Now that Alien: Romulus has given away a lot in its trailer, the Alien reboot can’t copy one element of the original movie’s successful formula. A lot of movies tried to copy Alien’s success after director Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi horror movie was released in 1979. The rest of the Alien movies all expanded on Scott’s setup with varying degrees of success, but a slew of Alien rip-offs predated even Alien’s first sequel, 1986’s Aliens. Movies like Galaxy of Terror, Creature, Inseminoid, Xtro, and Star Crystal all tried to replicate Alien’s unique tone and style, but none succeeded.

While some of Alien’s sequels are great and others are less impressive, none of the franchise’s later offerings replicated the tone and style of Alien exactly. Director James Cameron’s Aliens was more bombastic and action-forward, while David Fincher’s infamously troubled Alien 3 was darker and meaner than Scott’s original movie. Even Scott’s own Alien prequels were more ambitiously weird and philosophical than his admirably simple original space-set horror movie. Now, 2024’s upcoming Alien reboot Alien: Romulus won’t be able to copy Alien’s setup either. However, this is secretly a good thing for the new movie.

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