Alien vs. Predator 3 Rumors Addressed by Romulus Director

Alien: Romulus is now playing in theaters, and the movie is already a success. Not only is the film up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 81% critics score, the highest score the franchise has gotten in nearly 40 years, but it’s also having a great opening weekend at the box office. The movie is already expected to surpass $100 million worldwide by the end of the weekend. Naturally, the movie’s success has people wondering about the franchise’s future. While an Alien TV series titled Alien: Earth is headed to FX soon, many are wondering if the Xenomorphs will ever face off with Predator again. Alien vs. Predator was released in 2004 and was followed by AVPR: Aliens vs Predator – Requiem in 2007. Now that the Predator franchise is also thriving again, a third crossover installment feels inevitable.

“Maybe it’s something I have to co-direct with my buddy Dan,” Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez suggested to Deadline, referring to Prey director, Dan Trachtenberg. “Maybe we should do like Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez did with Dusk Till Dawn. I’ll direct a half, and he’ll direct another half.” 

It’s worth noting that From Dusk Till Dawn was written by Tarantino and directed by Rodriguez. Tarantino also co-starred in the film, but they did not share directing duties. It’s possible Álvarez was referring to Grindhouse, which featured a double bill of Rodriguez’s film Planet Terror with Tarantino’s Death Proof. In 2005, Tarantino also guest-directed a scene in Rodriguez’s film, Sin City. 

What Is Alien: Romulus About?

Alien: Romulus is being billed as more of a spinoff rather than a direct continuation of the Alien franchise and will see a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. Álvarez has previously opened up about how a deleted scene from James Cameron’s Aliens featuring young colonists inspired Romulus’ story.

“My first instinct, just to try something different that hasn’t been seen before, was to approach it form the angle of characters who are not professionals or scientists; they’re not even adults,” he said. “I liked this concept of putting people in the front seat of the story who are closer to what the audience is — not that the audience is young, more that the audience is completely virgin to the realities of space. When the characters are professionals, they know more than you do. But when they’re still in their early 20s, they don’t know how to operate the f-cking airlock.”

He continued, “All their parents probably worked on the same ship when they were kids, and that’s how they got to know each other … There’s a lot of history between them because they’re the only family they have. They truly act more like surrogate siblings; some of them even lived under the same roof. A lot of the big themes of the movie are about siblinghood and what does that mean? The Romulus of it all, and the bigger plot with Weyland-Yutani, is actually connected to that as well.”

Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), Aileen Wu. Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. 

Alien: Romulus is now playing in theaters.