Do you need to watch any Alien movies before Alien: Romulus?

Is Alien: Romulus a sequel, prequel, reboot, or something in between? The movie is in theaters on Friday, Aug. 16, and moviegoers are wondering if they should freshen up on their Alien movie series knowledge before catching Romulus on opening weekend. Or what if you don’t know anything about the franchise, is Romulus a good place to start? Here’s what we know! 

New to the Alien world or have lost count of how many movies about it have been released? The upcoming sci-fi horror Alien: Romulus is the ninth installment in the franchise (we’re including the spin-offs). Needless to say, watching eight movies before the opening weekend for Romulus is quite the challenge! Luckily, you may not even need to watch any. 

Directed by Fede Alvarez, Alien: Romulus follows a group of young and curious space colonists who get more than what they bargained for when they discover a new life form. The synopsis shared by the studio is as follows:

"The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe."

I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise. These movies are what theaters were made for, there’s nothing like the big-screen experience to take this sci-fi horror adventure in. I definitely recommend going to the theater to watch Romulus, and the sooner, the better. Fede Alvarez, who didn’t only direct the film, but also co-wrote it along with Rodo Sayagues, is known for 2013’s Evil Dead and 2016’s Don’t Breathe, so when it comes to horror, we’re in good hands! 

You should watch the original Alien (1979) before Alien: Romulus 

There is a lot of confusion about whether or not Alien: Romulus is a standalone movie. After doing some research, we believe that the movie does work fine as a standalone feature, so you don’t need to watch any of the previous films to be able to enjoy it and follow along. However, according to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the story takes place between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). That said, I do recommend you at least watch 1979’s Aliens if you have the time. If not, that’s totally fine! Alvarez shared with the source that:

"If you haven’t seen any of them [the Alien movies]...you’ll have an incredible experience. You’ll have a blast. Now, if you’ve seen the others, then it’s a completely different experience in a way, because you’ll see and you’ll find those connections with the other movies. "

Have time to watch Alien (1979)? Great! You'll find the movie available to stream on Hulu for free as part of your subscription.

Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny, David Johnson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. The movie is rated R for language and violent, bloody content. It has a runtime of approximately one hour and 59 minutes. Catch it in theaters this Friday, Aug. 16 (select theaters have showings playing as early the evening of Thursday, Aug. 15).