ALIEN: ROMULUS
(L-R): Director Fede Álvarez and Cailee Spaeny on the set of 20th Century Studios' ALIEN: ROMULUS. Photo by Murray Close. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.Credit: C/O

Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez says he and co-writer Rodo Sayagues are kicking around ideas for a Romulus sequel, and while no title has been released, we can say with some certainty that it won’t be called Alien: Remus.

Alien: Romulus, as you may recall, takes place largely on the The Renaissance Station, which is made up of two sections: Romulus (which uses technology inspired by Aliens) and Remus (which uses technology inspired by Alien). 

Students of Roman mythology know the story of the twins Romulus and Remus, who legendarily once suckled a she-wolf and grew up to be powerful leaders. When Remus insulted a city Romulus was building, Romulus killed his brother.

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So you might think Alien: Remus would be a logical title an Alien: Romulus sequel. But no.

Alvarez told us for our cover story on Alien: Romulus last summer: “Romulus is the murderous one. So to make a sequel about the one who gets killed and call it Remus… that story doesn’t feel like it’s going to be aggressive enough for the Alien franchise.”

Alien: Romulus Sequel Ideas

Though an Alien: Romulus sequel is not sure thing, one seems likely, given that Alien: Romulus was the top-grossing horror film of the 2020s. The seventh installment in the Alien franchise, the film takes place between the events of Ridley Scott’s first Alien (1979) and the second movie, James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).

Both directors offered their counsel to Alvarez and Sayagues on Alien: Romulus, and Scott is a producer of the film.

Alvarez recently told Empire that he and Sayagues, with whom he also collaborated on 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre update, as well as their own Don’t Breathe and its 2021 sequel, are currently working on ideas for a potential Romulus sequel.

“We’re excited about where it can go. We’ve almost checked all of the boxes of things that I want to see [in Romulus], and brought back a lot of the things I hadn’t seen in a while,” he told Empire. “Wherever we go now, we can go into uncharted waters.”

Empire also said any Alien: Romulus sequel would likely follow Rain (Cailee Spaeny), who was introduced in Romulus. The film centers around her and her android brother (David Jonsson) as they try to escape a hive of aliens amid ever-shifting cinematic rules. It pays homage to past alien films while introducing new questions and challenges.

“I think it’ll be so exciting to go with characters you know from this movie, to a place in the Alien franchise that we’ve never been before, and to discover things that you’ve never seen before,” Alvarez told Empire.

Main image: Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez and Cailee Spaeny on the set. Photo by Murray Close. 20th Century Studios.