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Disney might have found the star for its first Alien movie: Cailee Spaeny

The Mare of Easttown star is in talks to lead the reboot of the franchise currently in development for Hulu

Cailee Spaeny in Mare of Easttown
Image credit: HBO

You really can’t keep a good xenomorph down. Five years after the release of Alien: Covenant, plans are afoot for a new Alien movie under the Disney umbrella, with Mare of Easttown’s Cailee Spaeny now in talks to appear as the movie’s lead.

Plot details are, of course, being kept under wraps for the feature, which will be written and directed by Fede Alvarez, the man behind Don’t Breathe and the 2013 reboot of Evil Dead, with original Alien director Ridley Scott onboard as producer. The project was initially unveiled earlier this year, and follows in the footsteps of Prey, in that it is intended to reboot the franchise as a property for Disney-owned streaming service Hulu.

Spaeny’s attachment suggests that the new feature, which is at this point untitled, will continue the franchise’s tradition of focusing on a woman placed at the center of the inevitable alien-led carnage that unfolds. (Beyond Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, the lead in Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection, the franchise also put Naomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw at the head of 2012’s Prometheus, and Katherine Waterson’s Daniels as the lead in Alien: Covenant.)

Spaeny is currently shooting a biopic of Elvis Presley’s ex-wife Priscilla Presley; it’s unclear at this point what kind of schedule Alvarez and Disney's 20th Century Studios are looking at for the production and release of the Alien project.

Beyond this feature, Disney/20th Century is also developing an Alien television series for the FX network, with Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley at the helm; that series was recently teased for a possible 2023 release, with FX chief John Landgraf saying that it would fit with the movie continuity, and calling it “very grounded.”


If the mention of Prey above confused you, learn more about the exciting reboot of the Predator franchise.

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Graeme McMillan

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Popverse staff writer Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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