After hitting big with 1979’s Alien, Ridley Scott became one of the most popular and influential directors in history, ranking among the ten highest-grossing directors in history. Scott has four Oscar nominations and two wins apiece at the Emmys and Golden Globes in the 21st century, and he was even bestowed with an Honorary Award from the Academy for his accomplishments in 2026. Along with major hits like Gladiator (2000), Blade Runner (1982), and The Martian (2015), his expansive Alien franchise continues to push to new heights after the turn of the millennium.
Most recently, Fede Álvarez took over as the director for the most recent entry in the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, which was released in 2024. This movie centered on a team of young space colonists who try to escape their lives on a mining planet before boarding a derelict space station and encountering a new crop of Facehuggers and Xenomorphs. This sequel became a massive hit two years ago, grossing over $350.9 million at the worldwide box office off a reported production budget of about $80 million. While many have hoped to see a sequel to this modern success story, multiple issues have come up during production.
According to World of Reel, 20th Century has reportedly shelved the upcoming sequel to Alien: Romulus indefinitely, and there is a chance it may not ever be made. According to the report, Romulus director Fede Álvarez (who left the project unexpectedly during pre-production) had hoped to bring back Michael Fassbender’s David, who played big roles in 2012’s Prometheus and 2017’s Alien: Covenant. Fassbender had even come close to signing after a script was completed.
Unfortunately, Scott did not agree to put David in the movie, not wanting to have a character that he created involved in another director’s movie. After this, the creative team behind Romulus exited the sequel and moved on to other projects, and there is no concrete path forward for the new movie to be developed or released.
Also important for this franchise’s future is the potential departure of one of its biggest stars, David Jonsson, who played an advanced synthetic human named Andy (who was also a surrogate brother for Cailee Spaeny’s Rain Carradine). Jonsson was recently announced for a role in the expanding MCU, as he will take on the role of the grown-up Prince T’Challa (son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa and Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia) in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther 3. With this movie set to come out on Dec. 15, 2028, filming is expected to begin in mid-2026 or 2027, meaning Jonsson will be busy bringing this character to life for much of the next couple of years.
Unfortunately, this puts the Alien franchise in a difficult situation, with its team now spread out all over Hollywood and Scott having no definitive plans to add another chapter to the story. While this sequel could get back on track eventually, it may have to be put on hold for the foreseeable future.
Alien: Romulus is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.