Sébastien Vaniček Is Reportedly Developing a Second, Separate ‘Alien’ Movie

The ‘Alien‘ franchise has entered one of its busiest and most confusing stretches in years, with multiple projects reportedly moving through development at the same time behind closed doors at 20th Century Studios. Fede Álvarez’s 2024 revival, ‘Alien: Romulus,’ reinvigorated the series with a back-to-basics approach that grossed more than $350 million worldwide against a modest $80 million budget, and the studio has spent the past year figuring out how to build on that success.

That path hasn’t been smooth. Álvarez, who co-wrote the planned ‘Romulus’ sequel with longtime collaborator Rodo Sayagues, exited the director’s chair last September, staying on only as a producer. Since then, the studio has cycled through potential replacements, first eyeing “Pig” director Michael Sarnoski before he became tied up with “Death Stranding,” then approaching “Evil Dead Burn” filmmaker Sébastien Vaniček, whose talks with the studio ultimately fell apart as well.

Now, according to World of Reel, Vaniček is reportedly attached to an entirely different ‘Alien’ project at 20th Century Studios, one described as separate from whatever eventually becomes of “Alien: Romulus 2.” That distinction matters given how tangled the franchise’s development slate has become over the past several months, with multiple filmmakers apparently working on unrelated films set within the same universe.

Vaniček wouldn’t be the only writer-director currently developing a standalone ‘Alien’ project for the studio. Brian Duffield, known for “No One Will Save You” and the upcoming “Whalefall,” has separately been reported to be writing a film that would “somewhat distance itself” from ‘Romulus,’ according to earlier reporting from World of Reel. Duffield has an existing relationship with 20th Century, having co-written “Underwater” and received a credit on “Predator: Badlands,” giving the studio multiple active avenues to keep expanding the franchise beyond a direct ‘Romulus’ sequel.

Complicating things further, both leads from ‘Romulus’ have since moved on to high-profile Marvel projects. David Jonsson, who played the android Andy, was revealed as the new Black Panther during Marvel’s Hall H panel at Comic-Con, with “Black Panther 3” dated for December 2028. Cailee Spaeny, who played Rain, had also been rumored for a role in Marvel’s upcoming “X-Men” film, though Marvel ultimately cast Inde Navarrette as Rogue at D23 instead.

Amid all this shuffling, 20th Century Studios has pushed back on reports that the ‘Romulus’ sequel has been shelved entirely. Studio president Steve Asbell stated in August that the project has not been cancelled, even as the identity of its director and the state of its script remain unclear following Álvarez’s departure and the collapsed talks with Vaniček.

Part of the friction behind the ‘Romulus’ follow-up reportedly traces back to creative disagreements involving Ridley Scott, who produced the original film. Álvarez had wanted to bring Michael Fassbender’s android character David into the sequel, but Scott reportedly declined, wanting to preserve the character for his own potential future ‘Alien’ projects rather than hand him over to another director.

With Scott separately developing his own ‘Covenant’ follow-up centered on David, Duffield reportedly writing a distancing standalone film, and now Vaniček apparently attached to yet another project, 20th Century Studios appears to be betting on multiple simultaneous ‘Alien’ storylines rather than a single unified sequel. Whichever film reaches theaters first, the franchise’s next chapter is clearly being built from several different directions at once.

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