FX Boss Reveals Alien TV Series Starts Filming Soon

FX chief John Landgraf said during his presentation to the Television Critics Association that the upcoming TV series set in the world of the Alien film franchise will start filming soon. The series marks the first time the Alien franchise heads to Earth, and the first TV adaptation for the long-running property, which has thus far spanned six movies (including two crossovers with Predator) as well as numerous video games, novels, and comics since its debut in 1979. The as-yet-untitled TV series will reportedly try to thread the needle between the horror of the Ridley Scott original and the high-octane action of James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens.

A return to form for the franchise could be a boon to the series. While the recent prequel movies Prometheus and Alien: Covenant have their supporters, it has been a long time since fans were unified in their enthusiasm for an Alien movie.

The series will take place before Ripley comes on the scene, and will reportedly not include any existing characters from the film franchise. No word yet on exact plot details or casting information.

“On some level it’s also a story about inequality,” showrunner Noah Hawley previously said. “You know, one of the things that I love about the first movie is how ’70s a movie it is, and how it’s really this blue collar space-trucker world. The second movie is such an ’80s movie, but it’s still about grunts. Paul Reiser is middle management at best. So, it is the story of the people you send to do the dirty work.”

The Alien series will follow the release of Prey, a Hulu-based prequel to Alien‘s former Fox stablemate The Predator, which has been drawing enthusiastic reviews so far for its depiction of a group of indigenous Americans squaring off with an alien hundreds of years in the past. The projects have been an early look into how Disney will deal with Fox’s portfolion of IP, not all of which is as family-friendly as the Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel projects that dominate much of the Disney+ streaming platform.

Ridley Scott will produce the Alien series through his Scott Free banner. The show is shooting for a 2023 premiere.