Alien Reboot On The Way With Pacific Rim Star
Cailee Spaeny from Pacific Rim Uprising will now lead the new Alien reboot movie.
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Fans of the Alien series of films will most likely be jumping for joy in the not-so-distant future, as it appears a new installment of the franchise is taking shape at 20th Century Studios. The movie that started it all, Alien, featured a young Sigourney Weaver as protagonist Ellen Ripley alongside a talented group of actors and has since morphed into a full media franchise in the four decades since. Now, Deadline reports that Pacific Rim Uprising star Cailee Spaeny has been in talks for an undisclosed role in the new Alien reboot movie, sparking interest in the franchise once again.
With no confirmation yet that Cailee Spaeny has officially joined the Alien reboot film, one can only imagine what type of character the young actor may end up playing. So far, all that has been revealed about the movie is that the alien species called Xenomorphs will be featured prominently in the storyline, setting expectations into high volumes for the franchise’s devoted fanbase. The reboot will be produced by Ridley Scott’s production company Scott Free, and The Girl in the Spider’s Web director Fede Alvarez has been tapped to helm the picture.
Cailee Spaeny might not be a household name as of yet, but the young actor has been making her mark all over Hollywood and the film industry at large. Spaeny starred in the science fiction action thriller Pacific Rim Uprising, the 2018 sequel to the 2013 original Pacific Rim that starred Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba, which was directed by Guillermo del Toro. Prior to her ongoing negotiations to be cast in the Alien reboot movie, Spaeny recently made headlines for joining the biographical film Priscilla as the titular character of rock superstar Elvis’ wife, Priscilla Presley.
Ridley Scott directed the first Alien movie in 1979 and the franchise has included multiple sequels and reboots in the years since its debut, including some directed by James Cameron, David Fincher, and French helmer Jean-Pierre Jeunet. In 2021, Scott directed Prometheus with Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, and Charlize Theron in lead roles, which served as a prequel of sorts to the original Alien. The film’s box office gross of over $403 million against a budget of $130 million was so surprising, that executives at 20th Century Fox pushed for a sequel to be developed, which in turn became 2017’s Alien: Covenant.
While there haven’t been official Alien reboots in development since Alien: Covenant was released until now, the franchise has lived on crossover attempts and notable comic book adaptations. Audiences got a chance to witness two of their all-time favorite movie monsters go head to head in combat mode when Alien and Predator mixed genres to showcase 2004’s Alien vs. Predator and 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. While neither project promoted critical acclaim as both films generally received negative reviews all around, they proved to be a placeholder in the film franchise by keeping the spirit of Alien alive so that a reboot could later be in the works.
