The horror genre has seen a resurgence in the last decade and one of the directors that many horror fans have fallen in love with is Fede Álvarez. After taking on Deadites in his 2013 Evil Dead reboot and creating his own unique horror-thriller franchise of his own in Don’t Breathe, it looks like Álvarez has found his next project. Reported exclusively by The Hollywood Reporter, Álvarez will write and direct a new stand-alone Alien film for 20th Century Studios and original series' director Ridley Scott will produce the project through his Scott Free banner. The new film will be made for Hulu, rather than theaters, as part of an ambitious plan for 20th Century to make ten films a year for the Disney-owned platform.
Not much is known about the film at this time, but THR’s sources say that it is not connected to the previous films in the franchise. Those same sources say that Álvarez is a massive fan of the series and that he casually pitched the idea for this film to Scott years ago. That idea apparently stayed in Scott’s head all these years later, and he called Álvarez last year asking him if he still wanted to do it. The Don’t Breathe director did not waste any time agreeing to the project and said yes.
It seems to be quite the idea as 20th Century Division President Steve Asbell said they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch.” He continued on by saying, “It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.” Asbell also talked about the Hulu aspect of the project and how that allows them not to compromise their vision for a theatrical release. He stated, “It’s not a film that has to be all things to all people with those gargantuan budgets. They get to be authentically what they are. And this is closer to its genre roots.”
While it is very disappointing that this film will not get a theatrical release given that horror is always better with an audience in a large dark theater, at least it sounds like the series is going back to its deep horror aesthetic. .... The franchise also currently has a limited series in the works for the FX Network.
