Noah Hawley's Alien show reportedly starts filming in March 2022. The showrunner is known for previously reinventing another classic film on the small screen, Fargo, based on the 1996 Coen brothers' film of the same name. Now, after writing and directing the 2019 sci-fi film starring Natalie Portman, Lucy in the Sky, Hawley will be continuing the Alien franchise with another series on FX alongside original director, Ridley Scott, who is attached as an executive producer.
The Alien franchise was birthed in 1979 with the film of the same name centered around Sigourney Weaver as a warrant officer named Ellen Ripley and the crew of a commercial space tug called Nostromo, who encounter a deadly extraterrestrial lifeform known as an Xenomorph. Scott didn't direct the three sequels that followed, though he did return in 2012 for the prequel film, Prometheus, and its 2017 sequel, Alien: Covenant, which were both centered around Michael Fassbender's android David 8 and the Engineers who created the Xenomorphs.
Now, Hawley and Scott's Alien series has set a target month to begin production. According to a new report from Alien vs. Predator Galaxy, casting for the show has already begun and production is ramping up to start sometime in March of next year. Filming will reportedly take place in Thailand and possibly some Eastern European locations as well.
The upcoming Alien series is still severely light on plot and casting details, though it is known that the show will be set on Earth in the near future, which is quite an anomaly for the franchise. Similar to Prometheus and Covenant, it is also known that the series will not be centered around Weaver's Ripley, and instead introduce an entirely new cast of characters. Based on some character details that have been floating around the internet, it appears the synthetics, also known as the androids, will continue to play a role in the show with a focus on how consciousness is uploaded into the artificial humanoids à la Westworld.
Since the series does not yet have a single confirmed cast member, this revelation that the casting process has begun and production is ramping up to start soon, is a good indication there may be some announcements fairly soon. The show is reportedly looking for two actors to play the leads named Hermit and Wendy, so look for that casting news to drop first. FX Networks chief, John Landgraf, has said the Alien show will likely release in 2023, and this latest news seems to be in line with those plans.
Source: Alien vs. Predator Galaxy