Fox Celebrates Birthday Of “Alien” With New Shorts
The Alien franchise will soon be over the hill — the original 1979 film turns forty this May. The studio that bankrolled that movie, 20th Century Fox, would prefer to celebrate with a new movie — but none are ready. So they’re settling for shorts.
These shorts are free to view thanks to a partnership between Fox and IGN. The first creature feature is already out — but it didn’t take much work; it is literally the cutscenes from the 2014 video game Alien: Isolation re-edited into a passive experience. If you were too cowardly to play this game (and I don’t blame you), here’s an alternate way to experience it.
This will be followed by six BRAND-NEW Alien shorts. Fox partnered with online platform Tongal to select the winning proposals out of 550 pitches, and they’ll be released weekly starting later this month.
Alien: Alone — Hope, an abandoned crewmember aboard the derelict chemical hauler Otranto, has spent a year trying to keep her ship and herself alive as both slowly fall apart. After discovering hidden cargo, she risks it all to power up the broken ship in search of human life. Written and directed by Noah Miller.
Alien: Containment — Four survivors find themselves stranded aboard a small escape pod in deep space. Trying to piece together the details around the outbreak that led to their ship’s destruction, they find themselves unsure to trust whether or not one of them might be infected. Written and directed by Chris Reading.
Alien: Harvest — The surviving crew of a damaged deep-space harvester have minutes to reach the emergency evacuation shuttle. A motion sensor is their only navigation tool leading them to safety while a creature in the shadows terrorizes the crew. However, the greatest threat might have been hiding in plain sight all along. Directed by Benjamin Howdeshell.
Alien: Night Shift — When a missing space trucker is discovered hungover and disoriented, his co-worker suggests a nightcap as a remedy. Near closing time, they are reluctantly allowed inside the colony supply depot where the trucker’s condition worsens, leaving a young supply worker alone to take matters into her own hands. Written and directed by Aidan Breznick.
Alien: Ore — As a hard-working miner of a planet mining colony, Lorraine longs to make a better life for her daughter and grandchildren. When her shift uncovers the death of a fellow miner under mysterious circumstances, Lorraine is forced to choose between escape or defying management orders and facing her fears to fight for the safety of her family. Written and directed by the Spear Sisters.
Alien: Specimen — It’s the night shift in a colony greenhouse, and Julie, a botanist, does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have triggered her sensitive lab dog. Despite her best efforts, the lab unexpectedly goes into full shutdown and she is trapped inside. Little does she know, an Alien specimen has escaped the mysterious cargo, and a game of cat and mouse ensues as the creature searches for a host. Written and directed by Kelsey Taylor.
The Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts begin streaming March 29. Here’s a little taste…