Alien: Earth has a bigger scale than fellow FX series Shogun — and the production to go along with it.
If the trailers released for it so far hadn’t made it clear, Alien: Earth is a major production for FX. Just how big? In a recently published report it was described as bigger scale than smash hit Shogun, and FX was said to be hoping it will be the next Game of Thrones or The Last of Us.
Alien: Earth, from Fargo creator Noah Hawley, revolves around the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot, which crash-lands on earth. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a group of tactical soldiers make a “fateful discovery” that puts them face-to-face with the xenomorph fans know well, but also a number of never-before-seen alien species. Some of these look disgusting, which is of course in-keeping with the Alien franchise’s sci-fi horror roots.
While fans have been digging into the Alien: Earth trailers for clues as to where the show will take the franchise, its special effects have won praise. The VFX-heavy shots we’ve seen so far, showcasing the Maginot crashing in space and then into an earth city, as well as shots of the various aliens, have won praise from fans who are hopeful Alien: Earth will continue its revival post the successful Alien: Romulus.
Variety published an article digging into the production of Alien: Earth, and it contains a number of revelations about FX’s hope for the show. Variety described the production as “simply enormous,” and included a quote from FX Entertainment president Gina Balian, who said: “Compared to the scale of Shogun, this is bigger.”
Given Shogun had a reported $250 million budget, it seems Alien: Earth will have been at least as expensive, but FX declined to say how much the show cost.
Variety also reported that FX hopes Alien: Earth will be the next Game of Thrones or The Last of Us. As part of this, there’s word of Alien: Earth abandoning the plot of original Alien director Ridley Scott’s prequels (Prometheus and Alien: Covenant), which we already knew, to exist “in parallel” to the film franchise.
That’s interesting phrasing, and suggests Hawley wasn’t held in a vice-like grip by the Alien canon when he plotted out the events of the show. Indeed, this suggestion is reinforced by Balian, who said: “Everything doesn’t have to fit together the way you expect from Marvel. Fans don’t expect that in this universe. It doesn’t have the same pressure.”
That will make for interesting reading for Alien fans who have spent some time fussing over how Alien: Earth fits within the established Alien timeline, and whether it adds context to the events that follow it. For example, Alien: Earth is set just a few years before the events of Alien, which famously debuted the xenomorph. What, then, did the nefarious megacorporation Weyland-Yutani know about the xenomorph threat before the crew of the Nostromo set off on their ill-fated journey? And how was the alien threat contained on earth to the point where it isn’t common knowledge during the events of subsequent films?
At this point in the Alien timeline, earth is governed by five corporations: Weyland-Yutani, Prodigy, which owns the city the Maginot crashes into, Lynch, Dynamic, and Threshold. Cyborgs and synthetics coexist with humans, but then the boss of Prodigy invents hybrids (humanoid robots with human consciousness). Wendy is the first hybrid prototype, and is part of the established push for immortality that is a running theme in the Alien franchise.
Alien: Earth cast:
- Sydney Chandler (Wendy)
- Timothy Olyphant (Kirsh),
- Alex Lawther (Hermit)
- Samuel Blenkin (Boy Kavalier)
- Babou Ceesay (Morrow)
- Adrian Edmondson (Atom Eins)
- David Rysdahl (Arthur Sylvia)
- Essie Davis (Dame Sylvia)
- Lily Newmark (Nibs)
- Erana James (Curly)
- Adarsh Gourav (Slightly)
- Jonathan Ajayi (Smee)
- Kit Young (Tootles)
- Diêm Camille (Siberian)
- Moe Bar-El (Rashidi)
- Sandra Yi Sencindiver (Yutani)
Alien: Earth premieres its first two episodes on August 12 on Hulu at 8pm ET, and on FX and Disney+ at 8pm PT / ET (August 13 in the UK and internationally on Disney+). New episodes of the eight-episode season debut each following Tuesday.
In January last year, showrunner Noah Hawley explained why he is not using the backstory provided in Prometheus for Alien: Earth, saying he likes the “retro-futurism” of the original films. Hawley said he spoke to Alien chief Ridley Scott about “many, many elements” of the Alien series, including its ties to the prequels, but ultimately decided to cut loose and move away from the bioweapon backstory because he preferred the lore of the original films.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
