Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez shared 13 simple, yet hilarious pieces of advice that series creator Ridley Scott gave him on the first day of filming.
The Alien franchise has had a string of directors helm the franchise over the years, but it all started with the first film directed by Ridley Scott in 1979. After the original film, he didn’t helm a new film in the series until 2012’s Prometheus, and he returned to direct again in 2017 with Alien: Covenant, the latest feature film in the series. However, later this week Alien: Romulus will end a seven-year absence from an Alien film, and over the weekend before the film’s release, director Fede Alvarez shared a post on Instagram showing the advice Scott sent him about making the film.
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“Dear Fede,” the message begins. “Good luck. Good health. Happy hunting. Don’t screw up. All the best to you, Ridley Scott.” If you’ve read Scott’s interviews, this feels particularly on-brand and almost British, if not for that little bit of charm. Overall, this is obviously not directly useful advice, but I can only imagine how grateful Alvarez would have been to get anything from Scott, especially to receive a message like this on the first day of shooting. After all, it’s a huge challenge (even if a lot of movies don’t actually work that well).
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Initial reactions to the film are starting to come in, with Courtney Howard of Variety calling it “raw, gripping, gorgeously poignant (from the story to Olivares’ cinematography to Walfish’s score). Innovatively presented, smart, savvy material with deft renditions of the biggest hits. Carly Spaeny and David Johnson dominate the film. Fantastic!”
Andrew J. Salazar, who discussed the film, was slightly more critical, writing, “Alien: Romulus doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Instead, Fede Alvarez delivers a ham-fisted take on a classic horror story with some truly brilliant visual storytelling. At times it’s too nostalgic, but Fede has proven he’s worthy of a trilogy. ” But overall, it sounds like you’ll have a good time.
Alien: Romulus is out on August 16 (later this week).
