Television ALIEN: EARTH (Renewed for Season 2)

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Update: July 21, 2023

Alex Lawther and Samuel Blenkin Among Quartet Cast in FX's ALIEN Series, Starts Production With No SAG-AFTRA Actors Amid Strike

FX’s Alien series has started production in Thailand but without its stars who are SAG-AFTRA members due to the ongoing strike.

So far, Sydney Chandler is the only officially confirmed cast member, playing the female lead. Deadline can reveal that Alex Lawther, known for his starring role in Netflix’s young adult drama The End of the F*cking World, has been cast as the male lead, a soldier named CJ, with Samuel Blenkin (Black Mirror) as another main character, Boy Kavalier, a CEO. Additional cast members include Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) as Dame Silvia and Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) as Slightly.

The deals for the actors were made well before the SAG-AFTRA strike started July 14, and those who are members of the American union are not currently in Thailand working on Alien, which is an Equity production, sources tell Deadline.

Production began Wednesday, July 19, at The Studio Park with crew filming scenes that don’t include SAG-affiliated actors.

Reps for American Chandler, who is best known for her role in Don’t Worry, Darling, confirmed she was “not in production.” Equity-affiliated English actor Lawther is in Thailand, filming, sources tell Deadline.

Equity performers have been told that they risk being sued for breach of contract if they walk off set in solidarity with American colleagues.

Noah Hawley’s prequel to the Alien franchise, with Ridley Scott on board as executive producer, has booked out most of the sound stages in Bangkok, as well as a big chunk of its camera and lighting equipment.

According to sources, three of the cast are SAG-AFTRA members and it’s understood the production has reworked its shooting schedule to delay their participation for as long as possible. Some of the other main cast are members of UK acting union Equity.

Hawley created the series, which had been in prep for four months, and was less than one week away from the start of production when the SAG-AFTRA strike was called.

A source close to the production said the shoot hadn’t been affected by the WGA strike as all the scripts were completed before it was called in May. But the actors’ strike threw them another curveball.

Around 400 Thai nationals are employed in the production’s crew; no details have emerged about Thai cast. Among the Thai facilities booked out by the production are Bangkok’s Studio Park, where Netflix’s Thai Cave Rescue and Disney’s Ms Marvel were also shot.

The Alien series is reportedly set in a time period before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth.

Separately from the FX series, 20th Century Studios is producing a ninth Alien movie, directed by Fede Alverez and starring Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced. That film is already in post-production.

‘Alien’: Alex Lawther & Samuel Blenkin Among Quartet Cast As FX Series Starts Production With No SAG-AFTRA Actors Amid Strike

 

[KnightTemplar]

Update: July 21, 2023

Alex Lawther and Samuel Blenkin Among Quartet Cast in FX's ALIEN Series, Starts Production With No SAG-AFTRA Actors Amid Strike

FX’s Alien series has started production in Thailand but without its stars who are SAG-AFTRA members due to the ongoing strike.

So far, Sydney Chandler is the only officially confirmed cast member, playing the female lead. Deadline can reveal that Alex Lawther, known for his starring role in Netflix’s young adult drama The End of the F*cking World, has been cast as the male lead, a soldier named CJ, with Samuel Blenkin (Black Mirror) as another main character, Boy Kavalier, a CEO. Additional cast members include Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) as Dame Silvia and Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger) as Slightly.

The deals for the actors were made well before the SAG-AFTRA strike started July 14, and those who are members of the American union are not currently in Thailand working on Alien, which is an Equity production, sources tell Deadline.

Production began Wednesday, July 19, at The Studio Park with crew filming scenes that don’t include SAG-affiliated actors.

Reps for American Chandler, who is best known for her role in Don’t Worry, Darling, confirmed she was “not in production.” Equity-affiliated English actor Lawther is in Thailand, filming, sources tell Deadline.

Equity performers have been told that they risk being sued for breach of contract if they walk off set in solidarity with American colleagues.

Noah Hawley’s prequel to the Alien franchise, with Ridley Scott on board as executive producer, has booked out most of the sound stages in Bangkok, as well as a big chunk of its camera and lighting equipment.

According to sources, three of the cast are SAG-AFTRA members and it’s understood the production has reworked its shooting schedule to delay their participation for as long as possible. Some of the other main cast are members of UK acting union Equity.

Hawley created the series, which had been in prep for four months, and was less than one week away from the start of production when the SAG-AFTRA strike was called.

A source close to the production said the shoot hadn’t been affected by the WGA strike as all the scripts were completed before it was called in May. But the actors’ strike threw them another curveball.

Around 400 Thai nationals are employed in the production’s crew; no details have emerged about Thai cast. Among the Thai facilities booked out by the production are Bangkok’s Studio Park, where Netflix’s Thai Cave Rescue and Disney’s Ms Marvel were also shot.

The Alien series is reportedly set in a time period before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth.

Separately from the FX series, 20th Century Studios is producing a ninth Alien movie, directed by Fede Alverez and starring Cailee Spaeny and Isabela Merced. That film is already in post-production.

‘Alien’: Alex Lawther & Samuel Blenkin Among Quartet Cast As FX Series Starts Production With No SAG-AFTRA Actors Amid Strike

So...an Aliens show with no Xenomorphs?

 

[PBAC]

Ripley is the perfect example of a strong female lead. I hope they understand that before jamming anything hammy down our throats, but I have a feeling we'll see her spin kicking an alien in the mouth.

 

[HenryFlower]

Samuel Blenkin was fantastic in his episode of Atlanta. probably one of the best guest characters in the entire series.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Hawley is doing an alien series!? I’m in.

He should have gotten his Doom movie.

 

[Adamant]

The Alien series is reportedly set in a time period before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth.

I don't understand the obsession of making everything since Resurrection a freaking prequel. The godawful Prometheus movies. AvP. How about either something set between Alien and Aliens, or something made post-Aliens or post-Alien3? It's like they're scared to touch those times.

And ffs give it the same look and feel as Alien or Aliens, so it at least seems like we're in the same universe. And stay true to what those films brought to the table. Don't change it.

The original Alien is one of my all-time favorite films. The sequel was good but highly overrated. Everything else has been shit.

I have zero faith this will be anything other than one more notch on the belt of failed woke perversions of classics IPs.

Agreed, except I love Aliens. It's a fantastic movie and it goes perfectly with Alien. To me, it's the same situation as The Terminator and T2, where they are intrinsically linked. It's T1/T2 - Alien/Aliens, and then a bunch of dogshit that comes after both pairs.

Yeah, I've lost all faith in Hollywood, outside of a select few people. But none of them are involved with this, so no doubt it will be what we expect it to be. A woke, soulless, cashgrab version of Alien.

It's a goddamn shame Neil Blomkamp didn't get to make his Alien 5. It's a crime against humanity as far as I'm concerned.

It seems so obvious what the next step should be. Follow a group of Colonial Marines hunting down xenomorphs across the galaxy.

Alien: Isolation did such a great job opening the universe up, they really should have just gone in that direction.

Keep the retro future tech, semiotic standard signage, sci-fi space horror, and go to fucking town.

Alien: Isolation was a freaking MASTERPIECE. I replay it about once every two years. It's possibly my favorite game of all time. It's SO goddamn good. Everything that the movies do wrong, that game did right. It boggles the mind that we haven't gotten a sequel to it.

And yeah, a sequel to Alien or Aliens would be so, so easy, but the fools in charge end up doing their own thing, and it's been terrible.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

Ripley is the perfect example of a strong female lead. I hope they understand that before jamming anything hammy down our throats, but I have a feeling we'll see her spin kicking an alien in the mouth.

Ironically though films like Alien and Aliens are actually far more political than most modern stuff which gets called "woke" which is normally just a bit of limp tokenism rather than those films strong anti capitalism.

I would argue they are more genuinely feminist as well showing Ripley as a confident person and in Aliens that its compassion which wins out when gung ho arrogance fails. You could argue as well also shows you that back in the day "tokenism" was recognised as a bad thing rather than the dominant political ideology it is today, Aliens has female marines who are just as bad ass but it doesnt matter if there still working for the military industrial complex driven by macho arrogance they still fail.

 

[deviake]

Ironically though films like Alien and Aliens are actually far more political than most modern stuff which gets called "woke" which is normally just a bit of limp tokenism rather than those films strong anti capitalism.

I would argue they are more genuinely feminist as well showing Ripley as a confident person and in Aliens that its a compassion which wins out when gung ho arrogance fails. You could argue as well also shows you that back in the day "tokenism" was recognised as a bad thing rather than the dominant political ideology it is today, Aliens has female marines who are just as bad ass but it doesnt matter if there still working for the military industrial complex driven by macho arrogance they still fail.

Goddamn well said. Great observation and articulation

 

[deviake]

Well there were surely some complaints along those lines from some but I had been spammed xenomorphs with two AVP movies and there was certainly no novelty left to the monster. I wanted atmosphere and good characters...the things that made Alien...and Prometheus didn't deliver terribly well on either.

I am sure there were some "muh xenomorphs" complaints but I wasn't really hearing them in my circles.

I remember Ridley making the fine here's your xenomorphs you dinks kind of comments but again that seemed to me partly like not wanting to hear the other criticisms about the film...all of which he went on to repeat or do even worse in Covenant.

Prometheus - Idiots take off their helmets right away on the new planet.
Covenant - They walk out of their spaceship with no helmets at all.

I think too that some of the "no xeno" complaints may have also stemmed from Prometheus's ineptitude as a movie. Had it been smart, coherent, and polished those people may not have complained. Instead it was kind of a dumb horror movie lacking in big bad to be afraid of

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I think too that some of the "no xeno" complaints may have also stemmed from Prometheus's ineptitude as a movie. Had it been smart, coherent, and polished those people may not have complained. Instead it was kind of a dumb horror movie lacking in big bad to be afraid of

And then Covenant came out and the Xenos weren't scary.

The simple fact is that since Alien3 & Resurrection audiences have seen Xenos from all 360 degrees, and we know their capabities and limitations.

That doesn't count the AvP movies, videogames, and being able to play as one in MKX.



So as someone that loved Prometheus, I'm looking forward to hearing more about this 'No Xenos' Alien movie.

If it does well, I'm hoping some will try to make a Dead Space show.

 

[HenryFlower]

I don't understand the obsession of making everything since Resurrection a freaking prequel. The godawful Prometheus movies. AvP. How about either something set between Alien and Aliens, or something made post-Aliens or post-Alien3? It's like they're scared to touch those times.

And ffs give it the same look and feel as Alien or Aliens, so it at least seems like we're in the same universe. And stay true to what those films brought to the table. Don't change it.



Agreed, except I love Aliens. It's a fantastic movie and it goes perfectly with Alien. To me, it's the same situation as The Terminator and T2, where they are intrinsically linked. It's T1/T2 - Alien/Aliens, and then a bunch of dogshit that comes after both pairs.

Yeah, I've lost all faith in Hollywood, outside of a select few people. But none of them are involved with this, so no doubt it will be what we expect it to be. A woke, soulless, cashgrab version of Alien.

It's a goddamn shame Neil Blomkamp didn't get to make his Alien 5. It's a crime against humanity as far as I'm concerned.



Alien: Isolation was a freaking MASTERPIECE. I replay it about once every two years. It's possibly my favorite game of all time. It's SO goddamn good. Everything that the movies do wrong, that game did right. It boggles the mind that we haven't gotten a sequel to it.

And yeah, a sequel to Alien or Aliens would be so, so easy, but the fools in charge end up doing their own thing, and it's been terrible.

Neil Blomkamp sucks lol

 

[deviake]

And then Covenant came out and the Xenos weren't scary.

The simple fact is that since Alien3 & Resurrection audiences have seen Xenos from all 360 degrees, and we know their capabities and limitations.

That doesn't count the AvP movies, videogames, and being able to play as one in MKX.



So as someone that loved Prometheus, I'm looking forward to hearing more about this 'No Xenos' Alien movie.

If it does well, I'm hoping some will try to make a Dead Space show.

Yeah no xenos is fine with me as long as the rest of it is compelling. Covenant... oh man. Just, holy fuck, lol. I still want a good AvP movie and I believe it's entirely possible. I've actually never played Dead Space, I may rectify that down the line.

As an aside, I highly recommend this fan film:





There's another fan film that I think came out recently that I saw that's maybe 10-15 minutes and has no xenos that's good, I don't remember what it's called off the top of my head.

 

[Adamant]

Neil Blomkamp sucks lol

He can suck at his original stuff all day long, but his pitch for Alien 5 was great.

 

[BB in Crazy!!!!]

FX? You have curiosity.


Noah Haley? Now you have my attention.

The only network better would have been HBO. I’m just glad this is basic cable or… well any of the other streaming networks that are screwing up simple shows. I guess Hulu would be a decent 3rd pick.

 

[BB in Crazy!!!!]

I don't understand the obsession of making everything since Resurrection a freaking prequel. The godawful Prometheus movies. AvP. How about either something set between Alien and Aliens, or something made post-Aliens or post-Alien3? It's like they're scared to touch those times.

And ffs give it the same look and feel as Alien or Aliens, so it at least seems like we're in the same universe. And stay true to what those films brought to the table. Don't change it.



Agreed, except I love Aliens. It's a fantastic movie and it goes perfectly with Alien. To me, it's the same situation as The Terminator and T2, where they are intrinsically linked. It's T1/T2 - Alien/Aliens, and then a bunch of dogshit that comes after both pairs.

Yeah, I've lost all faith in Hollywood, outside of a select few people. But none of them are involved with this, so no doubt it will be what we expect it to be. A woke, soulless, cashgrab version of Alien.

It's a goddamn shame Neil Blomkamp didn't get to make his Alien 5. It's a crime against humanity as far as I'm concerned.



Alien: Isolation was a freaking MASTERPIECE. I replay it about once every two years. It's possibly my favorite game of all time. It's SO goddamn good. Everything that the movies do wrong, that game did right. It boggles the mind that we haven't gotten a sequel to it.

And yeah, a sequel to Alien or Aliens would be so, so easy, but the fools in charge end up doing their own thing, and it's been terrible.

Alien Isolation was fantastic!

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Alien: Isolation was a freaking MASTERPIECE. I replay it about once every two years. It's possibly my favorite game of all time. It's SO goddamn good. Everything that the movies do wrong, that game did right. It boggles the mind that we haven't gotten a sequel to it.

.

the perfect game. i too play it about once every couple of years.

 

[Gene Tunney]

Three of Hollywood's most significant failures during the 1990's:

- Not capitalizing on Star Trek's peak popularity, producing four uninspired Next Generation films
- Not committing to Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian
- Squandering the artistic and market potential of a legitimate Aliens followup

 

[BisexualMMA]

Yeah, I've lost all faith in Hollywood, outside of a select few people. But none of them are involved with this, so no doubt it will be what we expect it to be. A woke, soulless, cashgrab version of Alien.

It's a goddamn shame Neil Blomkamp didn't get to make his Alien 5. It's a crime against humanity as far as I'm concerned.

And yeah, a sequel to Alien or Aliens would be so, so easy, but the fools in charge end up doing their own thing, and it's been terrible.

Weaver and Biehn are too old and broken down now for a proper Alien 2.5 but it would have been great if done right. Their Rambo 4 / Top Gun Maverick etc.

However...I am 95% certain that Neill Blomkamp would have fucked the dog with it. He has not written a decent screenplay (or executed a movie well) since his first movie and it has been a continuous steady drop since. Elysium was not good, Chappie was abysmal, and then that demon possession one he made during the pandemic was somehow even worse than Chappie.

Blomkamp would be awesome as the robotic VFX guy / assistant director if someone else wrote the script and someone else was the actual director.

But Alien had its own steady Blomkampish journey downward as a franchise. Alien 3 was a drop down, then Alien Resurrection made Alien 3 look good...and then everything since has made Alien Resurrection look kind of decent. I didn't think Alien Resurrection would grow on me over the years, but it has enjoyed the same sort of "well at least it isn't as bad as..." re-evaluation that I've had with the Star Wars prequels, Robocop 2, Terminator Salvation, and so on.

The window has closed...same as it closed on Arnold's Conan 3 or on a proper set of Terminator future war movies. I guess the latter is still doable since Arnold isn't a requirement. But all of the franchises mentioned have been raped into the ground and diluted to the point that nobody trusts or values the name and they would also be hard pressed to attract top directing talent. After The Terminator, James Cameron was happy to jump on board for sequels to both Alien and First Blood. Today's "young James Cameron" isn't going to want to crawl through the slug trail left behind in the wake of The Predator, Alien: Covenant, Rise of Skywalker, Terminator Genisys or Dark Fate etc.

Anyway...all of that to say I would be willing to check out an alternate universe somewhere in which Blomkamp got to make his Alien 2.5. I might even trade Prometheus and Covenant for that. But I'm almost certain Blomkamp would have made something pretty bad and just killed off that avenue the way The Flash killed off the future of Keaton's Batman.

 

[deviake]

Weaver and Biehn are too old and broken down now for a proper Alien 2.5 but it would have been great if done right. Their Rambo 4 / Top Gun Maverick etc.

However...I am 95% certain that Neill Blomkamp would have fucked the dog with it. He has not written a decent screenplay (or executed a movie well) since his first movie and it has been a continuous steady drop since. Elysium was not good, Chappie was abysmal, and then that demon possession one he made during the pandemic was somehow even worse than Chappie.

Blomkamp would be awesome as the robotic VFX guy / assistant director if someone else wrote the script and someone else was the actual director.

But Alien had its own steady Blomkampish journey downward as a franchise. Alien 3 was a drop down, then Alien Resurrection made Alien 3 look good...and then everything since has made Alien Resurrection look kind of decent. I didn't think Alien Resurrection would grow on me over the years, but it has enjoyed the same sort of "well at least it isn't as bad as..." re-evaluation that I've had with the Star Wars prequels, Robocop 2, Terminator Salvation, and so on.

The window has closed...same as it closed on Arnold's Conan 3 or on a proper set of Terminator future war movies. I guess the latter is still doable since Arnold isn't a requirement. But all of the franchises mentioned have been raped into the ground and diluted to the point that nobody trusts or values the name and they would also be hard pressed to attract top directing talent. After The Terminator, James Cameron was happy to jump on board for sequels to both Alien and First Blood. Today's "young James Cameron" isn't going to want to crawl through the slug trail left behind in the wake of The Predator, Alien: Covenant, Rise of Skywalker, Terminator Genisys or Dark Fate etc.

Anyway...all of that to say I would be willing to check out an alternate universe somewhere in which Blomkamp got to make his Alien 2.5. I might even trade Prometheus and Covenant for that. But I'm almost certain Blomkamp would have made something pretty bad and just killed off that avenue the way The Flash killed off the future of Keaton's Batman.

That quote isn't from me

 

[Gene Tunney]

That quote isn't from me