Alien: Earth star Sydney Chandler revealed a couple of months ago that production on the second season of the FX show is set to start filming next month. Interestingly, back when Chandler confirmed that news, she also said she hadn’t seen any scripts for the new season yet. The sci-fi horror series premiered last August and quickly secured a renewal for a second season. While the first season was filmed in Thailand, the production is shifting over to Pinewood Studios in London (the same place where the original Alien was filmed) for season 2.
Deadline recently caught up with Alien: Earth showrunner Noah Hawley. Hawley has been prepping for the start of production next month at Pinewood and explained,
What I can say is we start [shooting] this summer. We’re getting close. I did a stage walk today past the props and costumes. Things are being built. It’s always exciting to see it. We had a great experience in Thailand, but for a couple of reasons London is a better home for us long-term.”sponsored content
He made sure to note that he was familiar with the studio’s history with the franchise, housing filming for not only the first Alien, but also Aliens, Alien 3 and Prometheus. Additionally, Neil Lamont, who is the production designer for Alien: Earth, is the son of Peter Lamont, who had worked in production design on the original film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Aliens. Hawley stated, “Neil did some work on it when he was a teen. I love those connections, and how personal this franchise is to people. The British art department is legendary: You know however difficult the concept, it will executed the first time to the highest degree.”
While the film franchise seemingly started running on fumes, Alien: Romulus attempted to bring the series back to basics. Then, the FX series decided to explore a different aspect of this future. Hawley decided to set the show on Earth because “The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a space ship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.“
Alien: Earth has the following synopsis: When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat. During the time the story takes place, five corporations – Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold – wield the power of nations, and proprietary advancements in technology provide the promise of a new tomorrow.