Alien: Romulus Sequel Hopes Dim After Grim Part 2 Update
Alien: Romulus sequel stalls as VFX veteran Alec Gillis reports no official movement, coming roughly two months after Fede Álvarez stepped away from the director’s chair.
Here is your periodic Alien: Romulus sequel check-in, and yeah... it is not the news fans were hoping for. The follow-up is written, the original director is out, and one of the franchise’s key creature guys has not gotten a call. So, progress? Sort of. Momentum? Not so much.
What Alec Gillis is (and isn’t) hearing
On the red carpet for Predator: Badlands, longtime Alien/Predator effects veteran Alec Gillis told Collider he has not been looped in on Alien: Romulus 2. He has not started any design work. He has not been asked to do pre-production. He added that maybe someone else is poking at it somewhere, but if so, they are not talking to him. He is still optimistic that he will be brought in when the time comes. For context: Gillis is one of the guys you want building your xenos and yautja, and he most recently worked on Predator: Killer of Killers and Prey.
Meanwhile, the sequel script exists… but the director is changing
Fede Alvarez, who directed Alien: Romulus, says the sequel’s script is finished. He co-wrote it with Rodo Sayagues. The twist is Alvarez is not directing the next one. He and franchise creator Ridley Scott are staying on as producers while they look for a new filmmaker.
"I’m gonna pass the torch on this one as director. I’m going to produce it, with Ridley Scott, we’re gonna produce it together, and we’re right now trying to find a new filmmaker to come in."
Alvarez said that in September. Cut to roughly two months later, and Gillis is still in the dark. That combo tells you where things stand.
The state of play (aka what is actually real right now)
- Script: Done, co-written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues.
- Director: Alvarez is out as director, in as producer alongside Ridley Scott. A new director is being searched for.
- Creature/SFX team: Alec Gillis has not been contacted for pre-production or design work yet, though he expects that could change.
- Timeline: No production start or release window announced.
So if you saw whispers about Alien: Romulus 2 quietly moving forward, temper expectations. Pieces exist, but the machine is not running yet. When they pick a director and the creature shop starts getting calls, that is when this thing is actually happening. Until then, it is hurry up and wait.