Noah Hawley Is Looking to "Remystify" the ALIEN Franchise With His New FX Series

I’m curious to see what Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) is looking to do with the Alien series that he’s developing for FX. Hawley is such a talented storyteller, so if anyone can take this franchise and breath fresh new life into it, it’s him.

The story for Hawley’s Alien “takes place before Ripley. It’s the first story that takes place in the Alien franchise on Earth.” It’s also been revealed that it will be set near “the end of this century we’re in — so 70-odd years from now.” It will also be the first Alien story set on Earth.

During a recent interview with Screen Rant, the filmmaker talked about taking on this project and his plans to “remistify” the Alien franchise. Hd said:

“When FX asked me if I was interested in adapting what is now a franchise, but for me was always this film, I had to think about what it was about the movie that inspired originally and would I be able to create that for an audience. Of course, you can only see Alien for the first time once and there’s something so unpredictable to the creature at the heart of it, and so disturbing about it, that after 6 movies you think ‘well, maybe there’s no mystery left to it.’ What’s interesting to me is to try to remystify the franchise. The creature, the story, for a modern audience in the way that my 15-year-old won’t think is slow, is the requirement.”

Sydney Chandler, the daughter of Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) is set to star in the series. The project will blend “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.“

Hawley previously talked about the series, saying, “It's about how we're trapped between the primordial past and the artificial intelligence of our future, where both [are] trying to kill us. It's set on Earth of the future. At this moment, I describe that as Edison versus Westinghouse versus Tesla. Someone's going to monopolize electricity. We just don't know which one it is."

He went on to share, “It’s a story that’s set on Earth also. The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a spaceship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.”

Are you excited about Hawley’s vision for this Alien series? Do you think it’ll be good!?