Fede Álvarez says there was some pushback from Disney regarding Alien: Romulus’ final act.
Alien: Romulus was released in United States theaters this past weekend. The film is directed by Álvarez and sees Cailee Spaeny play the character of Rainn.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Álvarez discussed how, similar to his previous films, Alien: Romulus has a fourth act. This fourth act introduces a human-Xenomorph hybrid creature referred to as “the Offspring,” and Álvarez says he initially received some pushback from Disney about the idea.
“They did [push back] at the beginning [with regard to the Offspring], but not because they didn’t like it,” he explained. “They just thought, ‘Is it too much? Do we really have to go there?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, now that you said that we shouldn’t, I know that I will.’ So that’s exactly what we did here. If you’re given an Alien movie by a corporation that is owned by Disney and they immediately say, ‘Yeah, let’s make it,’ then you are failing somehow. So we really pushed it to the limit, and I’m glad we did.”
Álvarez also said about the movie’s ending, “There’s a moment where the movie feels like it’s over, and then there’s a fourth act, which is fitting because Alien has a fourth act as well. You could even argue that Aliens has a bit of a fourth act with its last set piece. It’s when you think it’s all done and the movie could have ended, but it just gives you a last set piece that tends to go to really extreme places.
“Last night, I felt like that’s what was happening. We got into the end of the third act and everybody was relaxing and going, ‘Okay, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be.’ But if they turned around and looked at me, I’m taking my jacket off and rolling up my sleeves, because I’m about to really give it to them and go where it has to go. And, by contrast, it hopefully feels terrifying and intense. I could do that the whole movie, but it would be unbearable. It would be too much.”
Alien: Romulus is now playing in United States theaters.
