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Director Fede Alvarez is no stranger to horror. Best known for 2013’s Evil Dead installment and his 2016 hit Don’t Breathe, Alvarez is now in the trenches directing a standalone Alien film, produced by Ridley Scott, exclusively for Hulu/FX.
Perfect Organism: The Alien Saga Podcast has had the pleasure of an ongoing dialogue with Fede while he shoots his Alien film on location all over the world. The as-yet-untitled Alien film is shrouded in mystery.
Alvarez’s Alien film is the second of two franchise projects in the works at Hulu—the first being a Noah Hawley-led Alien series announced in late 2020. The Hawley series begins shooting in early 2023; we presume that the Alvarez standalone Alien film will debut sometime in late 2023, but this has yet to be confirmed by the studio.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Perfect Organism: When did you fall in love with the Alien series?
Fede Alvarez: I watched Alien: The Eighth Passenger (as it was called in Uruguay, where I'm from) on network television at midnight, probably sometime in the early ‘90s when I was 13, and it made quite the impact. I remember knowing nothing about the film, and expecting some sort of Star Wars adventure... Oh boy was I wrong. But it was probably renting Aliens on VHS that cemented the fandom.
Bob Penn
PO: Do you have a favorite Alien film?
FA: That's a perverse question. No one should be forced to choose between 1 and 2!
PO: What makes Alien ALIEN for you?
FA: Like the xenomorph itself, I think the franchise has been constantly evolving and mutating into completely different incarnations. What sets it apart from all the other long-running franchises are the incredible directors that have been involved with the saga in the past. From Ridley to Jean-Pierre Jeunet—those happen to be some of my all-time favorite directors. And I think that's what sets this franchise apart. It's a Director's franchise, like no other...
PO: Do you have a favorite moment from the Alien series?
FA: So many... But today, when Hicks pushes the ceiling up to discover the horde of xenos crawling right above them.
PO: What is it about Giger’s creature that intrigues you?
FA: What doesn't! The whole creature is a endless pit of mysteries and unanswered questions.
PO: What is it about the horror genre that’s always fascinated you?
FA: Nothing makes me feel more alive than being terrified watching a horror film. It reminds you of our fragility and mortality like no other genre.