Alien Romulus 2: Status, Release Date and What We Know

Yes, a sequel to Alien: Romulus is in development at 20th Century Studios, but it has no start of filming, no release date, no director and no confirmed cast. That is a less certain picture than the headlines around it tend to suggest.

Alien: Romulus (2024), directed by Fede Álvarez, cost $80 million to make, according to The Numbers, and earned about $351 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. TMDB already lists an entry called Alien: Romulus sequel with the status in development.

The first concrete news came on September 5, 2025, when TheWrap reported that Álvarez would not direct the sequel. He wrote the script with his regular collaborator Rodo Sayagues and is reported to be producing with Ridley Scott while the studio looks for a new director. No replacement has been named.

The second piece came on August 3, 2026. After a report claimed the film had been shelved, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell answered "Nope" on X, as Yahoo reported. That is a denial of the shelving claim and not a greenlight, so it shows the film is still alive without showing that it is scheduled. Waiting on this one is a little like watching a departures board that shows the train but no time.

The films already released are collected on the alien movies hub and the alien timeline.

In my opinion, the sound reading is that the next Alien film is real but early, and that the sequel to Alien: Romulus is not the only Alien project the studio is weighing. That is a hedged view, since the reporting is thin and some of it conflicts.

Here is what holds up. The sequel has a script by Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues, reported by TheWrap. It has no director, because Álvarez stepped away from that role in September 2025. The studio president rejected the shelving rumor in August 2026. And TheWrap reported in October 2026 that a separate new Alien film is in early development, which suggests the studio is keeping several options open.

What does that mean for a film called Alien Romulus 2? It could be that the sequel proceeds once a director is found, or that another project overtakes it. Nothing published settles that. It could be argued that the loss of Álvarez matters, because Romulus worked as a deliberate return to the first film's closed, haunted house tension, and a new director would have to choose whether to keep that or reach for the scale of Aliens.

As for Covenant 2, no sequel to Alien: Covenant (2017), directed by Ridley Scott, has been announced. The TheWrap report only says the new Guzikowski project is reportedly tied to Prometheus and Covenant, which is a connection and not a confirmed sequel. Covenant earned about $241 million worldwide on a $97 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo, while Romulus did better on a smaller $80 million budget, which is a commercial point in the newer film's favor.

If you are new to the series, the practical move is to catch up now: start with alien movies in order, then check the alien box office page to see how each film performed.