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For four films in a row, the timeline of the Alien franchise was very straightforward, with each sequel picking up where the previous movie left off… but then things got a bit more complicated, with the addition of prequels, a mid-quel, and even a couple of crossovers that don’t appear to be canon to the other movies. So we have decided to try to clear up the confusion and put together a list on How to Watch the Alien Franchise in Chronological Order. Here we go…

Alien Vs. Predator (2004)

As mentioned, the Predator crossovers aren’t acknowledged in the Alien films that followed; in fact, the prequels try their best to contradict them. But if you’re looking to watch these movies in an order based on the timeline, this is where you start, because it’s set in 2004 (and the unrated cut has a prologue that takes place...

Every time a new licensed horror game gets announced, a sizable chunk of the horror community emits a collective groan when it’s revealed that upcoming the title will be an asymmetrical multiplayer experience. While I actually enjoy the virtual hide-and-seek thrills of titles like Dead by Daylight and Gun Interactive’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre, I can still understand the frustration. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that even our asymmetrical multiplayer frights came bundled with fully-fledged single player modes.

In fact, one can even argue that the licensed asymmetrical horror experience itself was invented by a franchise that was just as well known for its campaign as its legendary multiplayer mode. Naturally, I’m referring to the Aliens vs. Predator games, a series that has been mostly forgotten despite its tremendous influence on gaming as a whole. And with Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus showing plenty...

Sigourney Weaver was the star of the Alien franchise for four movies straight. She played heroine Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s Alien, James Cameron’s Aliens, and David Fincher’s Alien 3… and even though Ripley didn’t make it out of Alien 3 alive, Weaver still returned to play a clone of the character in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection. 27 years have gone by since the last time Weaver starred in an Alien movie, and the franchise has continued without her through the crossover movies Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, the “mid-quel” (it slots in between the events of Alien and Aliens) Alien: Romulus, and the upcoming TV series Alien: Earth. But during a recent interview with Deadline, Weaver confirmed that she would “consider” returning to the role of Ripley if the offer came up.

When asked if there’s...

Facehugging foes. All-time-great action heroes. A sense of sheer unknowable terror. Over four decades since the Alien saga first hatched from a mysterious pulsing egg – and burst out of John Hurt’s chest – the sci-fi horror franchise remains one of the all-time greats. Spanning an incredible 45 years and nine instalments (counting the Alien Vs Predator crossovers), the franchise continues to reinvent itself with each entry – from haunted house movie, to war actioner, to prison drama, to existential sci-fi exploration.

With director Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus in cinemas – and Noah Hawley’s upcoming TV series Alien: Earth soon to scare us on the small screen – Empire hopped on a ship to Lv-426 to argue the toss over which Alien movie is the best. Read the official ranking below.

9) Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem

The Brothers Strause’s disastrous 2007 sequel Avp: Requiem continued the multi-franchise crossover between the cinema’s two most beloved extraterrestrial horror creatures.

“Alien: Romulus,” out now in theaters, is a surprise late-summer hit and proof positive that the “Alien” franchise is far from over.

And the new movie, plus the upcoming FX series “Alien: Earth,” have us wanting to look back at the series – the highs, the lows and the what-were-they-thinkings. Below is the definitive ranking of every “Alien” movie.

Chest-bursters and face-huggers are, of course, welcome.

20th Century 9. “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” (2007)

The poster for “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” is stylized as “Avp R,” which emphasizes the fact that the movie was actually rated R, unlike the earlier PG-13-rated “Alien vs. Predator.” And, in that sense, the movie delivers the goods – there’s a ton of splatter in this installment.

A direct sequel to the earlier extraterrestrial team-up movie, “Avp R” is set in a small Colorado town, where a predator/alien hybrid from the end of the previous movie is on a bloodthirsty rampage.

Alien: Romulus continues the celebrated franchise with a strong entry that injects new life into the franchise. The first two films- Alien, and Aliens, are considered classics and have been highly praised for their masterful incorporation of eerie scenes and the use of practical effects. The new film harkens back to this style of filmmaking, bringing back the franchise to its claustrophobic roots.

Isabela Merced as Kay in Alien: Romulus | Credits: 20th Century Studios

The trailer promised a lot of suspenseful and chill-inducing scenes that will send shivers down audiences’ spines. One of the actors from the film Isabela Merced stated that the cast had to look away in disgust during one of the film’s scenes. Fans wondered whether it could surpass one infamous scene from Kurt Russell’s Bone Tomahawk.

Fans Are Intrigued About Alien: Romulus‘ Harrowing Scene That May Give Them Nightmares

Kurt Russell’s Bone Tomahawk...

Alien: Romulus is now playing in theaters and is already on track to become a big success (but not without controversy) with rave reviews and a projected $40M+ opening. I’m sure the sequel wheels are already turning, but Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez teased a different way to expand the franchise: another Predator crossover.

Not only that, but he teased that he could rope Prey director Dan Trachtenberg into doing it with him. “Maybe it’s something I have to co-direct with my buddy Dan,” Álvarez told Deadline. “Maybe we should do like Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez did with Dusk Till Dawn. I’ll direct a half, and he’ll direct another half. It depends on how well this (Romulus) does, if people want to see that.“

The first Alien vs. Predator movie was released in 2004, and while it was largely trashed upon its debut, I found the film to be good fun.

No two horror movie villains ever seemed more ideally suited for one another than the Predator and the Alien, the cinema’s greatest hunter and cinema’s deadliest beast.

Created by very different filmmakers in totally different decades, the idea that these two creatures co-existed stems from a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter egg in “Predator 2,” which briefly showed the head of the iconic Alien inside of a Predator’s trophy case. In the years to come they would share top billing in comic books, video games and eventually a couple of movies, to the extent that the two franchises now feel indelibly linked, even when new installments of each monster’s movie makes no mention of the other.

Let’s take a look at both series, together, to see how the films stack up individually and as a unit.

14. “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem” (2007) 20th Century Fox

Lots of poorly made movies are hard to watch,...

Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus hits theaters this weekend. If you’ve been following along to the Halloweenies all year, you’re no doubt a scholar of the franchise and ready to roll with Romulus. But, if you haven’t been following along, you’re in for a little hardcore history on the series — a deep dive into the depths of hell nearly 9 months in the making.

Spanning over 20 hours, the Halloweenies have dissected every entry in the Alien franchise. Some even have multiple episodes: There are three dedicated to Ridley Scott’s 1979 original and David Fincher‘s Alien3 and two for James Cameron‘s Aliens, Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s Alien: Resurrection, and Scott’s Prometheus. The rest are just as exhaustive with very little left on the Medlab floor. They even included both 2004’s Alien vs. Predator and 2007’s AvP: Requiem in the midst of online ranking erasure.

Stream every...

A new episode of the Awfully Good Horror Movies video series has just been released, and with director Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus now in theatres, we have decided to celebrate by taking a look back at one of the least popular entries in the Alien franchise, the crossover sequel Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (watch it Here). You can hear all about it in the video embedded above!

Directed by the Brothers Strause from a screenplay by Shane Salerno, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem has the following synopsis: Residents of Gunnison, Colorado, are caught up in the crossfire when two deadly extraterrestrial species bring their longstanding conflict to Earth. On the one side, nearly indestructible Aliens; on the other, a lone Predator whose mission is to wipe out all traces of the Alien infestation from Earth, no matter who gets in the way.

The film stars Steven Pasquale, Reiko Aylesworth, John Ortiz,...

Disney blockbuster Alien: Romulus crawls into 676 cinemas at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as the first title in the franchise since 2017’s Alien: Covenant.

Directed by Fede Alvarez, Alien: Romulus is set between the events of 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, and sees a group of young space colonists scavenging a derelict space station and coming face-to-face with a xenomorph alien.

Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues wrote the script, based on characters by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Civil War and Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny leads the cast, alongside Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Screen Stars of Tomorrow David Jonsson and Spike Fearn.

A new film in the “Alien” franchise is on the horizon and that means it’s high time for a sci-fi binge.

“Alien: Romulus” drops on Aug. 16 and that means a trip back to xenomorph-filled space. Like many decades-long film series, the chronological order of the films has become increasingly convoluted. Not to worry, we’ve sorted out the timeline so you can binge with ease.

This is your complete guide to watching all the Alien movies in order – chronologically or by release.

Alien Movies in Chronological Order

If you want a strict roadmap for how to watch the various Alien films, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Here are all the “Alien” movies in timeline order:

“Avp: Alien vs. Predator” (2004) “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) “Prometheus” (2012) “Alien: Covenant” (2017) “Alien” (1979) “Alien: Romulus” (2024) “Aliens” (1986) “Alien 3” (1992) “Alien Resurrection” (1997) Alien Movies in Release Order

If you don’t care so much about timelines and lore,...

[Editor’s Note: This list was originally published in May 2017. It has since been updated to coincide with the release of “Alien: Romulus.”]

Very few film franchises in history have the pedigree that “Alien” can lay claim to. The 20th Century Fox science fiction saga has evolved over the decades from claustrophobic horror to bloody action and back again, and it’s managed that transition by producing two undeniable classics. First is Ridley Scott’s 1979 original, “Alien,” which made Sigourney Weaver an iconic final girl and became the flawless masterpiece all sci-fi horror attempts will inevitably be compared to. Then came James Cameron’s 1986 “Aliens,” which made Weaver an iconic action hero and became one of the most beloved and imitated action movies ever made.

With such a heavyweight one-two opening punch, the “Alien” franchise really had nowhere to go but down. But that hasn’t stopped the powers that be from plugging along, trying to create a follow-up that would recapture the magic that Cameron and Scott created. There was...

If you want to stream all of the movies in the “Alien” franchise, including the “Alien vs. Predator” spinoffs, head over to Hulu.

All eight films, released theatrically by 20th Century Fox (since renamed as 20th Century Studios) are currently on the Disney-owned streamer at the moment.

Ridley Scott’s 1979 original space thriller and James Cameron’s action-packed 1986 sequel and subsequent sequels are variously available on Fubu, FX Now and Max.

Here’s where to stream all the “Alien” movies right now ahead of the release of “Alien: Romulus,” the ninth film in the franchise that opens in theaters on Aug. 16.

20th Century Fox

Alien (1979)

In the first film, the crew of the Nostromo – Ripley, Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ash (Ian Holm), Kane (John Hurt), Parker (Yaphet Kotto), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) — answer a deep-space distress call that will prove fatal for most of them. Four decades latter,...

Ridley Scott’s Alien remains one of the most acclaimed horror movies of all time. The spinoff Alien vs. Predator, however, is not as beloved. Scott revealed he had issues with Alien vs. Predator and the Alien franchise as a whole.

Ridley Scott said the ‘Alien’ films were ‘dead in the water’

Scott forever changed science fiction and horror when he released the original Alien in 1979. Since then, he put out popular science fiction movies like Blade Runner and The Martian and films in other genres like Thelma & Louise and Gladiator. During a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Scott discussed the evolution of the Alien franchise.

“You get to the point when you say, ‘Ok, it’s dead in the water,'” he said. “I think Alien vs. Predator was a daft idea. And I’m not sure it did very well or not, I don’t know. But...

August continues with one more franchise film that stands the best chance at making money before the month ends. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

It has been 45 years since filmmaker Ridley Scott first got attention with his horror-sci-fi film “Alien” and seven years since his last movie in that franchise, 2017’s “Alien: Covenant.” Sir Ridley is still involved as a producer with “Alien: Romulus,” the first movie produced under 20th Century since being bought by Disney. For this latest reboot, they’ve brought on Fede Álvarez, best known for the “Don’t Breathe” movies and the 2013 remake of Sam Raimi‘s “Evil Dead.”

It’s been a long time since Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley was leading these things, but for this one, they’ve brought on Cailee Spaeny of “Civil War” and “Priscilla,” as well as Isabela Merced from “Transformers: The Last Knight” and “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

Quick Answer: Stream the entire series on Hulu, or sign up for the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle

get free trial at hulu

Alien: Romulus hits theaters this Friday — it’s the 7th film in the franchise, or the 9th if you count the Alien vs Predator crossover films. The standalone film takes place between the events of the original Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). It’s directed by Fede Álvarez,...

Alien Franchise Timeline: How to Watch Them in Order Including Romulus - Main Image

From the 1979 original to 2024's Romulus, here's a complete watch guide of the Alien franchise to put on your binge list before seeing the latest theatrical installment on Friday!

What Timeline Does the Alien Franchise Follow and Where to Stream Them?

Believe it or not, the long-running horror franchise at 20th Century Studios also has to mark down its timeline and setting in between shooting the films. Despite having the Xenomorphs first introduced in the 1979 original, the chronological order of events doesn't quite begin there.

The majority of the Alien franchise is available on Disney+ and Hulu, but some are also streaming on other platforms such as Starz Apple TV Channel, and fuboTV.

Check out this list as a walkthrough to keep yourself up to speed just before Alien: Romulus hits theaters.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

The...

The following article was written by Mike Holtz:

This August 13th is the twentieth anniversary of 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, with Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus releasing just a few days later. While we wait for our brown pants to arrive from Amazon for premiere night, we thought it’d be fun to look back at not only the history of the original Alien vs. Predator comic books but also the Alien vs. Predator script that so closely resembled those comic books. The movie that almost was, had the studio decided to go with writer Peter Briggs’s script back in 1991 that we’ll break down for with you today. So with that being said, get to the chopper!

The Original Comic Book Series

The result of a late 1980s brainstorming session between executives and creators, Dark Horse Comics Aliens Vs Predator #0 would appear on comic book stands in...

“Alien: Romulus,” the next installment of the “Alien” franchise, brought blood, gore and even a real-life chestburster to San Diego Comic-Con.

Director Fede Alvarez along with cast Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu appeared in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday to discuss the new “Alien” film, which hits theaters on Aug. 16.

The film takes place between the events of Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and James Cameron’s popular sequel “Aliens.” The plot describes “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Three new clips for the film solidified the franchise’s blend of science fiction and horror.

The first clip showed a bevy of terrifying glimpses of the newest “Alien” colonists coming face to face with Xenomorphs, facehuggers and chestbursters, with a sinister rendition...

The Alien franchise is set to continue on the small screen with an “FX on Hulu” TV series from Fargo creator Noah Hawley, a show that began filming last year, then had to halt production after a month due to the actors strike. Filming resumed earlier this year, and continues to this day. A few months ago, we heard that Sandra Yi Sencindiver of Foundation had joined the cast to play “a senior member of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation” in multiple episodes… and in a new interview with Variety, Sencindiver said she believes that fans of Alien and Aliens will be pleased with what Hawley is doing with this show.

One of the first things we heard about the Alien TV series – and one of the most surprising things about it – is that it will actually be set on Earth, a couple decades before the events of the first movie. FX...

Hulu is giving Shark Week a run for its money this July with not one but seven National Geographic specials dropping on the streaming service at the start of the month. From Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie to Baby Sharks in the City, there are plenty of options for fans of these fearsome finned creatures.

Hulu also has a couple of fun offerings for adult animation fans with the full second season of Marvel’s Hit Monkey dropping on July 15 and Futurama returning for its 12th season on July 29th.

There’s not really anything notable in the way of original movies on Hulu this month, but Aliens, Step Brothers, and (500) Days of Summer are just a few of the noteworthy movies joining the library.

Here’s everything that’s coming to (and leaving) Hulu in July.

Hulu New Releases – July 2024

July 1

Attack of the Red Sea Sharks: Special Premiere...

Welcome to July at Hulu! In addition to a large collection of films joining the streamer’s library on the first of the month, including Jordan Peele’s horror hit Get Out, 1986’s better-than-the-first-film “Aliens,” and more, Hulu will load up the rest of the month with various film streaming premieres, animated series returns, and documentary drops.

This July, check out a wide range of titles from the much-talked-about revenge thriller “Femme” to the new Hulu Original fashion competition series “Dress My Tour,” hosted by Kate Upton.

Last but not least, wrap up the month with the Season 12 (or Season 2 of the Hulu revival) premiere of “Futurama,” which celebrates a quarter-century this year.

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what’s coming to Hulu this month, and find out everything coming to the streamer in July!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com “Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer” | Thursday,...

The first full-length trailer for for Alien: Romulus will be released tomorrow and to build excitement for that, we have a nightmare-inducting poster putting a Facehugger (and its victim) front and centre.

It's a horrifying piece of imagery and one which suggests horror director Fede Álvarez intends to embrace the sci-fi franchise's horror roots. However, as much as he's been inspired by Alien, the filmmaker is also taking his cues from Aliens.

"To ask an Alien fan to choose between them is a perverse question," he recently told Empire Online (via SFFGazette.com). "So I thought, 'How do I do both?'"

"There’s a moment where the characters are walking around areas familiar from the Nostromo," says Álvarez. "Then they cross through that building and on the other side: boom! You’re in a hallway that looks like Hadley’s Hope [from Aliens]."

Back in April, it was confirmed that...

In 2007, a shy three years removed from 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, the two titans returned to pick up where they left off with Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. That so happened to be Gunnison, Colorado, where the destruction of a power plant means it’s nigh impossible to see anything going on. That’s not good for anyone — especially audiences.

Join the Halloweenies as they struggle to make sense of anything going down in the darkness. Together, they discuss Brothers Strause‘s dueling Dodge Vipers, how the darkness hides dodgy effects, Brian Tyler‘s surprisingly great score, and what constitutes a good price for pizza and how much you need for a small gathering.

Subscribe to the Halloweenies via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, RadioPublic, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street,...

A lot of movies (and TV shows) are too damn dark these days. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down to watch something made in recent years to end up gradually getting frustrated that I can barely see anything on the screen. Usually, it seems intentional, like directors want you to struggle to see the image for some reason. It was jarring when we saw how dark Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was, but now that seems to be normal. But the overwhelming darkness isn’t always intentional – for example, director Michael Mohan has taken to social media to let viewers know that his psychological horror film Immaculate (you can read our review Here) was not meant to be as dark as it is on most streaming services.

X user Sgtzima complained, “Immaculate is comically dark. I’m watching it in a dimly lit room in...

Frank Herbert wrote six “Dune” novels, but Quebecois director Denis Villeneuve has made it clear that after book two, “Dune Messiah,” he’s quitting the worm-ridden desert planet Arrakis, despite his box office wins and forging such fans as Steven Spielberg. As reported by Deadline, Legendary Entertainment has secured the rights to Annie Jacobsen’s nonfiction work “Nuclear War: A Scenario” as an option for him once he’s ready to return to Earth.

Jacobsen’s book, which hit stores less than two weeks ago, is the result of a decade of research resulting in a realistic, step-by-step “just what the hell would it be like if this nightmare came true.” Just reading the New York Times review is absolutely terrifying.

Her previous works include “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base,” “Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America” and...

The first teaser trailer for Fede Álvarez’ “Alien: Romulus,” released March 20, hints at a return to the same kinds of thrills that audiences experienced back in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s “Alien” — and that James Cameron delivered in the 1986 follow-up, “Aliens.” Opening with a parade of spaceships reminiscent of the Nostromo and Sulaco, the clip offers a first look at its young cast, which features Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”) and Isabela Merced (“Madame Web”). The crew navigates dimly-lit, hexagonal corridors, run from scurrying facehuggers, and deliver shrieks of fear that, despite the original film’s tagline, echo all too viscerally.

“Alien: Romulus” marks the seventh film in the “Alien” franchise, and the overall ninth involving acid-blooded xenomorphs, if you include the “Aliens vs. Predator” crossover films. Writer-director Álvarez is about to complicate its already convoluted timeline even further with “Romulus,” which premieres August 16. But the more important question is, will it be...

They say “In space no one can hear you scream.” Buuuuuuuut we’ve seen through eight Alien films that if you’re in a spaceship plenty of people can hear you scream. The Xenomorphs have no problem causing their victims a lot of pain. Even though we’ve seen them in a lot of films, fans will mostly agree that after Aliens, the franchise was never the same. But did you know that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp almost made an Aliens sequel?

In 2015, filmmaker Blomkamp announced he had been working on a new Alien project. This was even a surprise to Fox, which owned the series. Fans seemed excited by the prospect of the director taking on the project after the imaginative sci-fi films he had been releasing. Ultimately, after some starts and stops, the film would fall apart. Let’s find out exactly why here on What Happened To This Unmade Movie?...

In terms of new original content coming to Hulu, March is a slight month, with the streamer’s highlight being the limited series premiere of We Were the Lucky Ones at the end of the month. The show, which is based on Georgia Hunter’s New York Times bestselling novel, is inspired by the true story of a Jewish family who are separated at the start of WWII, and who then have to survive in order to eventually reunite. We Were the Lucky Ones stars Joey King from The Kissing Booth films alongside Percy Jackson‘s Logan Lerman, and debuts on March 28.

Here’s everything coming to Hulu (and leaving) in March…

Hulu New Releases – March 2024

March 1

Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains: Complete Seasons 1-3 (Dubbed) Dark Side of the 90s: Complete Season 2 Dark Side of the 2000s: Complete Season 1 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem | 2007 Ali | 2001 Bad Teacher | 2011 Batman Begins | 2005 Beasts of the Southern Wild...

This March, Hulu will ring in spring with dozens of great titles, from Hulu Originals to programs from brands including National Geographic, Fox, FX, ABC, Crunchyroll, and others.

Just announced, Yorgos Lanthimos’ awards darling “Poor Things” will make its streaming premiere on the platform this month after a 90-day theatrical window and three days before this year’s Academy Awards where the absurdist comedy is nominated for 11 statuettes, including Best Picture. Other film favorites getting added to the library in March include “Scarface,” “The Wrestler,” and “My Cousin Vinny.”

The streamer will also host the season premieres of many of ABC’s most popular competition series, including “MasterChef Junior,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “The Masked Singer,” plus the landmark 20th season premiere of “Grey's Anatomy.”

Get your watch list together: find out The Streamable’s top picks for March 2024 at Hulu and continue below to see everything...

It’s easy to take the Aliens vs. Predator franchise for granted years after the crossover became mainstream, but long-time fans remember that it was actually quite the long journey to get this far. With a shared universe originally being teased at the end of Predator 2, our favorite movie monsters initially had to duke it out in the pages of cult comic-books and a series of hit video games that once dominated the licensed market.

In fact, from the 90s to the early 2000s, the Avp games were legendary due to their distinct gameplay and innovative multiplayer elements. However, after the release of a failed reboot in the seventh console generation, the series mostly faded into obscurity. Sure, we’d see great individual Alien and Predator titles (like 2014’s Alien: Isolation and IllFonic’s Predator: Hunting Grounds), but it seems like the rights holders have no interest in giving these creatures an updated rematch.

Dr. Viktor Frankenstein is the fictional keystone for generations of horror artists. Monster makers bring dreams and nightmares to life, realizing a filmmaker's vision for the impossible things we need to see and shudder at. While movie monsters existed long before Bela Lugosi put on Dracula's cape in 1931, the birth of the classic Universal Monsters franchise is hard to ignore as a watershed moment for things that go bump in the night. Since then, artists like Ray Harryhausen, Phil Tippett, Stan Winston, and countless more have grown with the technology used to evolve an idea from the drawing board to the cinema screen.

However, making these critters isn't always a clear-cut process. Growing an idea into something we can shudder at can take a few attempts to get terrifying right. Sometimes, even the things that go bump in the night had their awkward teenage years. Below, find out about some...

Get to the convention! There was a mini Predator reunion over the weekend as Carl Weathers and Jesse Ventura met up at a convention, bringing together two of the key cast members of the fan favorite action flick. If only we could have gotten Bill Duke and that other guy…

Ventura — who played minigun-lovin’ Blain Cooper in Predator — plugged the event on Facebook, writing, “Come on down to the Mad Monster Party in Atlanta! I’ll be here today and tomorrow signing autographs and taking pictures with all the fans. Plus it’s a Predator reunion! Got to see Carl Weathers.” Weathers played Al Dillon (you son of a bitch!).

The original Predator, which came out in 1987, spawned a full-blown franchise for better or worse, with the first sequel, Predator 2, arriving in 1990. The series took a lengthy break before crossovers Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) and...

It's not mentioned out loud in any of the movies, but the alien species in the "Predator" series is called the Yautja, pronounced "Yah-oot-Cha." Although there have been comics and other pieces of expanded universe ephemera to explain where the Yautja come from and what their civilization might be like, the movies have depicted them merely as a species of intergalactic hunters that have arranged their entire society around the challenge of hunting for sport. They could have a rich arts community back on their homeworld, or perhaps a stirring and complicated political culture, but we've only ever seen the hunting part of their society. Perhaps the hunters are merely wealthy weekend warriors who can afford to go game hunting on other planets, while other Yaujta protest their wasteful brutality.

Throughout their multiple film appearances, the Yautja have mostly hunted humans, although there are two notorious films from the 2000s...

You didn't have to be a horror aficionado to appreciate the enormity of "Freddy vs. Jason" in 2003. This was two of the titans of the slasher genre finally going head-to-head in a bloody free-for-all. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees had slashed, stabbed, and otherwise punctured our collective pop cultural consciousness for years by then. As a young kid who had yet to see any of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Friday the 13th" films, even I knew exactly what was being referenced the first time I saw the scene in "Christmas Vacation" where Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) dons a hockey mask while taking a chainsaw to his gigantic Christmas tree.

Crossover films of this ilk have largely gone the way of the dodo since "Freddy vs. Jason" came out. We're now 80 years removed from Frankenstein's monster meeting the Wolf Man for the first time in Universal's Og Dark Universe,...

Whoever wins, we lose. When Disney wins, however, everyone loses. 

/Film reported back in May of 2023 that Disney, as part of its massive acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, had inherited an already-complete 10-episode anime TV series based on the nerd-sating "Alien vs. Predator" series. The show's existence was confirmed by Joshua Izzo, the former director of licensing at 20th Century Fox, on the "Perfect Organism" podcast. Izzo said that the 10-episode series was complete, but that it was locked in a vault at Disney, hidden from public view. This is a common practice during mergers and management changes. The new administration as a film studio or record label, wanting to work solely on their own projects, will often shelve the previous administration's projects as a mode of keeping the slate clean. This means a lot of excellent art has never seen the light of day, or was released with so little fanfare,...

Movie legend Ridley Scott and Avatar director James Cameron both played a part in making the Alien franchise the iconic films they are today. There was speculation about the two teaming up to revisit the successful series. But Alien vs. Predator stood in the way of that team-up.

How ‘Alien vs Predator’ ruined a potential Ridley Scott and James Cameron ‘Alien’ sequel James Cameron | Craig Barritt/Getty Images

Alien vs. Predator was the fifth film in the Alien franchise. As the title suggests, the feature would pit two classic sci-fi horror creatures together in a blockbuster cinematic bout. It was a premise that Scott was against from the beginning.

“I think Alien vs. Predator was a daft idea,” Scott once told The Hollywood Reporter. “And I’m not sure it did very well or not, I don’t know. But it somehow brought down the beast. And I said to them,...

Emanating from their studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, The History of Bad Ideas sees hosts Jason, Jeff and Blake talk about all things geeky on their podcast. Whether it’s rumours of the latest comic book movies, debating who really is the worst villain of all time, discussing the latest comic issues or just wondering about life in general, you are sure to have a fun time with them! In theory.

If you haven’t listened to the show before – why not? – you can check out previous episodes of The History of Bad Ideas podcast on iTunes and look out for new episodes here on Nerdly each and every week…

Episode 489: Fake Sasquatch!

The Hobi Gang welcomes Blake back from his suspension/vacation from the Great White North! Blake talks his survival in the Alaskan wilderness, the guys debate the best sitcom of the 1990s, Aliens vs. Predator anime is shelved,...

The Alien and Predator franchises, long connected in the world of comic books, have remained separate entities in the many years since Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem crash landed in theaters back in 2007, with Disney now holding the rights to both franchises. Predator returned last year in Prey, while two brand new Alien projects are in the works – a movie and a TV series.

But will we ever see the Alien and Predator franchises crossover again in the future? Well, it turns out there’s an existing crossover project between the two that we Haven’T ever seen.

The website AvP Galaxy informs us this week that the beans were spilled by Josh Izzo during a recent episode of the Perfect Organism podcast. Izzo is the former Director of Licensing at 20th Century Fox, and he revealed during the podcast interview that a finished Alien vs. Predator animated series has been...

Last week, we learned that Paramount Pictures’ horror Western project with the brilliant title Organ Trail (inspired by the real life Oregon Trail, a wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon back in the 1800s) had earned an R rating for “strong violence, language and some sexual references.” Now a trailer for the film has arrived online – and this trailer reveals the surprising news that Organ Trail is getting a limited theatrical release on April 14th. That’s right, this movie is going to start playing on the big screen tomorrow! You can take a look at the trailer in the embed above.

Michael Patrick Jann (Drop Dead Gorgeous) directed Organ Trail from a screenplay by Meg Turner. The story centers on a young Abigale Archer, friendless and alone in a brutal Montana winter during the 1870s, fighting for survival and to retrieve her one earthly possession,...

Last year, we heard the awesome news that Paramount Pictures had given the greenlight to a horror Western project with the brilliant title Organ Trail (inspired by the real life Oregon Trail, a wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon back in the 1800s). The film has since made its way through production, and while we still don’t know when exactly Paramount intends to release Organ Trail, it has taken an important step toward its release: it has secured a rating from the Motion Picture Association. Organ Trail has earned an R rating for “strong violence, language and some sexual references.”

Michael Patrick Jann (Drop Dead Gorgeous) directed Organ Trail from a screenplay by Meg Turner. The story centers on a young Abigale Archer, friendless and alone in a brutal Montana winter during the 1870s, fighting for survival and to retrieve her one earthly possession,...

Alien: Covenant (Screengrab: 20th Century Fox), Hulu logo Screenshot: AVClub In space, no one can hear you yawn. That was the general consensus last December when it was revealed that the ninth film in the Alien franchise, which launched in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking horror/sci-fi fusion, was on...

Cailee Spaeny to star in new ‘Alien’ (Photo by Dani Brubaker)

20th Century Studios released new details on the upcoming ninth Alien movie as filming’s set to get underway in Budapest on March 9, 2023. Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown) will star and Fede Alvarez is directing.

The studio also confirmed David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (Rosaline), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home) are on board the sci-fi thriller.

Alvarez co-wrote the screenplay with Rodo Sayagues. They previously collaborated on Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe, Calls, Don’t Breathe 2, 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the shorts El Cojonudo and Ataque de Panico.

Alien, Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant director Ridley Scott is producing along with Michael Pruss (under their Scott Free banner). Brent O’Connor (Bullet Train), Elizabeth Cantillon (Persuasion), and Tom Moran (The Donut King) serve as executive producers.

20th Century Studios offered this...

20th Century Studios has announced new plot details, cast additions and production status for the latest “Alien” film.

While the premise for the yet-to-be-titled movie has been kept under wraps, the studio did reveal that the film will follow “a group of young people on a distant world, who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Those who will be faced with the terrifying forms are David Jonsson (“Industry”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“Rosaline”), Spike Fearn (“The Batman”) and Aileen Wu (“Away from Home”), all of whom will join the previously announced lead, Cailee Spaeny (“Mare of Easttown”).

In addition to the cast announcement, 20th Century Studios announced that the ninth film in the franchise will begin production on March 9 in Budapest.

Fede Alvarez, serves as the director, screenwriter and producer, following his direction of horror films, “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,...

What do horror movie characters and Hollywood movie producers have in common? They're both unstoppable forces who pillage and plunder until something finally stops them. For horror movie characters, that something is a super-contrived death scene. For Hollywood movie producers, it's a box office bomb. But don't worry, because both will be back for the inevitable sequel, reboot, or remake! Horror movie producers are in the business of making money, since they're certainly not winning plaudits from critics or gold statues at award shows. Good thing horror movies are cheap to make, quick to produce, and usually a license to print cash ... until they aren't.

What kills horror movie characters aren't bullets, knives, getting set on fire or run over by trucks, but fan apathy. So while just about every horror film franchise has achieved great successes, most have also -- eventually -- suffered miserable failures. Some franchises take multiple...

It’s one thing to watch characters run away from a monster but another to actually escape the creature yourself, and that’s why videogames are uniquely suited for horror stories. However, in a medium known for entertaining power fantasies, it makes sense that some games also allow players to find out what it feels like to be on the other end of the bloodstained machete.

After all, constantly playing as the victim can get old after a while, and there’s a reason why the chainsaw is one of gaming’s most popular recurring weapons. And after reflecting on these primitive urges, we’ve come up with this list celebrating six memorable horror games where you get to play as the monster!

While this list is obviously based on personal opinion, we’ll be limiting entries to offline single-player games only as the abundance of licensed movie monsters makes...

Pretty much from the moment the sci-fi action classic Predator was released in 1987, fans were wondering what it would be like if the alien hunter from that film were to clash with the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. Dark Horse Comics dove into the concept right away, publishing their first Aliens vs. Predator story in 1989. It took a lot longer for the battle to reach the big screen, though. Fifteen years longer, in fact. And with the latest episode of the Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, we’re looking into the making of 2004’s Avp: Alien vs. Predator (watch it Here). To find out all about this movie, check out the video embedded above.

Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, Avp: Alien vs. Predator has the following synopsis:

When the wealthy and ambitious Charles Bishop Weyland funds an expedition to Antarctica, he hopes to find a...

Predator franchise producer John Davis has said that the future is wide open for this series after the successful release of Prey through the Hulu streaming service. The possibilities for future films seem limitless, so we decided to compile some of them together for a list we’re calling Predator Franchise: What’s Next After Prey?

Prey Sequel

Prey director Dan Trachtenberg left the door wide open for a direct follow-up. Artwork during the end credits shows more Predator ships arriving in the Comanche Nation, and the tribe still has possession of the pistol we saw in the hands of a Predator (and Danny Glover) in Predator 2. So the Predators have to retrieve that pistol somehow. While it could be cool to see a sequel to Prey, it would also be quite unusual for the Predator franchise, because we have never seen the lead from one entry return for a second Predator encounter.

Take a look at more new footage from "Prey", a prequel to the "Predator" alien hunter franchise, directed by Dan Trachtenberg ("10 Cloverfield Lane") for 20th Century Studios, now streaming on Hulu:

"...set in the world of the 'Comanche Nation' 300 years ago, the new action-thriller follows 'Naru' (Midthunder), a skilled warrior who fiercely protects her tribe against a highly evolved alien predator..." 

The "Predator" movie franchise began in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Five more titles in the franchise have been released since then, most recently "The Predator" (2018) directed by Shane Black.

'Yautja', aka 'Hish-Qu-Ten' is an extraterrestrial species characterized by its trophy hunting of other species for sport. First introduced in the film of the same name as its main antagonist, the creatures returned in the sequels "Predator 2' (1990), "Predators" (2010), "The Predator" (2018), as well as the crossover films "Alien vs. Predator" (2004) and "Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem" (2007). 

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