Chestbursting aliens lead the way in Alien: Romulus trailer that sees the franchise goes back to its horror roots

Alien: Romulus
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

The new trailer for the Fede Álvarez-directed Alien: Romulus has been released, and it's suitably terrifying.

Following the first teaser, the first major look at the upcoming movie gives us a clearer idea of the plot. We see the group of young space cadets make their trip to a space station to escape the monotony of Earth, before finding out something is hunting them... There's lots of gore too, and naturally an alien bursting from someone's chest, which looks like it was what was seen in the CinemaCon footage shown earlier this year. Watch the full trailer below.

Álvarez, who has cut his teeth on horror with 2013's Evil Dead and 2016's Don't Breathe, recently revealed Ridley Scott's reaction after watching Alien: Romulus - and it's fair to say he was impressed.

"He wanted to watch it on his own. Because it was Alien," Alvarez previously revealed while in conversation with Guillermo del Toro at the DGA Latino Summit 2023. "It was very important to him. He didn't want to have anybody in the room. That makes me even more terrified while I'm waiting. And then he walks into the room and he did say, 'Fede, what can I say? It's fucking great.'"

In an exclusive breakdown of the first trailer with Total Film, Álvarez confirmed Alien: Romulus takes place 20 years after the original, while Ripley is in hypersleep. 

Starring Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, and Spike Fearn, Alien: Romulus hits theaters on August 16.

Before then, check out our ranking of the best horror movies of all time, and our look at the upcoming horror movies coming your way very soon. 

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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