For the first time since the franchise started in 1979, we finally get an actual Alien TV Series this August… and we should all be super excited.
FX's Alien: Earth comes to streaming services on 13 August 2025 via Disney+ in the UK and Hulu in the US, and everything we've seen so far looks pretty darn good. It's an eight part series set in 2120, before the events of Alien and following on from the mixed bags that were Prometheus and Covenant.
We're being treated to a huge budget, an all-star cast, and what seems to be a really ambitious storyline, so with any luck, it'll be amazing.
Until then, you absolutely need to check out these three franchise movies, simply because they will be of huge relevance... and they're really good, to boot.
Alien
Groundbreaking, claustrophobic and highly innovative for its time, Alien is a true masterpiece that not only redefined the sci-fi and horror genres, but became a landmark in cinema overall.
Ridley Scott’s 1979 deep space thriller set the ball rolling in what would become arguably the most important sci-fi franchise in film (alongside Star Wars). Set aboard the commercial mining ship Nostromo, it follows the crew as they investigate a distress call from a distant world only to bring themselves into contact with a lethal and unrelenting alien life form.
With a stand out performance from Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the film is tense and often terrifying, made even more so thanks to the legendary creature design by H.R. Giger.
Still absolutely essential viewing in 2025, Alien paved the way for dark sci-fi, comic books, video games and now official TV shows.
Alien: Romulus
Despite being the most recent of the Alien movies to be released, Romulus is chronologically set between the events of the first film and its original sequel, Aliens (around 2142).
It was directed by Fede Alvarez and introduces us to a new collection of young colonists, struggling to make a life in the outer mining rim of space. Of course, they encounter the deadly xenomorphs while exploring a derelict Weyland Utani space station.
It marks a genuine return to the franchise's horror roots, with a focus on survival, tone and atmospheric terror. There's definitely a similar tone to the 1979 original.
Alien: Romulus is a refreshing addition to the franchise, bringing in a new generation while honouring what went before. It also does so in a way that embraces the intense suspense, fear and visceral horror that has perhaps been forgotten in the last 20 years.
Aliens
There is a long-running Hollywood myth that when pitching Aliens to 20th Century Fox, director James Cameron simply walked into the meeting, wrote "Alien" on a board and put a "$" at the end – creating "Alien$". Such was his confidence in the project and its ability to make money, he got the job.
The 1986 follow-up was in many ways a completely different animal. Gone was much of the claustrophobic suspense, replaced by action, guns, special effects and adrenaline-fuelled set pieces.
It's set decades after the events of the original and picks up with Ellen Ripley (Weaver) joining a squad of colonial marines sent back to investigate the distant planet from the first movie. In her absence, a civilian mining colony had been set up there and perhaps obviously, had since gone silent.
Cue an overwhelming xenomorph enemy, pulse pounding pace, gritty performances, and relentless intensity.
Seen by many as by far the best film in the franchise, and often touted as one of the best movie sequels ever, Aliens is as close to perfection as you can get.
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