FX boss John Landgraf has confirmed an "Alien" television series is in development from Noah Hawley. Ridley Scott is also in talks to serve as executive producer.
Per Deadline: "The series is billed as being the first 'Alien' story set on Earth, and will blend the timeless horror of the original 1979 movie and the non-stop action of the 1986 James Cameron-directed second." (Disney, apparently, does not consider the "Alien vs. Predator" series to be part of the official franchise.)
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"We're moving quickly to bring audiences the first television series based on one of the greatest science-fiction horror classics ever made," Landgraf said during a Disney Investor Day announcement. "'Alien' will be helmed by 'Fargo' and 'Legion's' Noah Hawley, stepping into the creator [and] executive-producer chair, working alongside Sir Ridley Scott. Set not too far into our future, it's the first 'Alien' story set on Earth, and by blending both the timeless horror of the first 'Alien' film with the non-stop action of the second, it's going to be a scary thrill ride that will blow people back in their seats."
Deadline first reported in March 2019 that former Fox film chief Stacey Snider "fended off an attempt by Hawley and FX to take the 'Aliens' franchise and turn it into a miniseries," but that was before the Disney-Fox merger. Hawley recently said that while an "Alien" limited series hasn't gained much momentum post-merger, talks about developing one continue "from time to time."
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"I know that there's an effort to reshuffle a lot of things post-Disney takeover and it was a conversation that I had a couple years back," Hawley told Deadline earlier this year about the limited series. "I know that like any studio that there's a great desire to make the most of one's library so I wouldn't be surprised to see something like that."
In a September interview with Observer, Hawley spoke for the first time in depth about his approach to an "Alien" miniseries.
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"'Alien' is sort of about humanity at its worst," Hawley said. "There's this moment in the second film when Sigourney says, 'I don't know which species is worse. At least they don't screw each other over for a percentage.' If you look at what 'Alien' [films] tend to be, it's usually a trapped story — trapped in a ship, trapped in a prison, etc. And because the Alien has this life cycle to it, where it goes from egg, to chestburster, to xenomorph, there becomes a certain routine to it."
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