Upcoming ‘Alien’ TV Series for FX is “Not a Ripley Story”

alien TV series
Alien (1979) | 20th Century Fox

New details have emerged about the upcoming Alien TV series, which was first announced in December 2020. The show is being made for FX Networks from Legion and Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley, who talked more about it during a recent interview. Upon announcement last year, Disney told fans to “Expect a scary thrill ride set not too far in the future here on Earth.” This will be the first time on-screen that a story from the Alien universe takes place on Earth.

While many details are still unknown, Hawley recently told Vanity Fair during an interview (published today) that “It’s not a Ripley story.” He goes on to say, “She’s one of the great characters of all time, and I think the story has been told pretty perfectly, and I don’t want to mess with it.” I think Alien and Ripley fans everywhere can agree with that.

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Hawley followed up, “It’s a story that’s set on Earth also. The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a space ship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.”

The showrunner went on to talk about the the blue-collar workers from the first films, just trying to do their jobs while getting stuck in space hell with vicious Xenomorphs. It seems that the upper management is going to get their fair share of horrors. Hawley says, “In mine, you’re also going to see the people who are sending them. So you will see what happens when the inequality we’re struggling with now isn’t resolved. If we as a society can’t figure out how to prop each other up and spread the wealth, then what’s going to happen to us? There’s that great Sigourney Weaver line to Paul Reiser where she says, ‘I don’t know which species is worse. At least they don’t fuck each other over for a percentage.'”

The launch date for the new Alien TV series has yet to be announced. Original Alien director Ridley Scott is expected to executive-produce.


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