The Alien franchise is far from over. In fact, it’s accelerating. Director Fede Álvarez, who successfully revived the iconic sci-fi horror saga with ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024), is already prepping for the sequel. Álvarez recently confirmed on the Marea Nocturna podcast that he is currently in pre-production and plans to begin filming in October.
This quick turnaround isn’t entirely unexpected. Even before Romulus debuted in theaters, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell had hinted that a follow-up was in development. With the film earning over $350 million globally against a modest $80 million budget, studio momentum for a sequel picked up almost immediately.
Both Cailee Spaeny, who played the lead character Rain Carradine, and David Jonsson, who portrayed her android companion Andy, are set to return. Spaeny’s performance received praise for bringing fresh emotional weight to the franchise. Her role as Rain—a survivor hardened by loss, much like Ripley from the original—helped connect the new film to its roots while pushing it in a new direction.
The plot of the sequel remains under wraps, but speculation is already heating up. According to TheInSneider, there’s a strong possibility that Predator may appear in the new film. If true, it would mark the first Alien vs. Predator crossover in nearly two decades. The timing makes sense—Prey, a 2022 Predator prequel, was a major streaming success, and now Dan Trachtenberg is returning to direct two new Predator films scheduled for release next year.
This resurgence in both the Alien and Predator franchises signals a new era. As Álvarez takes the reins, original creator Ridley Scott has publicly stated that he’s done directing entries in the series. He referred to the later films as creatively “deadening,” officially closing his chapter in the saga.
Meanwhile, the first Romulus film stood out for its use of practical effects, chronological filming, and handcrafted creature designs that honored the series’ visual legacy. From Xenomorph animatronics to miniature spaceship models, the production leaned into old-school filmmaking techniques to build atmosphere and tension.
With cameras set to roll this fall and Álvarez clearly energized, the Alien: Romulus sequel could land in theaters as soon as 2025. And if the rumors about a Predator crossover hold true, the next installment may not just be a sequel—it might be the start of something even bigger.
WHAT HAPPENED IN ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024)? HERE’S THE FULL STORY AND ENDING EXPLAINED
In the year 2142, ALIEN: ROMULUS is a scary survival story that goes back to the beginning of the Alien series. At the beginning, a Weyland-Yutani probe finds a cocoon in the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo, which was the ship from the first Alien movie in 1979.. This cocoon turns out to hold the key to a deadly new outbreak.
On the LV-410 colony, a dark and isolated mining outpost known as Jackson’s Star, we meet Rain Carradine (played by Cailee Spaeny), a young orphan determined to escape her life of forced labor. Her only real family is Andy (played by David Jonsson), a malfunctioning android reprogrammed by her late father. Rain teams up with a small group that includes her ex-boyfriend Tyler, his pregnant sister Kay, their cousin Bjorn, and Navarro, Bjorn’s adopted sister.
The group plans to steal cryosleep equipment from a seemingly abandoned Weyland-Yutani space station called Renaissance, which is divided into two modules: Romulus and Remus. Their goal is to survive the long journey to Yvaga III, a planet free from corporate control. But things go wrong almost immediately when they accidentally release facehugger parasites hidden on the station.
As the threat escalates, Rain upgrades Andy using a damaged android named Rook, who shifts Andy’s programming—making him loyal to Weyland-Yutani instead of Rain. The station’s dark history is revealed: the cocoon found earlier held a xenomorph, and Weyland-Yutani scientists had been experimenting with reverse-engineering facehuggers. The xenomorph escaped and wiped out nearly everyone aboard.
Navarro becomes infected, and a baby xenomorph violently bursts from her chest, killing her and causing the Corbelan IV—the crew’s escape ship—to crash into the space station. Things only get worse when the newborn xenomorph grows rapidly and kills Bjorn. Kay is taken by the alien, and Rain and Tyler try to save her, but Andy refuses to help, calculating it’s a trap. The alien kills Kay in front of them.
Meanwhile, Rook orders Andy to retrieve a mysterious substance called Z-01, a fluid derived from facehuggers that can rewrite DNA. The company hopes to use it to create genetically superior humans. Andy injects Kay with Z-01, temporarily healing her. But soon, more xenomorphs and facehuggers begin attacking the group.
In a heroic moment, Tyler sacrifices himself to buy time for Rain and Kay to escape. Rain restores Andy’s original programming, and together they fight off the xenomorphs using a clever tactic: disabling gravity so they can shoot the aliens without their acid blood damaging the station. As the situation worsens, the Navarro xenomorph confronts them, but Andy kills it just in time.
Rain and Andy escape aboard the damaged Corbelan IV as the Renaissance station is destroyed by the planet’s rings.
The Ending Twist: A New Threat Emerges
Just when they think they’ve survived, the film delivers a shocking final moment. Kay, previously healed with Z-01, gives birth to a human-xenomorph hybrid. The creature kills Kay and disables Andy. Rain acts quickly and ejects the hybrid into LV-410’s rings, where it disintegrates.
In the closing scene, Rain records an audio log about their experience, then enters cryostasis with Andy, hoping they’ll reach Yvaga III alive.
The ending leaves the door wide open for a sequel—and with the Z-01 formula still out there, the dangers of hybrid experimentation are far from over.
