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“I couldnt be more excited,” the Evil Dead and Dont Breathe filmmaker says.
“This is officially the first interview since making this movie.
Not seen the tantalising, terrifying teaser yet?
Is it your hope that Romulus will feel of a piece with Ridley Scotts Alien?
Where do you start?
So it starts there, honestly.
And there were narrative reasons why.
It takes place 20 years after the first film.
Technology in the world of Alien can change vastly, but I think its not dependent on time.
Its dependent on place.
So the characters of this movie and the world are very blue-collar.
The technology is still very low-tech and analog.
And, look, Im a kid from the 80s.
Any monitor with some VHS tracking issues puts a lot of joy in my heart.
Is the meaning behind the name Romulus explored in the film?
It is, absolutely.
Its based on the Romulus and Remus myth.
If people arent familiar, its the creation myth of Rome.
Its not a siblinghood that went down the right path.
[Alien: Romulus] is a film about siblinghood.
A lot of the character stories are related to siblinghood.
And theres a station where most of the story takes place.
Its called the Renaissance Station, and its made of two big models that are connected.
One is Remus, the other one is Romulus.
Is that David Jonssons character, and is he an android?
I felt I could detect a tell-tale android inflection in his delivery…
That is correct.
That is David Jonsson, yes.
If hes an android or not, you should watch the movie.
Can you tell that from the current trailer?
How much are you utilizing CGI versus practical creature effects?
But Im not against it.
We went to crazy extents in this movie to do things practically.
We had Weta Workshop doing a lot of the Facehuggers.
And not only that, we brought back the guys that worked onAliens.
And when I say “build”, we built them.
We did full animatronics for all the creatures in the movie.
And Im there with them because theres not enough hands.
So thats been the best part.
And you go there.
But we really tried… and we really succeeded.
Did that commitment extend to the sets as well?
We went out of our way to build our sets.
There are no set extensions.
Today, usually, you build the minimum amount, and you extend in CG.
For me, its really about me traveling there physically, and being there.
I was in that station which you saw in the trailer.
I spent the best part of last year in that place.
That definitely happened here.
We built everything until the last corner.
In that respect, it was all old techniques.
A lot of the approaches to effects, they were all based on way more old-school approaches to moviemaking.
Weyland-Yutani, the company, theyre obsessed with [xenomorphs].
It is a research station.
Thats what the Renaissance Station is, or used to be.
If you want a spoiler, you wont see [the Renaissance operating] in its prime.
But, yes, theres some experimentation going on in the station.
Really, the movie is a survival horror, just like the first one.
At the core of it, thats what the movie is.
Its my favorite kind of horror when all you have to do is survive it.
So for people who like that, like me, they will definitely find a good story.
Cailee Spaenys character gets a heros entrance in the trailer.
It is a Pulse Rifle.
You have to think that our movie is decades before Aliens.
So the Pulse Rifle, as people know it from Aliens, has not been invented yet.
This is a precursor.
But its technically Pulse technology, what shes holding.
And obviously, you dont just walk out of an elevator casually in an Alien movie.
What is her name?
They call her Rain, but her real name, youll see in the movie.
Its “Raines” with an “E” and an “S”.
Do you see Raines in the lineage of Ripley the resourceful, capable everywoman overcoming the odds?
Everything is related and different at the same time.
As fans, the thing you always want with these movies is, the same thing again but different.
Thats usually how you want to approach these characters.
Shes a younger character.
All the characters are very young.
That was inspired by the beginning of the extended cut Aliens.
Youre probably going to take the same job as your parents.
Whats the hope?”
I thought: “Wouldnt it be great to catch up with those characters?”
What do they want out of life?
Or do they want more out of life?
That was what kickstarted the whole journey of this character.
It was something I was always fascinated with.
So at the time, I always connected with those characters.
Ridley Scott is a producer on the film and had high praise when you screened it for him.
Does Romulus pick up any plot threads from his Alien prequels?
You wont feel like youre missing out on anything.
But if youve seen one or more oh, boy, youll have a blast.
At least, I hope you will!
The reality is that it is a standalone story, but its filled with references to every movie.
It is truly a love letter to all the other movies.
I have my favorites, but I love them all.
So the movie has connections with absolutely all of them, in their own way.
The experts will be able to tell, “Oh, thats from this.
This is from over there.”
Maybe its a piece of gear.
Maybe its a reference to a story that is connected.
Maybe its a character that is actually connected to another character from those movies.
Its truly filled with it.
I did this withEvil Deadback in the day.
So, again, if you havent seen any of the Alien movies, youll have a great time.
Alien: Romulus is released on August 16, 2024.
For moreupcoming movies, here’s our list of2024 movie release dates.
