Noah Hawley is currently developing an “FX on Hulu” show that’s set in the world of the Alien franchise, and a few months ago he said that he’s hoping to get the show into production next spring. Now FX Chairman John Landgraf told Deadline that he’s “optimistic” the Alien tv series “may well roll out in 2023“.
Speaking during a Television Critics Association panel, Landgraf described the Alien show as “a beast” and “a really big, world-building exercise” for Hawley. While it will feature “some inventiveness and originality that is uniquely Noah”,
you’ll also see that the show will feel like a part of the cinematic universe you’re familiar with in terms of Alien.”
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Hawley has previously confirmed that his story is set 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. … On some level it’s also a story about inequality. You know, one of the things that I love about the first movie is how ’70s a movie it is, and how it’s really this blue collar space-trucker world in which Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are basically Waiting for Godot. They’re like Samuel Beckett characters, ordered to go to a place by a faceless nameless corporation. The second movie is such an ‘80s movie, but it’s still about grunts. Paul Reiser is middle management at best. So, it is the story of the people you send to do the dirty work. In mine, you’re also going to see the people who are sending them. So you will see what happens when the inequality we’re struggling with now isn’t resolved. If we as a society can’t figure out how to prop each other up and spread the wealth, then what’s going to happen to us? There’s that great Sigourney Weaver line to Paul Reiser where she says, “I don’t know which species is worse. At least they don’t f*ck each other over for a percentage.”
Hawley has also said that the Ripley character will not be on the show, as he feels that her story has been told perfectly and he doesn’t want to mess with it.
While Landgraf feels that the series will “probably” premiere in 2023, don’t hold him to that because “we want to get it right.” Even if that means taking longer to get it out into the world.
Ridley Scott serves as a producer on the Alien tv series. Hawley previously created the Marvel-inspired television series Legion and the Coen Brothers-inspired series Fargo.
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