FX's Alien series won't start filming for another year. Beginning in 1979 with Alien, the franchise has since become a staple of sci-fi and horror with the series' Xenomorph now an iconic fixture of pop culture. Alien has since gone on to spawn three direct sequels, two crossover films with the Predator franchise, and two prequel films in the form of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant that saw original director Ridley Scott return to the franchise.
While Scott planned to make a third film in his Alien prequel series, the poor box office performance of Covenant forced 20th Century Fox to reassess their plans. But after the acquisition of the studio by Disney in 2019, many wondered what would become of this hard-R rated franchise. In 2020, during the FX presentation on Disney's investor day call, it was confirmed that Legion and Fargo creator Noah Hawley was set to produce an Alien television series for FX. It was originally reported the series would begin filming in March 2022, however, it appears the production has been delayed and viewers are going to have to wait a little longer to see the Xenomorphs again.
During a Television Critics Association panel, FX chairman John Landgraf made many reveals about FX's upcoming slate of projects and mentioned the status of the upcoming Alien series. According to Eric Goldman, the managing editor for Fandom, Landgraf said Alien is still in pre-production and won't begin filming until next year. Landgraf teased the project, calling it a massive production. The original tweet can be read below:
While the news will be disappointing for anyone looking forward to the show, it is not entirely unexpected. Noah Hawley had previously indicated last month that production was moving slowly due to the massive scale of the project, but that progress was "going great." Few plot details have been revealed about the Alien series, however, it is confirmed it will not feature the franchise mainstay Ripley, who was played by Sigourney Weaver in the first four films. Hawley also revealed the series will explore Weyland-Yutanti's tech rivals and would be primarily set on Earth.
With filming expected to begin in 2023, it is likely the series itself won't premiere until late 2023 at the earliest with 2024 being a more likely window. If the series arrives in 2024, it will have been seven years since the release of Alien: Covenant, the last cinematic entry in the franchise. While that is a long wait, it's evidence that FX is looking to take its time and ensure the Alien television series has the same epic scope and scale audiences have come to expect from the films.
Source: Eric Goldman