going on.

[neatoman]

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Looks like a lot of Prometheus type stuff is going on.

Five species? Does that mean something new or just five Xenomorph/Black Goo variants like we have always gotten?

[Andrew NDB]

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Five species? Does that mean something new or just five Xenomorph/Black Goo variants like we have always gotten?

They mention they all came from different planets, so maybe something new? Though this would reverse course on Prometheus' whole thing about there basically being no aliens at all in the galaxy... just Engineers and stuff that they've "gooed" (including us, humans).

[Andrew NDB]

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[Andrew NDB]

Episode 1 and 2 dropped yesterday... nothing, yet? I skimmed over the first and none of the second and it looks pretty good. I'll give it a proper watch today.

*edit: Watched them. Really good! But they're going to need to explain how that Weyland-Yutani ship has been out there for 65 years 2 years before Alien, and is a Weyland-Yutani ship and not a Weyland ship. There was no Weyland-Yutani back then, since it would've launched way before Prometheus.