‘Alien’ Returns With First ‘Romulus’ Trailer

In what is shaping up to be a big summer for back-to-basics movie sequels and reboots, we can now add Alien: Romulus to the list.

This new horror film based on the long-running franchise looks more like Ridley Scott’s original Alien than any previous sequel — and that includes the two Alien prequels Scott himself made a few years ago, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Scott also produced Romulus, which was directed by Don’t Breathe and Evil Dead’s Fede Alvarez.

In what 20th Century Studios is calling a “back to its roots” approach for the series, Alvarez’s film is set on a “derelict space station” where a group of astronauts play some quiet card games, eat space ice cream, and chat about their lives. Okay no, they fight the xenomorph from Alien and lots of terrible scary stuff happens.

Watch the first teaser for the movie below.

Alien: Romulus Trailer

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There is an evocative new poster for the film as well.

Alien: Romulus Synopsis

Here is the new film’s official synopsis:

The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), David Jonsson (“Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Spike Fearn (“Aftersun”), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (“Don’t Breathe 2”) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett.

Alien: Romulus will open in theaters on August 16. Although earlier reports claimed the movie was going straight to Disney’s Hulu streaming service, the trailer and poster make it very clear: Romulus can first be seen “only in theaters.”