After the success of his Evil Dead remake and the failure of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022, the upcoming Alien sequel Alien 5 will decide Fede Álvarez’s legacy when it comes to reviving classic horror franchises. The Evil Dead remake, co-written and directed by Álvarez, was one of the genre’s most broadly well-liked re-imaginings. Despite horror fans having an automatic aversion to remakes after a slew of awful 00’s outings in the genre, 2013’s Evil Dead won most of them over by being scary, grim, and shocking. In contrast, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 (which Álvarez provided the story for) was a disaster. Now, Álvarez has been announced as the writer and director of Alien 5, with the helmer beating out District 9’s Neil Blomkamp to the gig.
Fede Álvarez took a big risk when he opted to remake Evil Dead back in 2013. Although the remake was a huge hit with fans and critics alike, Sam Raimi’s original horror was a genre classic that many feared could not be successfully revisited. However, Álvarez proved that these doubts were unfounded, offering an update of Evil Dead that was arguably as intense, effective, and brutal as the iconic original. Nine years later, Álvarez attempted to repeat this trick with Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022, another classic horror franchise revival that fans thought could not possibly work. This time, though, the helmer proved less successful.
This third franchise revival with Alien 5 will decide the writer/director’s legacy in the genre since Álvarez has thus far been central to both a successful and a disastrous attempt to bring back a classic horror series. Having won hearts and minds with Evil Dead, Álvarez has enjoyed a positive reputation with genre fans. However, there's no doubt that taking on something as iconic as the Alien series is a whole new challenge that, as a result of the original movie's enduring influence, will undoubtedly define the director's overall impact.
As the movie’s sole writer and director, Álvarez will likely have more creative control over Alien 5 (as he did with Evil Dead) than he did with Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022. However, anyone assuming that this means the sequel will succeed should put their high hopes on pause. After all, Alien 5 is still a standalone sequel, as was Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022, rather than a reboot/remake. Many of Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022’s issues stemmed from the reboot wanting to drop a lot of the original’s elements while keeping its memorable moments, resulting in a shapeless addition to the series that was neither tonally true to the original nor innovative enough to stand on its own merits as an unrelated movie.
Alien 5 may well recreate this problem since fans will want something new while also demanding that the sequel revisit elements of the franchise that they love. Álvarez proved he could pull this off with Evil Dead, but there is an argument to be made that Alien’s Xenomorph is more akin to Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface than the ever-changing Deadites of the Evil Dead series, villains who can be redesigned by each new director working on the franchise. Only time will tell whether Alvarez’s Alien 5 remake will be another Evil Dead or a disappointing Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 for the Alien franchise, but the answer to this question will likely decide whether the helmer is entrusted with another classic horror franchise addition in the future.