FX’s highly anticipated “Alien” series finally has a production plan in place, and it’s not one fans are going to be excited about. According to series showrunner, writer and director Noah Hawley, the series is eyeing an early 2025 premiere date, assuming the ongoing SAG-AFTRA is resolved quickly.
“We’re all just waiting for the strike, and it will end,” Hawley told TheWrap in an interview ahead of the fifth installment of “Fargo.”
“The plan right now is to go back in January and be shooting in February, and looks like shoot until July or so, which puts the air date somewhere in the in the first half of ’25,” Hawley said.t
“Alien” has had a more complicated production schedule than other projects. Originally, the series was supposed to begin filming in March of 2022, but production was delayed until 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production then officially began in July in Thailand. The series was able to film during the SAG-AFTRA strike because its British cast was able to continue working under an Equity contract. Filming during this time happened without the series’ lead Sydney Chandler, who is American. Production was then shut down in late August due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
“I was able to complete filming most of the first hour. That said, I wasn’t able to film anything with my star. So I still have the bulk of the show to film, and we have seven more hours to shoot,” Hawley said. “I certainly would have loved to get the show in front of people as quickly as possible.”
Despite the delays, Hawley is largely optimistic about his installment in this storied franchise.
“It’s very exciting that I get this opportunity, with films like ‘Fargo’ or ‘Alien,’ to live within the world that was created by these directors and storytellers. It raises the hair on the back of your neck in a good way to walk onto a set where you feel like you’re on the ‘Nostromo,'” Hawley said before clarifying that his series does not actually take place on the “USCSS Nostromo” but on a set that was inspired by the design of the original film. “You’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m in the movie.'”
This delay puts “Alien” in what will either prove to be a difficult or an advantageous position. Fede Álvarez’s upcoming movie “Alien: Romulus” is scheduled for an August 2024 release. The two projects being released around the same time may test audiences’ appetites for Xenomorph content.
The post Noah Hawley’s ‘Alien’ Series Probably Won’t Premiere Until 2025 appeared first on TheWrap.
