The seventh installment of the “Alien” franchise, Alien: Romulus, will be available for digital release on October 15, 2024, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 3, 2024. Directed by Fede Álvarez, the movie follows a group of laborers who accidentally unleash alien creatures from an abandoned spaceship
Digital Release
Alien: Romulus will be available for digital viewing from October 15, 2024. Viewers can watch the movie on Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango at Home. The digital release will coincide with the release of a two-movie bundle that includes the original Alien film. This bundle will be available in 4K UHD, HD and SD formats.
Physical Release
The movie will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD starting December 3, 2024. The 4K edition will be released as a double-disk SteelBook, which features custom artwork and bonus content. The physical release will include interviews with director Fede Álvarez and producer Ridley Scott. Other bonus features include behind-the-scenes footage, alternate and extended scenes, and a breakdown of a key zero-gravity sequence.
Plot and Cast
Alien: Romulus is directed by Fede Álvarez. The story focuses on a group of young laborers who scavenge parts from an abandoned spaceship. This act accidentally unleashes dangerous alien creatures, known as face-huggers, which had been stored on the ship for research purposes. The film stars Aileen Wu, Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Spike Fearn.
Special Features
The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray releases will offer a range of special features. Viewers will see how Álvarez worked with Ridley Scott to create the new installment. The special features also include interviews with the cast and a breakdown of how the filmmakers constructed the sets, created alien creatures and filmed key scenes.
In addition to Prime Video, Alien: Romulus will be available to purchase or rent on a variety of digital platforms, including AppleTV and VUDU.
Alvarez Paid Close Attention To The Film’s Practical Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise, and like the first Alien film in 1979 and its sequels and prequels, director Fede Alvarez wanted to employ practical visual effects throughout the film.
One of the practical effects included the use of the legendary Xenomorph Facehugger alien, which ensnares star Aileen Wu’s character Navarro.
Wu said in a Zoom conversation before the film’s release in theaters that there was a good reason it took two to three days for Alvarez to shoot her Facehugger sequence. Wu noted that one the many details Alavarez wanted to show was how the bladder of the Facehugger matched her character’s breathing.
“Fede was very adamant and precise and said, ‘Hey Aileen, the true fans are going to know how the organism works, and that it sustains your livelihood while it’s doing its job,” Wu said. “So, when you breathe in, it’s giving you air and when you breathe out, that’s it taking air back out from you.’ Since I couldn’t see anything and only feel—and did so much thrashing around, violently, on the ground—it took a while to really nail that scene down.”
By the film’s reception at the box office, it appears that Wu, Alvarez and their fellow cast and crew members did everything right.
According to The Numbers, Alien: Romulus has made nearly $105.2 million domestically and $237.5 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $342.7 million to date.
The box office tracker noted that Alien: Romulus had a production budget of $88 million before prints and advertising costs.
Rotten Tomatoes critics also responded favorably to Alien: Romulus and gave the film an 80% “fresh” rating based on 379 reviews.
The RT Critics Consensus reads,“Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema’s great horror franchises.”
Alien: Romulus also had an 85% “fresh” Audience Score based on 5,000-plus verified user ratings.
Alien: Romulus is still playing in theaters and will debut on digital streaming on Tuesday, October 15.
FAQs:
When will Alien: Romulus be available to stream?
The movie will be available for streaming on October 15, 2024, on platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV.
What bonus features come with the physical release of Alien: Romulus?
The physical release includes interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and extended scenes.