The Crucial Role of Prey in the Revival of Alien: Romulus

The upcoming Alien: Romulus is taking the Alien franchise back to its roots, and ironically, 2022’s Predator prequel Prey helped guide it there. Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus is set to take place between Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, with a group of humans coming face-to-face with Xenomorphs on one of Earth’s interplanetary colonies. Romulus will release in theatres on August 16^th, but the next chapter of the Alien franchise was originally set to debut on Hulu before switching to a theatrical release. Funnily enough, Prey’s success on Hulu and the strong reception it has enjoyed could well have played a key role in the release plans for Alien: Romulus becoming more ambitious.

The Success of Prey

Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey has received widespread acclaim as one of the best instalments of the Predator franchise, to the point of earning comparisons with the original Predator’s mix of spine-tingling suspense and take-no-prisoners action. One of the most essential elements in the success of Prey can be found in just how straightforward and basic a human-predator hunt is set up.

Set in 1719, Prey follows a young Comanche warrior named Naru (Amber Midthunder) as she battles a Yautja hunter arriving on Earth to collect human skulls. With relatively little spoken dialogue (and even a Comanche language dub to boot), Prey keeps everything as simple as the original Predator, focusing on Naru’s duel with the Predator and a group of vicious French fur trappers she and her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) cross paths with.

Looking at Alien: Romulus, it seems to be taking a similar approach.

Strategic Decisions Behind Alien: Romulus

To begin with, the decision to set Romulus between Alien and Aliens is certainly no accident, the two being by far the most universally beloved movies in the Alien franchise. Indeed, the Romulus trailer feels tonally in sync with both movies, with numerous nods to both.

At the same time, Romulus doesn’t look to be a strict retread of Alien or Aliens either, instead carefully noting the legacy both hold in the hearts of sci-fi fans and using that as a foundation to establish a new wing of the Alien franchise.

Prey itself pulled off that trick marvellously in taking the Predator franchise back to the simple concept of a human warrior facing off with a Predator in the wilderness, but only using that as a template to do something completely fresh with the franchise. Where it really gets interesting is how much Prey’s success in August 2022 might have given 20^th Century Studios the confidence to take Alien: Romulus into theatres.

Revival of the Predator and Alien Franchises

The Predator franchise itself had hit a low point with the disappointment of 2018’s The Predator in theatres. Prey’s subsequent popularity on Hulu was the complete opposite, with the Predator franchise invigorated with an energy and audience excitement for the future that it hadn’t seen since 2010’s Predators.

The Alien franchise, meanwhile, has had its own ups and downs of late, with 2012’s mega-success of Prometheus followed by the box office disappointment of Alien: Covenant. From the perspective of 20^th Century Studios, a streaming release for Alien: Romulus might have seemed like a more financially viable option with the future box office prospects of the Alien franchise increasingly in question.

However, for Prey to then come along and take Predator back to Arnold Schwarzenegger-levels of popularity, the world wasted little time in looking right at its sister sci-fi monster franchise, Alien, with hopes of a similar comeback.

Alien: Romulus’s Theatrical Prospects

With Alien: Romulus already following the Prey strategy of “Go back to the beginning to start something new”, a theatre run suddenly looks like a very viable option for an Alien comeback. Most big franchises that hit a downturn dream of returning to their glory days, but Prey has arguably done something even more impressive in not only reviving Predator but Alien right alongside it.

To be sure, Alien: Romulus still has to do its own heavy lifting at the box office to close out 2024’s summer movie season on a high note. Nevertheless, in contrast to the famed Alien and Predator rivalry, Prey could well have given Alien: Romulus the push it needed to try its hand at theatrical success one more time.

Tell us, are you hoping that Alien: Romulus will be as good or better than Prey?

Also, read up on the Predator fights Japanese Samurai idea that’s going viral and why we need a Rambo vs Predator crossover movie.