One of the strangest outcomes of Disney buying Fox is that the House of Mouse is now the owner of the Alien movies. Despite the sci-fi horror franchise being the least Disney-friendly IP you can think of, the studio knows they’re sitting on a very lucrative universe and so last December they announced they were developing an Alien TV series with Fargo creator Noah Hawley. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to the latest intel.
Small Screen is reporting that Disney is committed to turning Alien into their next “mega-franchise,” with their intent being to develop multiple other movies and TV shows to join the one already announced. We know that Hawley’s Alien series will be headed to Hulu in the US and Disney Plus STAR in other territories, and the outlet says that all upcoming Alien projects will likewise be going to streaming as Disney is dedicated to “getting more adults subscribing” to their platforms.
As this end goal suggests, Small Screen goes on to say that the studio has no intentions of watering down the Alien franchise to make it more family-friendly. These projects will not be rated PG-13, with SS’ sources describing them as being “full-blown action-horror.” Disney is allegedly excited to get to grips with what they see as one of their rare “‘adult offerings” which they hope to utilize to tempt more mature viewers to D+ and Hulu. This expansion of Alien will go hand in hand with more Predator projects, too. Remember, 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s Dan Tractenberg is already working on a movie.
The last entry in the Alien universe to hit screens was Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant in 2017, which infamously underperformed at the box office. Maybe it’s smart to pivot the franchise away from cinemas, then, and produce future installments exclusively for streaming.
