There's no denying it. Both Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, and Aliens, directed by James Cameron, are two of the best sci-fi films ever made, and I love both of them for different reasons.

However, if I had to pick one of the two that I'd rather watch, I'd pick the sequel, Aliens, as it's more of a war movie with aliens rather than a haunted house movie in space like its predecessor. That said, I think my favoritism toward Aliens has more to do with my taste in directors than anything else. I'll explain.

Ridley Scott Often Likes To Take His Time To Establish Mood, Whereas Cameron Usually Has A Much Quicker Pace

Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE Ridley Scott. That said, I'd much rather watch an historical epic from the director than a sci-fi film, because Scott really likes to establish mood and tension, which I think works better in historical films than sci-fi movies. Of course, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, as there's probably no better moment in all of cinema history than the chestburster scene in Alien. However, it takes a LONG time to get there, and that's because Scott is in no rush to freak you out. You're going to wait for that moment and like it!

Or not, which is how I feel on subsequent viewings, as the film takes a long time to get to the more interesting bits. You know what film doesn't take a long time to get interesting, though? James Cameron's Aliens, as it gets moving right away.

I think it's because Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is way more kick-ass and proactive in Aliens than she is in Alien. Now, to be fair, Ridley Scott made Ripley a strong protagonist in the first movie, too (I mean, he gave her a flamethrower for crying out loud), but Cameron makes Ripley even MORE kick-ass, very much in line with what he did with Sarah Connor in T2: Judgment Day. By doing so, Cameron gives Aliens a brisk pace, just like most of his other films.

I Also Think James Cameron Handles Sci-Fi In A More Fascinating Way, Prioritizing Characters Above All Else

Sci-fi is an interesting genre, and different directors handle it differently. For example, my favorite director, Stanley Kubrick, directed what is considered one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, that's my least favorite movie of his since Kubrick was concentrated on the grandness of space, and also humankind's place in it.

Denis Villeneuve seems more focused on ambitious, epic sci-fi stories, whereas Nolan is all about that cerebral sci-fi. Ridley Scott seems to be more interested in the alien (pun not intended) aspects of the medium, and how the unknown can be quite terrifying in a lot of ways, just like with Alien.

As for Cameron? Well, he seems to always prioritize characters and action first. He does it with his Avatar movies (which I hope he makes more of), and he does it with the United States Colonial Marine Corps (USCM) in Aliens. This focus on the characters and action keeps me way more invested in the story than I am with Alien, which is more about dread.

In The End, It's Interesting How Two Filmmakers Could Have Such Drastically Different Approaches To Similar Material

As I already mentioned, I love both movies (Alien is one of the greatest horror movies of all time, after all), but I just find it interesting that two entirely different directors could take the same basic premise (deadly aliens in outer space), and make two completely different movies.

Whichever movie you prefer really depends on which director's style you prefer. Plus, I think both movies are a litmus test. If you like Alien, you'll probably like most of Ridley Scott's movies, and if you like Aliens, then you'll probably like most of Cameron's filmography.

It just goes to show that every great director has a vision. So, which vision do you prefer?

I would not have guessed that WALL-E, one of Pixar’s best, and Alien, one of the best horror movies of all time, shared any real creative wiring beyond the whole “outer space can get weird” of it all. But according to WALL-E director Andrew Stanton, Alien helped inspire the flick in a way that has me shook.

In a recent appearance on the How I Write Podcast, Stanton explained how he knew WALL-E would be mostly dialogue-free, so the script itself had to prompt readers to slow down and absorb the action, emotion and rhythm of the movie rather than rushing ahead to the next spoken line. That is when he looked to Walter Hill’s 1979 draft of Alien. He explained:

That is such a fascinating micro lesson in screenwriting. The way the longtime Pixar creator describes it, he gets at something most casual moviegoers never think about and that is that a script is not just a blueprint for what happens but also teaches the reader how to feel the movie's pace. In Hill’s case, that sparse formatting helped create dread through silence and tension.

For Stanton, the same trick served a completely different emotional purpose. WALL-E is not trying to scare you in its opening stretch. It is trying to get you to sit with this little machine as he moves through an abandoned Earth, cleaning up after humanity and collecting scraps of meaning from all the junk left behind. If a reader skimmed through that, they would miss the whole point.

Stanton explained that he borrowed Hill’s formatting so people could not “cheat” their way through the page. He wanted the screenplay to force the same kind of patience that the finished movie would ask from an audience. He continued:

I love this because it makes total sense once he explains it. WALL-E works because it trusts silence. The Alien connection is especially cool because Stanton was not borrowing monsters or horror imagery but rather the screenplay’s architecture. A way of arranging words on a page. A way of telling the reader, “No, stay here. This moment matters.”

That is exactly the kind of behind-the-scenes craft detail that makes me want to rewatch WALL-E immediately. The movie already felt like a small miracle, but knowing that part of its rhythm was shaped by one of the greatest sci-fi horror scripts ever written adds a strange new layer. Now that I have this bit of behind-the-scenes knowledge rattling around in my head, I kind of want to fire up my Disney+ subscription and revisit WALL-E with fresh eyes.

As for Stanton, he has another major new Pixar project on the 2026 movie calendar, as he directed Toy Story 5, which is currently playing in theaters.

Not only is E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial one of the best sci-fi movies ever made but, in recent years, I've also come to the conclusion that it’s my favorite film ever. It delivers everything I want out of the medium, and I always cry when the emotional ending plays out. Director Steven Spielberg has just made another alien movie called Disclosure Day and, while promoting it, the filmmaker recently discussed his 1982 film. And, in the process, he answered a couple of questions I’ve long had about the beloved first-contact movie.

Why Did E.T. Have To Leave?

Logically, I know E.T. needs to leave Earth in order to return to his planet. However, because the conclusion is so heartbreaking, of course, I’ve also wondered why he had to go and couldn't stay with his good friend, Elliott regardless. Here’s what the filmmaker had to say:

Spielberg answered this question posed by the Happy Sad Confused podcast with a real matter-of-factness. Given his insightfulness, I can only guess he’s been asked this question for the past 44 years, but I do love how he handles it. Also, the Oscar winner really is speaking to the root of why E.T.’s finale really punctures our hearts and souls. All in all, the titular alien is a miracle of sorts that comes and goes in a very regular family’s life. The Taylor family gets to have a fantastical (and sometimes scary adventure) but, ultimately, life has to move on for Elliott as well as his siblings and mother.

Did Elliott Ever See E.T. Again?

Another question that undeniably pops in my head whenever I watch E.T. is regarding whether the alien ever visits Earth and his friend again. Here’s the answer, per Spielberg:

I had a feeling that might be the case, but one can hope! This is probably why an E.T. sequel never happened, and how can anyone top it anyways? However, I am interested in the extent of the main two characters' psychological link after hearing this answer. I mean, were E.T. and Elliott still able to communicate emotions to each other across galaxies somehow? I don't think we'll ever really know, but I can't imagine the pair ever forgetting each other.

What I love about these answers from Spielberg is it feels like the movie itself sort of already communicated these things to me without much dialogue. I’d regard E.T. as one of those rare perfect movies because of its ability to convey emotion through the actors' performances and the craft of the film itself. And I didn't really need more than the content it already gave me.

E.T. may always be a standalone movie, but I love that Steven Spielberg still has a fascination with alien life over the years and decided to explore it through four other movies including his entry on the 2026 movie schedule. On that note, check out Disclosure Day in theaters now.

This week, we say goodbye to March and hello to April. That means it’s time for the monthly content rotation that sees many of your favorite films and TV series jump from one platform to the next. April has some great TV series and movies streaming this month. Here’s a look at what’s hitting this week that you won’t want to miss.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple - March 31 (Netflix)

Based on the box office, you probably didn’t go to the theater to see 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, but based on the critical response, you probably should have. Nia DaCosta reminds us why she’s so good with horror with her entry in the ever-growing franchise. The movie arrives this week with your Netflix subscription.

Alien Franchise April 1 HBO Max

There’s nothing worse than getting into a franchise on a streaming platform before discovering that not all movies in a series or episodes in a show are available in one place. Luckily, if you have an HBO Max subscription in April, you’ll be able to experience the entire Alien franchise, from Ridley Scott’s original through the recent Alien: Romulus, and even both Alien vs. Predator movies. Any movie that has a commercially available extended cut, which is most of them, will have that available as well.

Your Friends & Neighbors, Season 2 -April 3 (Apple TV)

While an Apple TV subscription doesn’t give one access to nearly the same volume of original material as other streaming platforms, the level of quality is hard to deny. The first season of Your Friends & Neighbors was something of a surprise hit, leading to a Season 2 renewal. The show sees Jon Hamm as an unemployed hedge fund manager who maintains his lifestyle through theft. Season 1 saw him reject a chance to return to his old life; what his new one has in store, we'll have to wait and see.

Pizza Movie - April 3 (Hulu)

Every generation needs a great stoner comedy, and Pizza Movie, available this week with a Hulu subscription, might just be it for this one. The film stars Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone as college roommates who get high on an unusual and potent new drug, and then discover the only thing that will mellow the effect is pizza, which they’re now far too high to safely obtain.

Merrily We Roll Along - April 4 (Netflix)

Some of the greatest acting performances are found on the Broadway stage, but most of us don’t have an opportunity to see them. Luckily, the Tony Award-winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along was given the professional filming treatment similar to Hamilton and Disney’s Frozen musical. You can check out Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and the rest of the incredible cast on Netflix this week.

From animated series based on Stranger Things and Star Wars’ Darth Maul to new seasons of The Boys to the return of Malcolm in the Middle, there is great stuff hitting streaming in April. Check back here every week to see what shows and movies are on the way so you don’t miss anything good.

There are a lot of people in the world who would have trouble not going all “fanboy” if they ever met Mark Hamill. Lord knows I would be one of them. One would think that, by this point in his career, Hamill has seen so many other stars so often that there’s nobody who would get him excited, but it turns out he’s a big fan of Sigourney Weaver, a.k.a. Alien's Ellen Ripley.

The beginning of Star Wars and the future of Star Wars recently converged when Luke Skywalker met one of the cast of The Mandalorian and Grogu. Hamill says in a post on Bluesky that he went “all fanboy” when he met Sigourney Weaver recently, saying…

Mark Hamill is far from the only one who became a huge fan of Sigourney Weaver after seeing Alien. It's one of the best sci-fi movies ever made, and it, like the original Star Wars, launched a franchise that is still going strong to this day.

In much the same way that Hamill is seemingly done with Star Wars, Sigourney Weaver has likely put the Alien franchise behind her. However, she’s recently jumped ship to become part of the galaxy, far, far away, something Hamill apparently wasn't aware of until now.

The picture, however, is priceless. It honestly really does give the “fan boy” vibes pretty strongly, as Mark Hamill is clearly excited, while Sigourney Weaver actually looks a little shocked by the whole experience.

I've loved Sigourney Weaver ever since one of my all-time favorite movies, ALIEN. Couldn't resist going all fanboy on her yesterday & asking for a photo. She told me she's now in the cast of The Mandalorian. Talk about bad timing: she's now in that galaxy far, far away, years after I checked out! 💔

— @markhamillofficial.bsky.social (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-09T22:22:41.363Z

This isn't Hamill's first fanboy moment. He's also written about the way he freaked out a bit upon meeting former Beatle George Harrison. This puts Sigourney Weaver in some pretty impressive company.

We’ve seen a bit of Sigourney Weaver in the first trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu, though it’s unclear exactly how big her role is. She's explained that her character is a former Rebel pilot who is now trying to help maintain order on the Outer Rim of the galaxy, where The Mandalorian and Grogu do most of their work.

It is a bit weird seeing her in the world of Star Wars considering how iconic she was in a different sci-fi franchise that started in the 1970s. As much as Alien and Star Wars have in common, they are also wildly different science fiction films.

Still, this is a great picture of two absolute sci-fi legends. It would be wonderful if they could do something together at some point. Maybe they could launch an entirely new franchise together. I’d certainly watch that.

SPOILERS are ahead for Predator: Badlands, now playing in theaters.

One of the big surprises among 2025 movies for me is Predator: Badlands. While I was already a fan of the previous Predator movies that its writer/director Dan Trachtenberg made prior (Prey and Killer of Killers), there was no promise he would go three for three. While I love all the praise for Badlands for how it handles its Yautja storyline, I want to talk about its Alien connection.

Predator: Badlands Is Rightfully Getting A Lot Of Love For Being A Franchise Favorite

Before I do, let’s talk about why fans are loving Badlands so much. As I wrote about in our Predator: Badlands review, it’s the first movie of the franchise that’s devoid of a single human character, and yet feels like the most human due to how they are handled. (Other critics really liked it too for taking the franchise in new directions).

It’s been almost 40 years since the original Predator movie came out, and I think fans appreciated not only seeing a movie from the perspective of a Yautja hero, but also Dek in particular. He’s the runt of his clan, and it’s really refreshing to see a new type of story from the franchise that perhaps makes the fictional species more relatable and rootable (for this movie, anyways).

It’s on the way to becoming the biggest Predator movie ever, following its great box office performance so far, but there’s another aspect of it that I don’t think is being pointed out enough.

But, I Need To Talk About How Much I Appreciate How Its Alien Connection Is Handled

One of the most iconic Predator movies to this day is absolutely 2004’s Alien vs. Predator, but Badlands definitely isn’t a rehash of that. I’m happy it isn’t, but, as an Alien fan myself (more so than Predator), I found myself especially pulled in by seeing a Yautja have an unlikely friendship with a synthetic.

In the movie, Elle Fanning plays two synthetic characters, “sisters” named Thia and Tessa, who are employed by the Weyland-Yutani corporation for what the company is known to do – try to bag and tag alien species for its own benefit. While at first it seemed like Thia was a way-too-helpful synthetic to Dek, it’s revealed later that Thia was using her emotional programming to supposedly manipulate him, before her actual feelings took over.

But then the movie goes a step deeper. Thia isn’t only tapped into her emotions because of her objectives; she also feels a lot in general, and while that is looked upon as weak by Tessa, it ultimately helps her form a true friendship with Dek, and they become partners in being outcasts together. I love when the Alien franchise explores how technology and humanity can intersect, and the story between Thia and Dek is such a good extension of that conversation.

The addition of Thia and Tessa to the Alien franchise (even though it’s by extension of a Predator movie) is such a clever use of synthetics that continues to grow the lore that it has had since the beginning. An evil twin sister synthetic plotline is amazing! There’s been a lot of synthetics in Alien, but Fanning’s performance as Thia/Tessa, and the storyline written for her, is already up there among my favorites. And, that scene where the top half of her and the bottom half of her fight? So good!

There are a lot of fictional inventions in movies and TV shows, mostly in the sci-fi genre, that have since become real things. Often, it's not exactly what we saw in the movie or television show, but it's very close. Others might not be 100% possible today, but we are very close to seeing those things become a part of everyday life in the 21st Century. This is a list dedicated to all of those inventions that seemed unrealistic or fanciful to many, except the geniuses who dreamed them up in Hollywood.

Artificial Intelligence (2001: A Space Odyssey)

The HAL-9000 was a warning to all of us. A warning that we still might not heed. The computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey turns against its human creators and users to take control of the space station at the heart of the first half of the movie. It spins things into a trippy adventure for the viewer, but now, more than 50 years later, we might need to start paying attention to what director Stanley Kubrick was trying to tell us.

Lasers (The War Of The Worlds)

In the original 1953 adaptation of H.G. Wells' seminal sci-fi novel, War of the Worlds, Martians attack humanity with a type of technology that had been theorized both in sci-fi and in real life, lasers. Of course, the lasers we have aren't quite on the level of the iconic alien ships in the movie, but they've been around for decades now.

Holograms (Forbidden Planet)

1956's Forbidden Planet makes use of holograms, which at the time were completely unheard of, except in science fiction. While we don't have true holograms like this movie and many since have used, we have seen a version of holograms at concerts like Coachella and elsewhere in live entertainment. We still can't send a message like Princess Leia yet, but that can't be too far off, right?

Autonomous Vehicles (Total Recall)

Self-driving cars have been talked about for years, and in Total Recall and other science fiction, they've kind of been a staple for decades. As everyone knows now, they do actually exist, and even more are on the way in the coming years. It's not crazy to think that every car will at least have the option to be self-driving in the not-too-distant future.

Smartwatch (Dick Tracy)

Wearable tech is all the rage these days, and while Google Glass was a unmitigated commercial failure, smartwatches, like Apple Watches, are a huge hit. In fact, mine is telling me to stand up for a couple of minutes as I've been sitting here working on this list for most of the last hour. Dick Tracy used his watch as a two-way radio decades ago.

Video Communication (Metropolis)

Video phones and other software like Zoom and Google Meet have been around for a long time now. The use of it really exploded during the pandemic, and now they are a part of almost everyone's everyday life. Of course, for decades, science fiction movies and TV shows have been predicting that this would eventually be the case. One of the earliest examples came about 100 years ago in the silent film classic Metropolis.

Space Travel (A Trip To The Moon)

Hailed as one of the earliest examples of science fiction on screen, A Trip To The Moon predicted space travel and man landing on the Moon way back in 1902. The French silent film classic envisions a very lively, even dangerous Moon, which is, of course, nothing like what it is actually like, nor did the Apollo 11 Mission actually land a rocket in the eye of the man in the moon, but hey, A Trip To The Moon did foresee at least something about the future.

Lightsaber (Star Wars)

Ok, this one is a little bit of a stretch, because it's not like everyone is chopping their onions with laser knives and we aren't fighting intergalactic battles with futuristic laser swords, but lightsabers do exist on one level. According to Guinness World Records, a builder named Alex Burkan has invented something at least somewhat similar to the legendary, elegant weapon of the Jedi in the Star Wars franchise.

Cloning (The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler)

As far as we can tell, The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971) was perhaps the first movie to feature the concept of cloning. It was certainly a very early example of the idea, though the terminology used in the low-budget movie was different. We're not cloning humans (yet), and maybe we shouldn't ever be going that far, but humans are definitely cloning other species.

Androids (Alien)

Androids have been part of science fiction forever. Robots, in general, have always been dreamed up in different ways by writers and directors. One of the most iconic examples comes from the Alien franchise, starting with the original Ridley Scott movie from 1979. We don't have androids yet, to be sure, but with the combination of advancements in AI and robotics, it sure seems close.

Neuralink Brain Implants (Black Mirror)

Several episodes of Black Mirror involve a device connected directly to the brain that allows us to record everything we see or connect our consciousness to a computer program. We might be that far yet, but there does exist such a device that is implanted in a person's brain, allowing them to control a computer just by thinking up a task. Many are working on the ability to transplant our consciousness onto a hard drive, which was also the plot of a Black Mirror episode, which is a little further off, and frankly, much scarier.

Virtual Reality (Tron)

While not quite as advanced as what is depicted in the groundbreaking 1982 film Tron, immersive video games are more popular today than ever. The concept of "virtual reality" has changed quite a bit over the last few decades, with "augmented reality" taking a more prominent role. Still, at least in the gaming world, virtual reality on the level of Tron doesn't seem far off.

Personalized Marketing (Minority Report)

Personalized marketing is a reality, though it's not exactly how it is in Minority Report. This is something that has been discussed in the advertising world for decades now. My first job out of college was for a company that was trying to create personalized ads delivered to phones, and this was a decade before the smartphone was really even a thing. Still, trying to buy a pair of shoes on the web and not get bombarded with ads for more shoes.

Flying Cars (Back To The Future Part II)

Jetpacks and flying cars have been part of dozens of sci-fi stories over the years, going back many, many years. Generations of people have predicted that flying cars would be a thing by the time they become adults. We still don't have one in every driveway, but they are closer than ever, and there are definitely working prototypes.

Audio Translation (The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy)

Apple AirPods now have the ability to translate foreign languages in real time. There are plenty of examples in sci-fi of this tech, but my favorite is the Babel Fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Sure, it's not technically new "tech" in the classic books or the adaptations, but hey, they do the translating!

Hoverboard (Back To The Future Part II)

Back to the Future II was set in what is now the past, and some of the inventions are closer to reality than others. The most coveted invention in the movie is the hoverboard. There have been a few products over the years that have called themselves hoverboards, but the closest one to the film is one Tony Hawk rode back in 2015, which was, coincidentally, the year that Marty travels to in the future.

Voice User Interface (2001: A Space Odyssey)

Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri are just two examples of voice interfaces that have been predicted by everything from Star Trek to 2001.

Smarthomes (The Illustrated Man)

In a segment from this anthology of Ray Bradbury-inspired segments called "The Veldt," a couple finds that their parental authority is being undermined by their technologically advanced home. More recently (if the 1980s are "recent"), it was also seen in The Running Man.

Smartglasses (Back To The Future Part II)

Back to the Future II actually predicted quite a bit of tech that has become a reality. For example, Marty McFly Jr. owns a pair of glasses that allow him to watch TV anywhere. Sure, Google Glass bombed, but that won't be the tech industry's last attempt to make smartglasses work.

Synthetic Meat (Eraserhead)

Lab-grown meat, like Impossible Meat, has a long history in science fiction and other works of fiction. It made a memorable (and very bizarre) appearance in director David Lynch's debut feature, Eraserhead, in 1977.

AI-Generated Art (Her)

Spike Jonze predicted a world in which books, music, and movies would be "created" instantaneously with a computer program in Her. Even though this is one of the more recent additions to this list, the world is chock full of AI art today, for better or (mostly) worse.

Biometric Payment (Back To The Future Part II)

In Back To The Future Part II, Biff uses a thumbprint to pay his cab fare. We don't use this exact type of technology today, but we all use biometric technology to open our phones, like thumbprints and face recognition, and we use those phones to "tap" to pay for stuff on our credit cards. Combining the two is certainly possible, even if we're probably not ready to trust it.

Artificial Heart (Threshold)

The first successful artificial heart implant happened in 1982, though attempts had been made in medicine for decades. 1981's Threshold, starring Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum, was still breaking ground when it predicted, albeit by just a few months, that it was now possible.

Space Stations (2001: A Space Odyssey)

Space stations, like the one seen in 1969's 2001: A Space Odyssey, were first inhabited just a couple of years later, first with the Soviet station Salyut 1 in 1971, followed shortly by the United States' Skylab in '73. There have been various versions ever since.

The Metaverse (Ready Player One)

When Mark Zuckerberg first announced the Metaverse, I couldn't help but immediately think of Ready Player One. So far, we haven't been escaping to a virtual reality, but it honestly doesn't seem that outlandish that the dystopian future the movie predicts could easily come true. Let's hope that the real version has as many Easter Eggs as Ready Player One has, at least.

Milk Engine (Phil Of The Future)

In one episode of the sci-fi Disney Channel series Phil Of The Future, Phil and Keely build a pudding-serving machine powered by an engine that runs on milk, which causes his father to fear their 22nd-century origins will be revealed since that invention will not exist for decades. However, efforts to convert lactose into ethanol fuel actually started in 2023. It's not here yet, but it's not far off, it seems.

Tablets (2001: A Space Odyssey)

Though they are called "newspads" in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the devices that the astronauts use to watch the news are basically iPads or tablets.

Robot Vacuums (The Glass Bottom Boat)

In the 1966 rom-com The Glass Bottom Boat, Bruce (Rod Taylor) owns a "gizmo" company, and one of his (many) inventions looks basically like what you expect the prototype of a Romba to look like. It's a little robot vacuum that seems too silly to be true, but we know there is nothing silly about them these days! Well, they are a little silly, but they sure are convenient!

Bionic Limbs (The Empire Strikes Back)

Here's one that everyone remembers, Luke Skywalker's bionic arm in The Empire Strikes Back. Of course, similar arms (and other limbs) exist today, though they don't look as real as Luke's does.

Digital Billboards (Blade Runner)

In Blade Runner, the future looks very much like the present in at least one way: billboards. Giant digital billboards were still not the norm back when the movie was released in 1982. Today, they are everywhere from Times Square to highways in Iowa. They are everywhere. And they are annoying as they are in Blade Runner.

Commercial Space Travel (2001: A Space Odyssey)

2001: A Space Odyssey sure got a lot of stuff right when Kubrick made it in the late '60s. Commercial space travel, for example, was the norm in the movie. While we are not quite at the same level today as they were in the movie (and Pan Am is long gone), we do have space tourism these days, so long as you're a tech billionaire or Katy Perry. One day, the rest of us might be lucky enough to do it too!

Self-Tying Shoes (Back To The Future Part II)

Once again, Back To The Future Part II comes through with an invention that we have today; this time, it's self-tying shoes, or as Marty calls them in the movie, "power laces." They actually come from Nike, too! All in all, it's impressive how many times old sci-fi movies managed to predict the future. Mostly in good ways, too.

Spoilers below for the Season 1 finale of Alien: Earth, so be warned if you haven’t yet streamed it via Hulu subscription or Disney+ subscription.

After eight dense episodes exploring the foibles of humanity in the face of superlative technology and extraterrestrial beings, Alien: Earth is now in TV limbo, awaiting to learn its fate from FX execs. The franchise’s first small-screen entry has been a rousing success by and large, with earning praise from Sigourney Weaver, Stephen King and plenty of other genre hounds. Some viewers, however, have been more eager to complain that the show puts more emphasis on the “Earth” than the “Alien.”

As it often goes with horror and sci-fi projects based around beloved iconography, Alien: Earth has bumped against certain audience members for pushing Xenomorphs to the background in order to focus more on Boy Kavalier and other power-hungry corporations, as well as the myriad synths, cyborgs and other not-quite humans milling about. (You know, because the first Alien movie was only Xenomorphs and no humans…or not.)

Creator Noah Hawley spoke with THR about why he ended the season in such a way, and whether or not there are plans for the future, and his explanation also manages to justify why the series isn’t just a giant, saliva-covered alien free-for-all. When asked whether he's allowing for his longterm plan to be influenced by audience responses to Season 1, Hawley answered with:

That's really all the explanation one should need, as it makes total sense. Had Noah Hawley & Co. chosen to go a different and more alien-heavy route with Season 1, all the extra CGI and effects required could very easily have sent the show over budget to the point where FX and Hulu would be unable to renew it without taking a steep financial loss. Already, the series looks expensive as hell, and not just from all the excellent digital work on the eyeball creature and other lifeforms, but also in quasi-recreating the central location from Ridley Scott's 1979 film and all the completely unique settings.

Sure, it may seem naive in retrospect to think that audiences wouldn't want to watch Alien: Earth, but there are few guarantees in today's pop culture, even for high-quality hubs like FX. I doubt all the Powers That Be would have been jumping to spend millions of extra dollars to bring more aliens into it without any confirmation that viewers would show up.

That said, now that the season has been unleashed, and it's clear that there IS a dedicated fanbase out there for the sci-fi thriller, Hawley seems ready to go forward with the story from where he chose to leave things off, saying that despite Wendy & Co. seemingly securing a victory in the end, that everything could change for them in an instant. He continued:

I think another major reason to limit the amount of Xenomorphs and other species is because this first season had to spin a few of the creatures into actual characters, albeit untraditional ones. The eyeball monster quickly became a fan favorite, especially while embedded in the head of that gnarly sheep, and I doubt that would have happened if there were 20-30 of them swinging around.

Similarly, the show had to establish Wendy's communicative connection with the quickly growing Xenomorph, and even with the visual distinctions, it still might have been confusing for viewers to see a variety of phallic-headed beasts stalking about on the island, with only one of them having an actual storyline to fall back on.

I'm also unsure why anyone thinks the Xenomorphs are the most interesting things about the Alien franchise, anyway. They don't talk or do anything particularly interesting beyond mauling people, and having two mouths can only get you so far. So if this show was just weekly episodes of Xenomorphs obliterating random victims without any exposition, I'd certainly still watch, but it wouldn't exactly demand my interest for very long.

Which isn't to say I think the show was perfect, and I'm legitimately still bothered by a gripe I voiced back in the series premiere. But I was probably more impressed with it than any Alien franchise entries since James Cameron's sequel, so consider me a lock for Season 2's viewership.

While Alien: Earth no longer has any new installments for the 2025 TV schedule, stay tuned for any renewal updates, and re-stream all episodes on Hulu and Disney+.

If you ask my colleague, Eric Eisenberg, Alien: Romulus is the third-best entry in the franchise, as he writes in his positive review. It's hard to argue with him, and it makes sense that a sequel is on the way. Yet what fans know about the film is pretty limited. We’ve had a few sequel updates, yet it’s still anyone’s guess what the upcoming horror film will be. One thing we do know: Fede Álvarez isn’t returning to direct the Romulus sequel. As a fan, that initially bummed me out, but I love his reason for wanting to still pen the movie's script.

In a clip from HorrorHound Weekend (Sept. 12–14, 2025) shared by YouTuber Epic Film Guy Jeremy, the Don't Breathe director lays out the ethos behind his approach to the sequel. According to him, the best way forward is a one-and-done, pass-the-torch but safeguard the story you started. On the panel, he explained:

These remarks follow the Girl in the Spider’s Web helmer admitting there were “mistakes” in Romulus, and he hopes to avoid them next time. That mindset aligns with the Alien playbook as, before Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (which brought series creator Ridley Scott back), each film bore the fingerprint of a new filmmaker. Álvarez is honoring that rotating vision tracks. What really earns goodwill with me as a long-time fan, though, is why he and his team still wrote the sequel. He continued:

If you’re a longtime fan, I'm sure you felt that line. The Alien 3 wipe, erasing the goodwill of Aliens (one of the greatest sequels ever and best movies in the series), remains a polarizing gut punch: bold, yes, but for many, deflating. Álvarez’s choice to protect the Romulus survivors lets the next director innovate without starting from emotional zero, and without alienating (sorry for the pun) fans eager to see series newcomer Cailee Spaeny return as Rain.

The Evil Dead reboot director's decision to stay on as a writer isn’t just a nod to fans, but it's a smart filmmaking choice. Splitting writing from directing protects the characters’ arcs while inviting a fresh visual voice. It also allows the next filmmaker to shift subgenres, as James Cameron did with Aliens, a kind of evolution that keeps a franchise alive and exciting.

So, even though Fede Álvarez is stepping away from the director’s chair, I'm so glad he and his team are protecting the characters they created. That's exactly the stewardship the Alien series needs. I’m also genuinely excited to see what’s next for a franchise I’ve loved since I first got into the horror genre. Until a sequel lands on the new movie schedule, I’ll happily settle for Alien: Earth on FX, and the show is also streamable with a Hulu subscription alongside Romulus.

By and large, everyone who’s been watching and talking about Alien: Earth has come away with majority-positive reactions, with loads of praise going to creator Noah Hawley and the show’s massive creative team for their gorgeous efforts. But in the scheme of things, there are only a select few whose opinions really matter for those who’ve been following the Alien movie timeline since the missions began, and scream queen Sigourney Weaver is certainly a big part of that list.

Weaver’s potential return to the role of Ripley aside, her opinions about new canonical projects are always valued by the fandom, since she’s arguably had more experience with the franchise than anyone else. So when she opened up about having watched Alien: Earth, ears were perked. She told Collider:

To her point, pulling this sci-fi narrative away from the saliva-dripping Xenomorphs and putting it more on humanity was a big reason why Noah Hawley wanted to devote himself to this project from the jump. As it goes with most iconic horror properties, the monsters always get the marquee attention, but it's the human elements that make the projects relatable and keep audiences coming back for more. It helps when the human characters aren't just ciphers of archetypes, also, and Alien: Earth definitely has more complex ideas at play.

Weaver specifically pointed out how much she enjoys the show's digging into its core themes, despite not painting humanity in a very positive light. As she put it:

Case in point, the fifth episode was crafted more or less as a full-length prequel companion to Ridley Scott's Alien, with the Maginot ship serving as more or less a mirror image of the Nostromo. It played out with much more of a survival horror vibe than prior episodes, trading a vastness in scope for close-quarters terror, showing off just how much budgetary scope the show is afforded by FX and Hulu.

The show is always noteworthy for putting the focus on Weyland-Yutani and its current execs, rather than having them serve in an overarching antagonistic role as per usual. Having the billionaire genius Boy Kavalier as a separate antagonist only ups the ante, while also keeping greed and selfishness at the forefront. Poor Wendy and the other kids.

Will fans get to see Sigourney Weaver's Ripley making an appearance in Noah Hawley's series? It doesn't seem extremely likely just yet, although A:E takes place just two years before the events of Alien, so there wouldn't need to be any story gymnastics put into place to make it work, even if some deaging CGI would likely come into it.

Alien: Earth drops new episodes every Tuesday on FX or via Hulu subscription at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Mild spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Alien: Earth’s premiere on FX or via Hulu subscription, so be warned!

In a year that’s already seen Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossing over for NSFW hilarity, one might not have thought a stranger pop culture melding could happen in any 2025 TV shows. Yet along came Alien: Earth to blow away expectations with its horrifying leech creatures, its child-to-adult hybrids, and of course, its reverent inclusion of Ice Age’s Sid the Sloth. Wait, no, that can’t be ri…yep, okay, that’s exactly what happened.

The first two episodes of Alien: Earth debuted on FX and Hulu after many months of fans’ eager waiting, and amidst all of the icky facehuggers and fleeting glimpses of other threats was the start of Wendy’s story. Considering the series’ opening lays it out plainly that human hybrids are technology’s next big nexus point, the children are likely going to be a core part of the story for the rest of the first season at least.

It’s perhaps telling that this part of the story quickly aligned itself with two different pop culture staples: Peter Pan and Ice Age. The former is an easier reference to understand within this story, with its theme of children who don’t grow old, but the latter is a bit more of a mystery. Or at least it would be if some viewers weren’t already accepting it with wide-open arms. Check out some of the excited reactions below.

• You wouldn't expect it to happen in the new Alien tv show but there's a shot where Sid from Ice Age shows up as part of some reminiscing crossfade for a character and I fucking lost it. No notes - @Adrianwong87
• These first two episodes of Alien Earth were pretty good. There's good pacing, there's action, there's Sid from Ice Age, what more could you ask for? - @Draco720
• Imagine my confusion falling asleep watching Alien Earth, waking up and seeing Sid the sloth just appear in the background of a shot randomly - @JBHUURR34
• There's a scene in Alien Earth where Sid the Sloth from Ice Age slowly fades onto the screen as a transparent overlay during a really emotional scene, and I gotta say that's... that's just wonderful. - @GodzillaMendoza
• I didn’t expect Sid the Sloth from Ice Age to be in canon with Alien…but here we are. (no I am not joking, and I thought I was hallucinating when I saw it). - @DarkAgent1984

I must say, I can understand all the confusion. At no earlier point in the Alien franchise were any characters revealed to be watching Ice Age movies, though I guess it makes sense that none of the non-Earth locations or spaceships had DVD players in them.

Yet the children were indeed shown to be watching it and loving it within the Neverland island facility. So often in futuristic stories, modern-day pop culture doesn't make appearances, while projects like Futurama self-awarely address the strangeness of referencing songs and movies that are 1,000 years old. Things aren't quite so ancient in Alien: Earth's timeline, which is just two years before Ridley Scott's original film.

Whatever the reasoning or details behind it, a smaller subset of viewers spoke out about Sid the Sloth's cameo with a slightly less accepting approach.

• Watching alien earth….. WHY THE FUCK IS SID THERE - @hangmantale
• I genuinely cannot fucking believe a transparent image of Sid the Sloth appears in the background during Alien: Earth. Like, I am at a loss for words. I can’t even find the energy to be mad. I just haven’t been this confused in a long time. I’m fucking nauseous. - @TheToastyToes

I do hope that viewer feels better by this point, but I did have to chuckle at the idea of someone suffering cold sweats and nausea just from seeing an Ice Age character pop up so completely out of place. Heaven help us all if Garfield or Rude Dog shows up at any point. Bluey might make sense, though. Not that they all need to be animated animals.

Alien: Earth streams new episodes Tuesdays on FX and Hulu.

Slight spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the series premiere of Alien: Earth on FX or via Hulu subscription, so be warned!

Even though fans had wait through an extended hyper-sleep to finally reach Alien: Earth’s highly anticipated premiere on FX and Hulu, it arrived with all of the expected intergalactic pomp, grandeur and acclaim that I’d hoped for. Noah Hawley’s efforts have (at least so far) been well worth the efforts. After just two episodes, I’m nearly ready to call this my favorite horror TV show on the 2025 premiere schedule, months before Stranger Things’ final season arrives.

The new series is shockingly faithful to one of the best horror movies of all time, Ridley Scott’s seminal 1979 classic Alien, arriving earlier in the franchise’s complicated timeline than the events that turned Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley into an unforgettable scream queen. Despite the extreme amount of attention to detail on display, however, one premiere scene features a rather baffling mistake that completely took me out of what was an otherwise highly suspenseful moment. And I just don’t understand how nobody pointed it out and fixed it before it aired.

Alien: Earth Nails The Looks Vibes And Set Designs Of Ridley Scott's Alien

Making modern-day prequels to projects from decades past can be a tricky endeavor, since current technology and filmmaking techniques are far advanced compared to past efforts. But Alien: Earth being set just two years before Alien actually words for the show's advantage, with the cleaned-up USCSS Maginot  showing what the Nostromo would have looked like on its best days, just without all of the otherworldly specimens locked behind glass.

The whole opening sequence purposefully mirrored the way the film introduced core characters like Ripley, Dallas and Ash, with everyone gathered around to engage in eating, drinking, smoking and touching base on the mission status. It's wild how none of these new characters are total replicas of the Nostromo crew, but still feel as if they would have all passed each other walking down Weyland-Yutani's hallways or whatever.

The distinct Alien vibes carry over into some of the characters habitating the Prodigy Corporation's Neverland research island, perhaps most notably through Timothy Olyphant's synthetic Kirsh sharing traits with Ian Holm's Ash. This part of the story shares more in common with James Cameron's Aliens in terms of following aggro, gun-toting soldiers, but the way the horrifying leech creatures are introduced is somewhat reminiscent to the gory shock of seeing the facehuggers in action for the first time.

All the superb attention to detail throughout the first two episodes might have made it easier for most to ignore a glaring visual error in the opener, but it unfortunately bugged me enough that I couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of my viewing experience.

How Did This Reflection Mistake Make it All The Way To The Final Edit?

Much like the Nostromo's crew, the first batch of spacefarers we meet in Alien: Earth meet similarly gruesome fates, though it isn't initially revealed how the Xenomorph and other creatures escape their captive states. What's soon made clear, however, is Babou Ceesay's cyborg security officer Morrow is the only survivor left to presumably help take down the numerous deadly threats unleashed by the ship's crash landing.

The scene in which he's alerting the ship's "Mother" about the rest of the crew getting slaughtered is extremely intense, with a gnarly Xenomorph attempting to break into the room. But any excitement and second-hand fear I might have felt during that bit was completely upended by the computer screen's reflection on Morrow's face.

For seemingly logical reason that I can possibly think of, the monitor's "Crew Status: Crew Dead" text is reflected very noticeably off of Morrow's face, but isn't actually mirrored text. The words are just seen forward and normal, and read the same way they do on the screen, as if they were actually bouncing off of another reflective surface before appearing on Morrow's face.

Not the case, though. I even tried to justify it in my head right away, telling myself that Noah Hawley just wanted the "Crew Dead" message to carry over, and that the text was just superimposed on the actor's face. But that wasn't the case either.

How did this premiere get so many sci-fi elements magnificently right, and yet managed to flub it up when it came elementary science? All of that text had to have been added in post-production, since a practical reflection would be backwards, so it's mind-boggling that no one stepped in at any point in the process to say, "Hey, if we're going to add this unnecessary visual, shouldn't we turn it around first?"

Already, I had minor issues with the show's throwback green font being blurrier than necessary when identifying locations and timelines, but at least that's an aesthetic choice, and not an attention-disrupting gaffe. I'll never understand, though, how the premiere made it through so many edits and test screenings and promotional screenings before it landed on FX and Hulu, and the face reflection faux pas survived them all.

I'm cool with Hawley & Co. tweaking certain storyline details to make this storyline work, but have to draw a line when any show asks me to forget how mirrors work. Thankfully, that kind of a mistake can't fully take away from all the other horror and sci-fi excellence on display, even if it sticks in my saliva-slathered craw for far longer than desired.

Alien: Earth drops new episodes every Tuesday on FX and Hulu.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Alien: Earth, both of which are now streaming with a Hulu subscription.

After years in development, Alien: Earth finally landed on the 2025 TV schedule, bringing with it a new and intense story set in the early stages of the franchise’s vast timeline. The first two stress-inducing episodes have already dropped, setting the stage for what could be one of the most harrowing and emotional chapters in the saga so far.

Ahead of the new show’s premiere on Hulu in August 2025, CinemaBlend sat down with key members of the Alien: Earth cast and creative team to talk about everything from working with practical Xenomorphs to what viewers can expect moving forward. During our chat, we asked them to tease the rest of the season in one word, and their responses ranged from genuine to over-the-top.

Sydney Chandler, who plays the hybrid character Wendy with the synthetic body of an adult and the mind of a child, was the first of the bunch to use more than one word to tease what’s next for her character now that she and her brother Joseph Hermit (Alex Lawther) have reunited:

When viewers last saw Wendy in the show’s second episode, “Mr. October,” she was chasing after a Xenomorph that had taken her brother in the crashed Weyland-Yutani ship. Lawther, continuing the trend in the group interview, called out our questioning in a cheeky way before settling on one word:

I'm very curious to see where their relationship goes moving forward, especially in regard to Joseph coming to terms with his sister’s new appearance.

In another interview, during which CB asked the same question, Timothy Olyphant, responded. Olyphant, who plays Prodigy Corporation synthetic scientist Kirsh a year after voicing a Terminator, totally missed the point of the question but gave an incredible answer nonetheless:

When we sat down with Alien: Earth creator and showrunner Noah Hawley, he got the memo about the one-word answer. Not only that, but the Fargo creator also expanded on that sentiment to give us a brilliant tease for what’s to come in the remaining six episodes:

Alien: Earth already receiving rave reviews from critics, and it’s hard to imagine the show will take a nose-dive from here. The comments that Hawley and members of the cast shared have me even more hopeful of that. If the show continues to explore the characters and their motivations, as well as the absolutely terrifying Xenomorphs, hellbent on taking over the planet, then we could be looking at one of the best shows of the year.

New episodes of Alien: Earth air at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday nights on FX, and they're simultaneously available to stream on Hulu.

Mild spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet watched Alien: Earth on FX or with a Hulu subscription.

FX’s Alien: Earth has finally landed on the 2025 TV schedule, bringing with it a new chapter in the Alien movie timeline spearheaded by Fargo’s Noah Hawley and the show’s impressive cast. While it seems like the new sci-fi series will deviate from the canon somewhat, there is one aspect of Ridley Scott’s original classic that came back this time: practical Xenomorphs.

Ahead of the new Hulu arrival’s debut, CinemaBlend sat down with members of the Alien: Earth cast to talk about what it was like sharing the screen with one of the scariest movie monsters of all time. When asked if there was a period of adjustment working with an actor in a Xenomorph suit, star Alex Lawther (who plays soldier and medic CJ “Hermit") opened up about how wild it was going from seeing the Xenomorph as something trying to kill his character to a guy from New Zealand hanging out on set:

Running from a deadly stowaway on the space vessel Maginot after it crash lands on Earth one moment and then bumping into “a guy from New Zealand” the next? I'd say that had to be totally trippy.

Adding onto this experience of the stuntman playing the Xenomorph, Sydney Chandler, who plays a hybrid human/synthetic and CJ’s sister, recounted how “calm” and “casual” the guy looked between takes:

The mental image of a Xenomorph chomping down on a celery stalk is something that’s now stuck in your head. Though they didn’t say one way or another, I'm sure you're wondering the same thing we are: if the creature’s iconic piston-like inner mouth popped out to grab the stalk from the veggie tray.

Having a Xenomorph played by an actor could make things awkward in craft services and all, but taking the franchise back to its roots in this regard is one of several nice touches by Noah Hawley and company. You may recall that Ridley Scott cast Nigerian visual artist and actor Bolaji Badejo to play the original alien back in Alien, and that helped make it one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.

How Alien: Earth will stack up to the movies is anyone’s guess at this point, but critics have had great things to say about the FX on Hulu series so far. In fact, it was still rocking a 94 % on Rotten Tomatoes on the day of its premiere.

The first two episodes of Alien: Earth are now streaming on Hulu, and the remaining installments will be released every Tuesday until the Season 1 finale in late September. We won't get to see a Xenomorph eat a celery stick (or watch a Facehugger latch to a meat plate), but we can expect some intense sci-fi horror.

The Alien movies make up one of the best horror movie franchises of all time, so there’s no doubt the upcoming horror series Alien: Earth is highly anticipated amongst its fans. The eight-episode TV show was created by Noah Hawley with Ridley Scott serving as an executive producer. It’s set to premiere on the 2025 TV calendar on August 12, and critics have screened the series to help give us an idea of what to expect.

In the Alien movie timeline, Alien: Earth is set two years before the events of the original 1979 film and will not factor the movie’s prequels into its story. The cast is led by Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, mentor to Sydney Chandler’s Wendy, the first human/synthetic hybrid. Brandon Yu of The Wrap praises how Alien: Earth masterfully expands the franchise’s exploration of humanity and writes:

Ben Travers of IndieWire also enjoys Noah Hawley’s statements on humanity, going so far as to say the alien is the least impressive aspect of the sci-fi series. The critic gives it a B and writes:

Clint Gage of IGN gives the Alien: Earth series an “Amazing” 9 out of 10, writing that the show is “an evolution as slick and scary as every good little Xenomorph should be.” Gage continues:

Fred Topel of UPI calls the series “frightening” and “provocative,” writing that once again Noah Hawley has successfully expanded the story of a beloved movie for a small-screen series. Topel says:

Alien: Earth reviews are primarily positive, earning a Certified Fresh 89% on Rotten Tomatoes (as of this writing), but that means there were some critics left wanting. Chris Evangelista of SlashFilm was among those, rating the sci-fi show 5 out of 10. Of the many sins committed by Alien: Earth, according to Evangelista’s review, the biggest is that it’s boring. He writes:

While critics mention plenty of easter eggs for fans of the franchise, you apparently don’t need to have seen the movies to enjoy Alien: Earth. If this sounds like a series you’d like to check out, the first two episodes will premiere at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, August 12, on FX and FX on Hulu, with one episode per week coming each Tuesday after.

Between the 2025 movie calendar and the 2025 TV schedule, we have both Predator and Alien installments to look forward to in the near future. Plus, since they are both being made under Disney banners, fans have been wondering if the two franchises could merge once again. When I spoke to Predator: Badlands writer/director at SDCC last week, he shared thoughts on the possibility.

While at San Diego Comic-Con, fans could look one way and see a massive poster for the new Alien series coming to FX/Hulu this month, and look another and see marketing for Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands movie. So when I had the chance to talk to the filmmaker, I asked him if the environment brings about any thoughts regarding the next Alien and Predator crossover. Here’s what he had to say:

By “this,” he is talking about Badlands, which already includes some nods to the Alien universe. For example, Elle Fanning’s character Thea is an android from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which started in the Alien movies. Trachtenberg has previously said that when he was coming up with the idea for his third Predator movie, he decided he wanted to make one without human characters, and figured there was already “a company that makes robots” from the Alien movies.

As a fan of both franchises, I really appreciate how he handled this question. The writer/director sounds like he’s into the idea, and he is already finding ways to connect the dots, but wants to make sure that if he is part of the two coming together, it doesn’t feel like two action figures being smashed together for no reason. As Fanning added, perhaps a “build” to the next Alien vs. Predator is the best way to go.

While there are definitely theories out there that Predator: Badlands could become a full-blown Alien/Predator movie, Trachtenberg simply called it a “toe dip” into them sharing universes. As you might have also noticed in the trailers, there’s the skull of a Xenomorph on a trophy wall, along with things like a dinosaur head and so forth. When I asked him about those easter eggs, here’s what he had to say:

I think we’re going to have to wait for the movie’s release on November 7 to fully understand the implications of Badlands on the Alien universe, but it’s definitely worth noting that Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez has shared interest in connecting them, once suggesting that he and Trachtenberg could collaborate as directors. I know I’ll be paying close attention while watching both Alien: Earth and Predator: Badlands in the coming months.

On the 2025 TV schedule, no one can hear you scream. That said, if you’re a legendary filmmaker like Ridley Scott, people will definitely hear you drop an F-bomb in response to your addition to the Alien movie timeline. It’s a reaction that the OG franchise director offered when seeing familiar-looking ship designs for Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth - a result that came after several years, and a very specific ask.

It’s a story that’s fit to print, and SFX on CinemaBlend was able to exclusively nab it through early interviews for Noah Hawley’s series. Set to debut this August, another party that was on hand to discuss the process was Scott Free’s Chief Creative Officer, David W. Zucker. Sharing Mr. Scott’s surprise when seeing one of Alien: Earth’s vehicles, Zucker offered the following:

Newcomers who haven’t mainlined every entry through their Hulu subscription can very easily use that platform to keep up with this story that occupies a time frame close to when 1979’s Alien transpired. Also, as we know from Noah Hawley’s decision to ignore Prometheus’ aesthetic, vessels like the USCSS Maginot look more like the Nostromo we all know and love. Which is probably good news for anyone who can't seem to deviate from a straight-lined run whilst dodging a rolling spaceship.

The detail that makes this whole tale really interesting is that when the Fargo creator was asked to first pitch his take on Alien: Earth in 2018, keeping away from the first Scott era of installments was a concern. It seems that this factor eventually gave way to the take we’ve seen in the marketing, where the Maginot crash lands on our third rock from the sun, and has some surprises to offer.

Earth will finally get its chance to meet a proper Xenomorph, which may help dismiss fans' conflicted feelings on Alien: Earth's title. What sort of new horrors await us in those mysterious crates? The crew of the ship that induces this story probably didn't know, and with a familiar yet fresh feeling ahead, learning the truth could be a deadly sort of excitement.

Much like Ridley Scott’s profanity-laden approval of Alien: Romulus, this hearty endorsement could be a good sign for this eight-episode series. If you’re screaming for Alien: Earth, you may want to go grab some water. We won’t be seeing this new nightmare get started until August 12th at 8 PM ET on FX, with new episodes also being available on Hulu.

Predator: Badlands is still quite the mystery in the realm of 2025 movies. Seeing the first trailer tease the existence of a Weyland-Yutani android in Elle Fanning’s Thia certainly raised some eyebrows, and a ton of questions, from fans of the Alien movies. While director Dan Trachtenberg has laid out why that inclusion is part of what we know about Predator: Badlands, my fandom senses are attached to a theory of what this could really mean about the future for both of these worlds.

Dan Trachtenberg Claims Predator: Badlands’ Weyland-Yutani Connection Was An Organic Concept

The helmer of 10 Cloverfield Lane and Prey sat with Empire to chat about, among other things, why this November’s addition to Predator canon is now roping in this infamous mega-conglomerate. I can’t argue with the reasons provided in the answer below, and it actually sounds like a pretty solid answer a fan would throw out when contemplating the following:

A meat bag-free Predator movie isn’t actually a bad idea, despite 2022’s Prey injecting some new life through the very badass and very human protagonist Naru (Amber Midthunder). I’m still very much on board for that, as Dan Trachtenberg has noted that Badlands made a huge franchise change by having the Yautja being “front and center.”

You kind of need something to spice things up if this hunter is going all out, and letting a human tag along for the ride is going to be pretty dangerous. Weyland-Yutani’s product, on the other hand, can take a licking and keep on tormenting humanity for several films after.

Freshness is what's kept these franchises alive, especially through the characters presented in the more recent adventures. That’s something else Trachtenberg addressed through these continued remarks:

I don’t know about you, but Predator: Badlands is looking even more exciting when reading those remarks. Which means it’s the perfect time for me to bust out the cork board and thread, as I’m going to explain what I’m hoping all of these moves will ultimately lead to.

I Want To Believe Predator: Badlands Is Secretly The Gateway To A New Alien vs. Predator Movie

It’s no secret that Dan Trachtenberg and Alien: Romulus co-writer/director Fede Álvarez are both killing it with their respective franchises. That sort of streak is going to have people thinking certain thoughts, like whether or not Álvarez’s secret Alien vs. Predator movie strategy is being considered as we speak.

I’m not so sure that Predator: Badlands is going to be a stealth team-up movie, despite the Don’t Breathe mastermind’s wishes. That being said, there would have had to have been at least a conversation between these two gentlemen to make Thia a Weyland-Yutani synthetic, right?

So knowing how hyped both of these men are for their respective franchises, and a potential Alien vs. Predator project that bridges their worlds, one could assume there was some sort of light dancing around that idea in the process.

Whether it was intentional or just a happy coincidence through a reverent easter egg, Predator: Badlands is about to open the floodgates of speculation. That is surely a tide that’s not easy to dispel, no matter what evidence is provided. Anyone who thinks otherwise should go back and check out the supposed backlash to the Yautja's look in Badlands, and you'll realize that rather quickly.

At least, that will be the truth until Badlands hits theaters on November 7th. Though now I’m wondering if Predator: Killer of Killers may have some clues hiding in its animated anthology narrative? It looks like I’ll need to use my Hulu subscription and see what I’ve been missing, as research.

Over the years, countless filmmakers have given us movies where almost no one makes it out alive (or no one at all). We’ve seen it in some of the best horror movies, a few Best Picture winners, and in oh so many crazy disaster films. There’s just something about the whole “safety not guaranteed” aspect that keeps drawing us in.

That said, if you want to check out 32 movies where almost no one makes it out alive, stick around because we’re about to break it all down…

Titanic (1997)

Rose DeWitte Bukater (Kate Winslet) and several historical figures who survived the real-life 1912 sinking survived Titanic, but the vast majority of the characters we met during James Cameron’s massive box office hit sank with the doomed ship. Only if the epic’s protagonist had saved some room for her third-class lover on the infamous door.

Scarface (1983)

As soon as Al Pacino’s Tony Montana was introduced in Scarface, we all knew this rags-to-riches story was going to end in a hail of gunfire. And it did just that, as the film’s antihero is massacred alongside most of his men in his massive Miami estate in the film’s explosive and bloody final scene. Tony wasn’t alone, as all but a few of the characters introduced in this iconic crime film bite the dust before it’s over.

Much like the book on which they are based, the various adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front have all been dark, terrifying, and heartbreaking antiwar films that show the true cost of combat. Edward Berger’s 2022 take on Erich Maria Remarque’s landmark novel is particularly harrowing, especially in the final moments when a last-minute charge of death and destruction shatters hope and survival.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, one of the best movies in the franchise, is admittedly a little bleak with its depiction of a doomed band of spies trying to steal the plan for the Death Star, but there is some hope in their act of sacrifice. The blast of an operational battle station in the final moments is an awesome show of power and a dreadful end for characters we came to know and love.

The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter’s The Thing is a masterclass in tension and paranoia, with its story about a remote research base being taken over by a mysterious shape-shifting alien. If that wasn’t bad enough, the main characters begin getting picked off one by one as the survivors (it ends up only being two in the end) are left trying to make sense of the madness and not knowing if they can trust each other or themselves.

Night Of The Living Dead (1967)

George A. Romero put himself on the map in 1967 with the transformative zombie movie, Night of the Living Dead. On top of introducing heroes that go against the status quo in ‘60s Hollywood, the start of Romero’s legendary horror franchise ended with one of the bleakest moments in horror history.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

It’s hard to say how many of the thieves from the ill-fated diamond heist in Reservoir Dogs make it out alive, but we know that the vast majority of the color-coded crew don’t make it out alive. Either at the hands of their former partners or the police chasing them down, these lowly criminals meet a violent yet unsurprising end in Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut.

The Grey (2011)

Joe Carnahan’s 2011 survival thriller, The Grey, is honestly one of the most intense movies to come out in the 2010s. Starring Liam Neeson as a sharpshooter at an oil facility in Alaska, the movie follows the grieving man and a group of other roughnecks as they attempt to survive a plane crash in a remote part of the state. If that’s not bad enough, the wounded and weary men are targeted by a pack of hungry wolves.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Thanks to a clever and very impressive marketing campaign, The Blair Witch Project felt less like a found-footage horror movie and more like a documentary about a trio of filmmakers getting lost and dying in the woods. With one of the most shocking endings in horror history, this trailblazing 1999 movie left no one alive.

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1968)

Though we never see Paul Newman or Robert Redford’s characters die in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it’s all but guaranteed that these two outlaws die in the final shootout. With figures like this, did anyone expect there to be survivors?

The Departed (2006)

Martin Scorsese’s 2006 crime epic is a remake of a Hong Kong movie called Internal Affairs, but it totally feels like a modern take on a Greek tragedy. Before this one comes to a close, all but a couple of the main characters are in the grave. Heroes, villains, and random characters in one or two scenes, they are all taken down in this Oscar-winning classic.

The Hateful Eight (2015)

A movie primarily set in one location, The Hateful Eight doesn’t hold back with the violence and mayhem. Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 Western introduces and kills characters at such a high rate of speed that you’ll find yourself pausing and rewinding to make sense of all the carnage.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

One of the best examples of a disaster film, The Poseidon Adventure follows a group of survivors as they attempt to escape a capsized cruise ship. Though there are thousands aboard the ship before a wave tips it over, only a handful of passengers and crew make it out of this race against time.

Dawn Of The Dead (1978)

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead introduces some of the best zombie movie characters of all time, but going in, you know most are going to either die or turn into an undead ghoul. By the time everything is said and done, only two survivors make it out, which is far cheerier than what Romero originally had planned.

The Northman (2022)

Based on the ancient legend that inspired William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Robert Eggers’ 2022 epic revenge film, The Northman, is a bloody, violent, and mind-bending experience. And just like any tale of vengeance, it’s not one with a happy ending or a lot of survivors.

Alien (1979)

One of the best things about Ridley Scott’s Alien is how the crew of the Nostromo is picked off one by one by the mysterious and deadly xenomorph after each of the Weylan-Yutani employees is introduced and given time to shine on screen. In fact, it’s only Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and Jones the cat who make it out alive.

Sunshine (2007)

Sunshine, an oft-forgotten collaboration by director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, follows eight astronauts as they try to reignite a dying sun. Though the movie does give you some hope that the core cast – Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, and Michelle Yeoh – will survive the mission, it becomes clear that this is a one-way trip to save humanity.

Hereditary (2018)

Ari Aster’s Hereditary is one of the most traumatizing and terrifying horror movies of the past decade, and one that doesn’t leave a whole lot of survivors. In fact, pretty much the entire Graham family is killed in some bloody, fiery, or devastating fashion by the time this is over and done with.

Cloverfield (2008)

When it comes to disaster films with the largest body count, Cloverfield has to be up there on the list. Not only do all the main characters get squashed, eaten, mutated, or killed by the invading alien creatures, but pretty much all of New York City is wiped off the map once the military gets involved.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Don’t let Don’t Look Up’s darkly comedic tone fool you; the 2021 Netflix satirical end-of-the-world disaster film is full of death, destruction, and heartbreak. Even as the members of the ruling class learn centuries after the destruction of Earth, there’s no escaping death.

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is one of the funniest satirical dark comedies of all time. It’s also a political movie with a whole lot of death, especially with the whole ending sequence of atomic warheads detonating around the world, sending what survivors are left into a nuclear winter of epic proportions.

The Alamo (2004)

Before even pressing play on The Alamo back in 2004, we all knew how John Lee Hancock’s historical drama was going to end. One of the most told stories in American history, the Battle of the Alamo in the Texas Revolution, has become the stuff of legends (just don’t ask about the basement). Some 200 Texans, including Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), Jim Bowie (Jason Patric), and Bill Travis (Patrick Wilson), sacrifice themselves for freedom in this epic.

300 (2007)

Few movies kill off the main character like 300, which sees Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas (and his Spartan soldiers) go out looking awesome. Yeah, it’s sad to see these brave warriors get defeated by the Persian army, but it took A LOT to bring down this king.

The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

The Return of the Living Dead has to be one of the best horror comedies of all time, as well as a movie that doesn’t end on the happiest of notes. After a zombie outbreak turns Louisville, Kentucky, into a wasteland of brain-eating ghouls, the military gets involved in an attempt to sweep it all under the rug.

Knowing (2009)

Blending elements of sci-fi, thrillers, and disaster films, the 2009 Nicolas Cage movie, Knowing, centers on the discovery of a manuscript that can help predict various disasters in the future. Those familiar with this setup know that survival isn’t likely in this scenario, and that’s what happens when a solar flare turns everyone on the planet into ash.

The Cabin In The Woods (2012)

The Cabin in the Woods is one of the wildest, silliest, and most unique horror movies of the 21st century, and one that kills a lot of people. One by one, a group of college students is killed off by different monsters as they unknowingly become part of a plan to save the world from old gods.

Open Water (2003)

Inspired by true events, Open Water follows a couple as they are mistakenly left behind while scuba diving on vacation. Left alone in shark-infested waters and deteriorating conditions, the couple attempts to survive the situation, which is no easy task.

Silent Night (2021)

Camille Griffin’s Silent Night is one of the funniest, strangest, most brutally honest, and unsettling dark comedies of the past decade. When a deadly fog rolls into England and offers no chance at survival, a group of friends decides to have one final holiday party before dying. But there’s a twist…

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Like its predecessors, Final Destination 5 is a movie about cheating death and what happens if you evade the grim reaper’s touch. Well, in this 2011 installment, a group of survivors think they’ve cheated death for good when they board a plane. However, it’s not just any plane but instead the doomed flight from the first movie.

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World (2012)

With a title like Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, it should be no surprise that this 2012 romantic comedy starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley was going to end with everyone dying. Despite the obvious ending, this charming little movie has a whole lot of heart and soul.

Melancholia (2011)

There are disaster movies and then there’s Melancholia, Lars von Trier’s 2011 drama about two sisters coming to terms with their lives and past decisions days, hours, and minutes before a planet crashes into Earth. With a heavy focus on the inner and more psychological aspects of impending doom, opposed to the collapse of society outside their picturesque escape, this frightening yet awe-inspiring meditation on life and death is a sight to see.

This Is The End (2013)

This is the End, an over-the-top end-of-the-world disaster film starring Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and some of the biggest comedians of the late 2000s and early 2010s, is an absolute bonkers movie. Going in, you know everyone and their mother is going to die. But it’s what comes after death in this one that’s so much fun.

Movies about extreme survival go back to the dawn of Hollywood. Survival comes in many forms. It could be on a deserted island or a deserted planet. It may be in a jail or as a prisoner of war. There are many ways characters have to survive dangerous and arduous situations, and these movies will leave you white knuckling it until they either escape, get rescued, or perish trying to do either.

The Martian

Matt Damon plays an astronaut exploring Mars when he is accidentally left for dead on the red planet and is forced to find a way to live with no food and limited resources. The Martian has been praised for the science in (most) of the movie, but it's the survival aspect of the movie that really draws fans in.

The Bridge On The River Kwai

How dedicated are you to your country, and what will you endure to keep your pride? The legendary The Bridge On The River Kwai explores just how far a person will go in pursuit of both of those. In extreme conditions, the British prisoners of war go through the worst of everything, extreme heat, fatigue, disease, and torture, cannot keep them from that stiff upper lip attitude of the era.

28 Days Later

Plenty of movies show the extreme and terrifying nature of surviving a dystopian future or a zombie apocalypse. Few do it better than Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. The zombies are the things of nightmares, but somehow the characters keep living in whatever way they are forced to.

12 Years A Slave

There may be no better example of surviving under the most extreme conditions than the era of chattel slavery in 19th-century America. 12 Years A Slave is one of the hardest movies you'll ever watch, and it's also one of the most important movies of the last half century on the subject. Survival doesn't even begin to describe just how hard it was.

Society Of The Snow

The Oscar-nominated Spanish film Society of the Snow tells the now-infamous story of the Uruguayan rugby team who survive a plane crash in the Andes only to be forced into committing cannibalism to survive in the barren wilderness. It's as terrifying as it is inspiring.

Apollo 13

There are only three people in the history of the world who can really understand what it's like to survive a disaster in space. Tragically, most astronauts who have, didn't live to tell the tale. The three astronauts on the Apollo 13 mission did survive, and the 1995 movie starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon brings the story to the big screen in amazing fashion.

127 Hours

The true story of Aron Ralston, played by James Franco in 127 Hours, is one of the most visceral ever shown in a movie. It's a story that basically can understand just how harrowing it is. We can all imagine ourselves in a similar situation and wonder just how far we would go to save ourselves. Ralston goes further than most even dream possible, but he made it, and set an example of human endurance few have ever matched.

Schindler's List

Schindler's List is the kind of movie you are amazed by, but might not want to ever watch again. Of course, history is known to everyone who has been to school in the last 80 years, but that doesn't make the movie about the horrors of the Holocaust any easier to take in. It's an amazing movie and one of the scariest stories of survival by an entire group of people ever told. And it's told in honor of the six million who didn't make it.

The Revenant

Being left for dead in the wilderness, getting attacked by hostile people, and surviving a bear mauling certainly qualify a survival story for this list. Those things all happen in The Revenant, the movie that finally won Leonardo DiCaprio the Oscar he's been so deserving of.

Dunkirk

Dunkirk is not just about the survival of the British soldiers on the beaches of the titular town at the outbreak of World War Two, it's about the survival of the whole nation. Had the army not been evacuated, the entire war would likely have gone very differently, not to mention the history of the United Kingdom. Christopher Nolan's masterpiece tells a number of stories of survival, and every one is important.

Cast Away

You knew this one had to be here. It's a story as old as time: a man surviving on a tropical island. It's been in myths and stories for centuries, and there is no better example in modern times than Cast Away. From making fire to building a raft to escape on, this one has it all.

The Shawshank Redemption

Being wrongly accused and convicted of a crime you are not guilty of is a nightmare that many people share. One of the best movies of the '90s, The Shawshank Redemption lets everyone see just how scary and emotional something like that could be. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are amazing in this enduring movie that people will still be watching and relating to for many more generations.

Alien

"In space, no one can hear you scream," is the tagline for one of the most celebrated sci-fi horror movies of all time. Ridley (Sigourney Weaver) in Alien is a survivor on her own level throughout the franchise, and it all started with her surviving this movie.

First Blood

Sometimes, survival comes at the expense of the people trying to hunt you, like the cops in First Blood who make the mistake of forcing Green Beret John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) into the woods. Rambo knows how to survive, the cops never stand a chance.

The Pianist

Surviving the Holocaust has rarely been shown on screen as emotionally as it is in The Pianist. Adrien Brody's Oscar-winning performance is as powerful an example of survival as has ever been put on film.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games may not seem like it belongs on the list, but it certainly does. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) has to endure a lot to survive the games, and she thrives when she has to. The movie may be fiction, but the reality doesn't seem impossible, as scary as that is.

A Quiet Place

Surviving is hard enough. Surviving in total silence? Wow, that is truly another level. In A Quiet Place, we learn just how terrifying the silence can be, or really how scary it is when that silence is disturbed. A budding franchise shows just how viscerally people feel the quiet.

Rescue Dawn

Prisoner of war movies are pretty common in Hollywood history. Each brings their own nightmares of survival. Some of the most terrifying come from the Vietnam War, even when the camp is not in Vietnam, as is the case in Rescue Dawn. Christian Bale stars in this movie based on the true story of a pilot shot down over Laos and the horrors he must endure as a POW.

The Road

Cormac McCarthy's excellent (and bleak) book The Road was turned into an even bleaker movie starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee and set in a dystopian future. Human endurance is incredible, as even in the worst kind of situation, some survive. Never underestimate the love a father has for his son.

Unbroken

Angelina Jolie directed one of the most incredible stories of POW survival ever in Unbroken. The true story, about Louis Zamperini surviving multiple ordeals, including a plane crash, 47 days in a raft in the middle of the ocean, and two years in a POW camp. At the camp, he was tortured and used as forced labor. How he survived is nothing less than astonishing. The movie has mixed reviews, but the story is incredible, no matter how it's told.

Lone Survivor

Peter Berg directed Lone Survivor, based on the incredible true story of Marcus Luttrell, who was, as the name of the movie implies, the only survivor in a group of Navy SEALs on a mission in Afghanistan. Mark Wahlberg plays Luttrell, and Taylor Kitsch plays one of the members of his team who was killed. Though the account has been disputed, the movie still serves as a shining example of survival.

Into The Wild

Sometimes, it's human hubris that puts us in a position where we have to survive. Such is the case in the book and the movie Into the Wild. Alexander Supertramp, aka Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), made his own choices that led him to the desperate situation that eventually, tragically killed him as he tried (and failed) to survive in the Alaskan wilderness.

Gravity

Surviving space is hard enough when you have other people with you. On your own, it's downright impossible. That's the situation Sandra Bullock's character finds herself in in Gravity. It's science fiction, but it's so believable. It's not like Alien or even The Martian, it's much closer to home.

The Diary Of Anne Frank

Maybe the most famous example of survival during the Holocaust is the story of Anne Frank and her family in German-occupied Holland during World War II. The incredible diary the young girl kept has inspired countless people and put a real face on the victims of the Third Reich. The book was turned into a movie nominated for eight Oscars, winning three.

Deliverance

It was supposed to be a relaxing and exciting canoe trip that instead turned into a harrowing story of survival after a group of friends, led by Burt Reynolds in Deliverance, are terrorized by a nasty group of locals who don't want them on the river. The incredibly popular movie is part action/adventure, part horror movie as the campers deal with some really scary actions from those out to kill them.

Alive

A few decades before the Society Of The Snow brought the story of the Uruguayan Rugby Team, who survived a plane crash and weeks on top of a mountain, to the big screen, Ethan Hawke and company told the story in Alive. It's not as visceral as the newer movie, but it's still an incredible telling of the story.

The Great Escape

To be fair, The Great Escape is as much a "boys adventure" movie as it is a story of survival. Still, there is no question that there are some sad, harrowing moments for the POWs in a German camp during World War II. People do die, and there are real stakes (at times) in this classic movie from old Hollywood with an all-star cast.

Children Of Men

Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 movie Children of Men is, in a world, incredible. It may be overshadowed by his more recent work, like Gravity and Roma, but it's my favorite movie of his. It's also a unique look at survival, not just by the main characters in the movie, but humankind as a whole.

The Is The End

We had to include one comedy on this list. There are a few examples of funny takes on survival, but none are quite as ridiculous as This is the End. The all-star cast of Hollywood stars playing ridiculous versions of themselves is both funny and actually pretty scary at times.

Into Thin Air: Death on Everest

Into Thin Air: Death on Everest, a television movie based on the book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. It depicts the true story of one of the deadliest seasons of climbing the world's highest mountain. Not everyone survives, but those who do, like Beck Weathers (Richard Jenkins), endured some of the most harrowing weather conditions ever seen on Earth.

The Swiss Family Robinson

One of the most famous stories of "surviving" has to be The Swiss Family Robinson, as told by Disney in a couple of different versions, including one in 1960. It's hardly harrowing, and it's pretty luxurious and therefore unrealistic, but it sure does seem like fun! Survival doesn't always have to be a nightmare in movies, apparently.

Man Friday

It's sort of surprising that the story of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe hasn't been made into more movies. Man Friday is probably the best adaptation of the enduring novel, so it'll stand in for all of them.

I think I speak for many when I say audiences love it when characters from two (or more) different movies or TV series come together in one special event, such as the epic monster movies featuring both Godzilla and King Kong, or when Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. appeared on Supernatural. Of course, for all of the mind-blowing crossovers we have been blessed with, there is still much to be desired in the realm of bringing two big-screen or small-screen franchises together.

In that respect, let’s let our imaginations run wild and dream up the movie or TV crossovers that would be incredible to see. Now, I cannot promise that many (or all) of these ideas are legally or even humanly possible, but why should we let that get in the way of the fun?

Toy Story And Small Soldiers

The first, and still one of the best, Pixar movies, Toy Story, showed us the world from the point of view of sentient toys in 1995. Three years later, Small Soldiers offered the same perspective, but with more of an edge and a more realistic approach. Seeing Woody (Tom Hanks) and other innocent children's playthings crossing paths with Major Chip Hazard (Tommy Lee Jones) and his AI-powered, militaristic action figures sounds like one wonderfully warped animated flick, if you ask me.

The Office And Parks And Recreation

As recalled by MovieWeb, co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels initially conceived Parks and Recreation as a spin-off of The Office before it turned into its own separate and equally beloved TV sitcom. Still, there is no reason why Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his former Dunder-Mifflin co-workers could not somehow cross paths with Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and other Pawnee residents in a mockumentary-style special.

Drive And Fast And Furious

A famous example of misleading movie marketing is 2011's slow-burn, Neo-noir thriller Drive, which one woman assumed would be more of a high-octane action thriller like the Fast and Furious movies, inspiring her to file a lawsuit, according to The Guardian. Honestly, I see this as a reason to give the people what they want and release a movie that sees Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew facing off against Ryan Gosling's Driver.

Succession And Yellowstone

Having both premiered in 2018, Jesse Armstrong's Succession and Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone would become subjects of comparison, with some even calling the Paramount Network hit "Succession with cowboy hats." I think seeing the wealthy and vindictive Roys indulging in a rivalry with the also wealthy and vindictive Duttons would make for one epic feature-length special or miniseries.

21 Jump Street And Men In Black

Among the hypothetical crossovers presented here, not all are too much of a stretch from the realm of possibility. In fact, there were actual plans for a film called MIB23, which would have brought Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) from the 21 Jump Street movie into the world of the Men in Black franchise. Unfortunately, plans were scrapped in 2019, but I still have hope this insane sci-fi/comedy mash-up could work.

Poker Face And The Thing

Imagine if human lie detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) from the Peacock original TV show Poker Face was trapped in one place with a group of people who may or may not be shapeshifting extraterrestrial organisms in disguise, like the 1982 horror movie classic, The Thing. She would be the only one who could suss out the imitators, but the rest of the group might be too paranoid to confidently trust her judgment. I think Rian Johnson should give John Carpenter a call.

Star Wars And Marvel Cinematic Universe

As a fan of both the Star Wars movies and of Guardians of the Galaxy, I love the idea of seeing the cosmic warriors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe visit George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. Considering both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney, this intergalactic epic is entirely possible, as long as the timeline is respected, of course.

RoboCop And Terminator

Omni Consumer Products' half-man, half-machine crime-fighting tool has crossed paths with Skynet's mechanical killer before, but only on the pages of a Dark Horse comic book series from Frank Miller. Why Hollywood has not yet tried its hand at a movie that pits the hero from RoboCop against any of the antagonistic cyborgs from the Terminator franchise is beyond me.

James Bond And Jason Bourne

The Matt Damon-led Jason Bourne movies are often cited as the inspiration for the James Bond franchise's grittier tone, especially after Daniel Craig took over as 007. If there could be a way to get the American amnesiac assassin and the suave MI6 agent together in a room (which would likely be destroyed by the end), that could make for one of the best spy movies ever.

Sherlock And Doctor Who

Two of the BBC's most popular series, Sherlock and Doctor Who, both involve a highly intelligent, fashionable, and sometimes arrogant protagonist who is accompanied by a reliable companion. For that and many other reasons, I think it would be amazing to see them come together in a special or miniseries in which Holmes, hitting a wall with a case that defies logic, finds unexpected help from The Doctor.

DC Universe And Marvel Cinematic Universe

The two biggest comic book publishing companies in the world have not always been rivals and have indulged in creating stories that see DC heroes and Marvel heroes fighting side by side. Considering his strong ties to the MCU, it can't be out of the question for DC Studios head James Gunn to at least call a meeting with Kevin Feige to discuss bringing this kind of crossover to the big screen, which might end up being the greatest superhero movie ever made.

John Wick And Kill Bill

While largely differing in tone, the John Wick movies and Quentin Tarantino's two-part Kill Bill saga are pretty similar in concept, following two retired, legendary assassins waging a vengeful war on those who wronged them. Who is to say that Keanu Reeves' gun-fu master and Uma Thurman's The Bride never crossed paths in their deadly heyday?

The Evil Dead And The Exorcist

Two of the most popular franchises of demonic possession movies, The Exorcist and The Evil Dead, could not be more different from one another, which is exactly why I want to see them converge. In my pitch, grown-up Regan MacNeill's (Linda Blair) expertise in devilish activity is enlisted to help with a new case, but when it spirals out of control, the only one who can help is chainsaw-headed Deadite hunter, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell).

Inception And A Nightmare On Elm Street

When you think about it, Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb from Christopher Nolan's Inception essentially has the same job as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Just imagine how much more challenging his team's adventures through the subconscious would be with Robert Englund's sadistic, badly burned boogeyman invading the same dream.

Alien, Predator, And Jurassic Park

You know what I think the Alien vs. Predator movies were missing? Dinosaurs. Putting these two fearsome extraterrestrials in yet another battle, but while trapped on one of the prehistoric animal-infested islands from the Jurassic Park films, could result in one of the most exciting entries from any of these franchises. You would not even need human characters to make it work because seeing both the Predator and the Xenomorph knocked down a peg by the T-Rex as a common enemy would be more than enough.

Ghostbusters And Casper

We already know that Casper and the Ghostbusters exist in the same universe, thanks to Dan Aykroyd's cameo as Ray Stantz in the Friendly Ghost's 1995 live-action feature adaptation of the animated series. I am sure Casper would happily help the paranormal exterminators take on a few evil spirits, even after an awkward misunderstanding were to happen when they first meet.

Mad Max And Dredd

The great thing about post-apocalyptic movies is that each has a different, intriguing interpretation of what a dystopian society would look like. However, what if the Wasteland from George Miller's Mad Max movies existed just across the (dried up) pond from Mega City One in Dredd? The gritty, visually stunning possibilities are endless.

Blade And Twilight

Allow me to make one thing clear: I am not suggesting that Marvel Comics' vampire hunter, originally played on the big screen by Wesley Snipes, should show up in the Twilight movies just to see Robert Pattinson's Edward, Kristen Stewart's Bella, and other bloodsuckers get slaughtered. I actually think Blade's presence could give the persistent haters of the films based on Stephanie Meyer's YA novel series a reason to treat the franchise with a little more respect.

Indiana Jones And Marvel Cinematic Universe

Since Disney owns both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, I wonder if anyone there has ever tinkered with the idea of putting a character like Indiana Jones in the MCU. I mean, he and Steve "Captain America" Rogers would have been alive around the same time and, as staunch anti-fascists, probably would have gotten along great. I doubt Harrison Ford's casting as Thunderbolt Ross in Captain America: Brave New World would cause much confusion, either.

Monk And Psych

The USA Network used to run promos bringing characters from their respective series together, including one in which Tony Shalhoub's eponymous detective from Monk suspects that Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) is not a real psychic. It makes me wish that we could have seen an official crossover episode that would have seen plenty of funny bickering between the carefree Shawn and someone as neurotic as Adrian Monk, who at least might have gotten along with Gus (Dulé Hill).

Power Rangers And Godzilla

By combining their respective, animal-shaped vehicles into one large Megazord, the Power Rangers have managed to face off against bizarre creatures of all sizes, which means they could realistically take on Godzilla. However, if I were to pitch this crossover, the rangers would eventually have to join forces with the King of the Monsters after an even larger creature emerges to wreak havoc on Angel Grove.

Bill & Ted And Wayne's World

Perhaps we never saw Bill S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) take Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) on a trip through time because we are not worthy of such an excellent idea. Then again, if Myers and Carvey can still get together for Wayne's World reunions on SNL and Reeves and Winter could come back for 2020's Bill & Ted Face the Music, who says it doesn't have potential?

Dirty Harry And Death Wish

I think the greatest Dirty Harry movie we never saw would have put Clint Eastwood's Lt. Callahan on the case of a murderer targeting the most vicious gangs in San Francisco, which would turn out to be Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey from Death Wish. Inevitably, I think Harry would be lured into an alliance with the vengeful vigilante, coming to believe that his more permanent methods of justice align with his own.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Sabrina The Teenage Witch

It's a shame that there was never any attempt to make an official crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Melissa Joan Hart-led Sabrina the Teenage Witch while they were still on the air. The coming-of-age supernatural series may have differed dramatically in tone, but that is just what would have made the collaboration such a blast.

Harry Potter And The Dresden Files

If fans of the Harry Potter movies have ever been interested in trying out something a bit darker and grittier, there is another literary modern-day wizard with the same first name: Harry Dresden, played by Paul Blackthorne on the SyFy series, The Dresden Files. I think it would be fun to see J.K. Rowling's The Boy Who Lived helping author Jim Butcher's Chicago-based P.I. solve a grisly mystery in which magic is involved.

The Munsters And The Addams Family

They may have been on different networks and produced by opposing studios, but how in the world has there never been an attempt to introduce the Munsters to the Addams Family? I would even be open to getting the actors from Rob Zombie's reboot movie to star alongside the cast of Netflix's Wednesday if it meant getting just a glimpse at these creepy, kooky families finally coming together.

It And Terrifier

There are no two villains in the subgenre of creepy clown movies more iconic than Pennywise from It and Art the Clown from Terrifier. I can't imagine a horror fan being against the idea of bringing Bill Skarsgård's shapeshifting fear demon from Andy Muschietti's blockbuster adaptation of Stephen King's novel and David Howard Thornton from Damien Leone's shocking indie slashers together for one brutal showdown that would have blood and white face paint smeared across the screen.

Hocus Pocus And Trick 'R Treat

In Disney's cult favorite, family-friendly witch movie, 1993's Hocus Pocus, our young protagonists go through a lot of trouble to defeat the Sanderson Sisters (played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker). I cannot help but wonder how easily those sinister spellcasters could have been taken care of by the mischievous Sam from the 2007 anthology horror movie favorite, Trick 'r Treat.

Hoarders And Storage Wars

You know those people on the show Hoarders who compulsively keep hold of any item they possess, no matter how unnecessary or even unhealthy it may be? I have a potential idea to help them: put them on another A&E reality show called Storage Wars and tell them that they must outbid other experienced collectors if they want to maintain ownership of their junk.

Johnny English And The Pink Panther

While it barely held a candle to Peter Sellers, I cannot deny that I enjoyed Steve Martin's portrayal of Inspector Jacques Clouseau in his Pink Panther reboot. I even more enjoyed Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling Bond-wannabe in the Johnny English movies. I imagine that having the clueless French detective and accident-prone British spy cross paths on a case would result in some real comedic dynamite (especially if real dynamite is involved).

Sister Act And The Nun

After watching Whoopi Goldberg's Academy Award-winning performance in Ghost, I am convinced that a sequel to Sister Act in which Deloris Wilson-Van Cartier must contend with the habit-wearing demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons) from the Conjuring movies would be a riot.

Big Brother And Survivor

Big Brother and Survivor are both competitive reality shows that make social interaction a key element to winning, with the biggest difference being the setting. If I ran CBS, I would send the most famous all-stars from Big Brother to a remote island, bring Survivor champs to the Big Brother house, and see what happens.

A common criticism thrown around when judging an actor’s performance is that they seem too “robotic,” while some roles, particularly in sci-fi movies and TV shows, actually require that sort of demeanor. Then again, the best robot portrayals usually come from performers who attempt to bring a sense of humanity to their mechanical characters. See for yourself by revisiting some of the most acclaimed, iconic, and even underrated robotic performances – including friendly robots and sinister machines alike – on the big and small screen.

Anthony Daniels - C-3PO (Star Wars)

I can understand why some fans of the Star Wars movies do not care much for C-3PO as a character, as I, too, feel annoyed by his constant complaints, especially in the 1977 original. However, his shortcomings are outweighed by the droid's heroic moments, and, not to mention, Anthony Daniels' commitment to the role (he even wears that visibly uncomfortable suit) is a highlight of the franchise.

Alicia Vikander - Ava (Ex Machina)

I consider Alex Garland's 2014 directorial debut, the classic A24 movie, Ex Machina, to be one of the most powerful cautionary statements on artificial intelligence, and the reason lies in Alicia Vikander's performance as Ava. The stunningly humanesque android convinces both programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) and the audience that she is worth trusting before pulling the rug from underneath us in the shocking finale.

Rutger Hauer - Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

Fans of director Ridley Scott's Philip K. Dick adaptation, Blade Runner, would agree that the real hero of the 1982 film is not Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard, but Roy Batty. Rutger Hauer brings a refreshing aura of humanity to his performance as the Replicant, who wants nothing more for himself and other artificial beings like him but a chance to live a full and free life, which his programming and the laws of his dystopian society do not allow.

Brigitte Helm - Maschinenmensch (Metropolis)

One of the most essential silent era movies is director Fritz Lang's 1927 adaptation of Thea von Harbou's 1925 novel, Metropolis, which takes place in a seemingly utopian society that secretly relies on a secret underground of tireless workers to function. Brigitte Helm stars in the dual roles of a saintly figure named Maria and a mechanical being made in her likeness called Maschinenmensch – an iconic robot character that even those who have not seen the film should surely recognize.

Ian Holm - Ash (Alien)

In some movies, the goal of a robotic character is to blend in among its human peers, which Ash (Ian Holm) accomplishes for most of Alien. When his true identity is revealed, Holm brings out a chilling demeanor in his android character that almost makes you forget that there is a deadlier threat onboard the Nostromo, and one of the all-time scariest movie aliens, called a Xenomorph.

Vin Diesel - The Iron Giant (The Iron Giant)

Funny how most of Vin Diesel's more acclaimed performances have been voice acting roles, such as when he voiced the title role of 1999's The Iron Giant. The actor brings such a charming, childlike innocence to an otherwise physically intimidating character, who befriends young sci-fi fan Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) in Brad Bird's directorial debut, which could have won the Best Animated Feature Oscar had the category existed then.

Peter Weller - Alex Murphy (RoboCop)

There are some iconic movie robot characters who started off as humans before being rebuilt into something more, such as Alex Murphy in 1987's RoboCop. Peter Weller gives, arguably, his definitive and most heartfelt performance in director Paul Verhoeven's action-packed, cleverly satirical sci-fi classic as the brutally murdered police officer who is selected by a powerful corporation to become the ultimate crime-fighting machine.

Brent Spiner - Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Arguably, the heart and soul of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast and an essential reason why the Emmy-winning series is one of the most beloved iterations of the long-running franchise is Brent Spiner's performance as Data. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) sums up what makes the Soong-type android one-of-a-kind when he eulogizes him in Star Trek: Nemesis, referencing how he reflected the best of humanity by striving to be better than he was.

Peter Cullen - Optimus Prime (Transformers)

Some might say that Chris Hemsworth did an exceptional job voicing a young Optimus Prime in Transformers One, but the role will always belong to the actor who first brought the shapeshifting alien robot to life. Peter Cullen's portrayal of the Autobots' leader became so essential to the original beloved animated series that he readily accepted the chance to reprise the role in Michael Bay's 2007 live-action reboot.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - T-800 (The Terminator)

Playing an unstoppable, unfeeling killing machine from the future in 1984's The Terminator made Arnold Schwarzenegger a bona fide movie star. However, his arguably stronger performance in James Cameron's action-packed franchise of time travel movies comes from 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day as a T-800 reprogrammed to protect John Connor (Edward Furlong), to whom he becomes a much-needed father figure.

Haley Joel Osment - David (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence)

Steven Spielberg took over for Stanley Kubrick to direct A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, which is essentially a futuristic take on the story of Pinocchio. Haley Joel Osment gives one of the most profound and riveting performances of his early career as an android designed to both authentically resemble and act like an 11-year-old who, in order to please his new family, longs to become a real boy.

Sophie Thatcher - Iris (Companion)

SPOILER ALERT for anyone who has not seen one of the great horror movies of 2025, Companion: it is not until near the end of the first act when Iris (Sophie Thatcher), as well as the audience, discovers she is really a robot programmed with undying affection for her purchaser, in this case Josh (Jack Quaid). However, Josh turns out to be a really terrible "boyfriend," awakening a part of Iris that longs for independence, which Thatcher's commanding performance makes it easy to root for.

Kenny Baker - R2-D2 (Star Wars)

Have you ever considered the fact that Star Wars fans owe the entire franchise to none other than R2-D2? If the droid (played beautifully by the late Kenny Baker, who actually operated the character from within) had not successfully delivered Princess Leia's message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Resistance might not have thrived in its war against the Empire.

Lupita Nyong’o - Roz (The Wild Robot)

The Wild Robot became an instant classic kids movie for the way it also appeals to adult viewers with a heartwarming commentary on the challenges of parenthood, as seen through the eyes of an unlikely character. Lupita Nyong'o is wonderful as the voice of a mechanical assistant that must alter her programming to take on the responsibility of raising an abandoned gosling and helping her other animal friends survive.

Ben Burtt - WALL-E (WALL-E)

You could easily cite Ben Burtt's enchanting vocal performance as a lonely robot tasked with cleaning up an abandoned Earth as to why WALL-E is one of the best Pixar movies, but that is the tip of the iceberg. The Oscar-winning animated sci-fi drama also offers a frighteningly plausible premonition of what humanity could become, not only if we are forced to leave our planet, but also if indolence is encouraged in favor of a fully automated lifestyle.

Paul Bettany - Vision (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

After years of lending his voice to Tony Stark's A.I. assistant Jarvis for years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Paul Bettany was given the chance to play an artificial being with a bit more personality named Vision, who debuted in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. The English actor's performance as the unique superhero only became stronger with each subsequent appearance, especially at the moment of his death(s) in Avengers: Infinity War and his mysterious resurrection in the Disney+ series, WandaVision.

Alan Tudyk - K-2SO (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Robots always seem to steal the show in the Star Wars franchise, especially if they have an exceptionally talented actor at the helm. Case in point, one of "Geek God" Alan Tudyk's best roles is the voice of K-2SO, an Imperial droid reprogrammed with an assignment to help the Resistance (and with an extra dose of snark) in the 2016 prequel film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Lance Henriksen - Bishop (Aliens)

One of the few trustworthy androids in the Alien movie franchise is Bishop, whom Ripley is understandably slow to warm to upon discovering he is not human in 1986's Aliens. Lance Henriksen would later appear in Alien 3 as the human who created Bishop, Michael Bishop of the Weyland-Yutani corporation.

Robert Patrick - T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)

As a cyborg made of liquid metal, which makes it able to shapeshift, able to pass through small openings, and nearly impossible to kill, the T-1000 did not need a great performance to make it cool. Yet, Robert Patrick made the main antagonist of 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day a special kind of villain with his cold, fierce demeanor.

Joan Rivers - Dot Matrix (Spaceballs)

Just about every major character in the Star Wars universe is sent up with a parodic counterpart in Mel Brooks' hilarious spoof movie, 1997's Spaceballs. For instance, the mocking equivalent to C-3PO is Princess Vespa's droid, Dot Matrix, who is voiced by the incomparable Joan Rivers.

David Jonsson - Andy (Alien: Romulus)

Most critics and audiences would agree that the standout performance of Fede Alvarez's terrifying 2024 sequel, Alien: Romulus, is David Jonsson as Andy. The English actor stole the show with what technically counts as a dual role, initially introducing Andy as unassuming, innocent, and consistently loyal to Rain (Cailee Spaeny) until he is reprogrammed with a new directive that makes him a threat.

Bill Irwin - TARS (Interstellar)

One of the most entertaining characters in Christopher Nolan's acclaimed space movie, Interstellar, is not a human, but still highly relatable, especially for its spicy humor setting. Bill Irwin not only provided the voice for TARS, but also was involved with puppeteering the uniquely designed robot that accompanies Matthew McConaughey's Cooper and others on a mission to find a habitable replacement for Earth.

Ryan Gosling - K (Blade Runner 2049)

Ryan Gosling's penchant for stoicism serves him very well as the hero of Denis Villeneuve's 2017 Blade Runner sequel, Blade Runner 2049. He plays "K," a Replicant assigned to hunt other Replicants, who begins to question his job and his true identity after making a startling, conspiratorial discovery.

Scott Adsit - Baymax (Big Hero 6)

What makes Disney's Oscar-winning, animated 2014 comic book adaptation, Big Hero 6, an instant classic superhero movie is not just its spectacular action and heartwarming coming-of-age themes. The most charming element is Scott Adsit's hilarious performance as the voice of Hiro's (Ryan Potter) cuddly robot friend, Baymax.

Yul Brynner - The Gunslinger (Westworld)

Years after starring as a heroic gunslinger in the classic Western movie, The Magnificent Seven, Yul Brynner played a role that is the opposite in every way, from his sinister aura and mechanical infrastructure, in Westworld. Director Michael Crichton's 1973 sci-fi thriller later inspired an acclaimed HBO series of the same name.

Alan Rickman/Warwick Davis - Marvin (The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy)

Some might call 2005's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy an underrated adaptation of Douglas Adams' cult favorite sci-fi farce, especially for its portrayal of Marvin. Alan Rickman provides the voice, and Warwick Davis wears the suit of the android who is perpetually depressed for having no reason to apply his immense knowledge of the universe.

Alan Tudyk - Sonny (I, Robot)

Will Smith may receive top billing for 2004's futuristic detective story, I, Robot, but Sonny is its heart and soul. Alan Tudyk captures the "unique" machine's inner turmoil beautifully as he evolves from a confused murder suspect to a hero.

Paul Reubens - MAX (Flight Of The Navigator)

One of Paul Reubens' best roles outside of his time playing Pee-wee Herman comes from Disney's 1986 cult favorite sci-fi classic, Flight of the Navigator. The comedian voices MAX, which is the computer that powers an extraterrestrial vessel that young David Freeman (Joey Cramer) must help navigate.

Michael Fassbender - David (Prometheus)

It is never clear whether or not Michael Fassbender's David is an android worth trusting... at least in 2012's Prometheus. He is clearly revealed to be a malevolent presence in 2017's Alien: Covenant, in which the actor also plays a friendlier robot named Walter.

Summer Glau - Cameron (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)

The underrated TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, reinvents and continues the adventures of the titular hero (Lena Headey) and her son, John (Thomas Dekker). It also partners the mother-son duo with Summer Glau as Cameron, who is a cyborg unlike any previously seen in the franchise, equipped with an emotional core and the ability to feel sensations.

Robin Williams - Andrew (Bicentennial Man)

Robin Williams gives a heartfelt performance in director Chris Columbus' Bicentennial Man as a service android named Andrew, who longs to become human.

Various - Tom Servo And Crow T. Robot (Mystery Science Theater 3000)

The art of audibly poking fun at a cheesy movie is perfected in the long-running sci-fi comedy series, Mystery Science Theater 3000, which follows a human forced to watched low-grade flicks with his mechanical companions. Much like the rotating selection of human hosts, the actors known for playing the two main robot characters, Tom Servo and Crow, have changed over the years (such as Kevin Murphy and Baron Vaughn as Servo and Trace Beaulieu and Hampton Young as Crow, for instance), but the portrayers' hilarious improv skills have never faltered with each succession.

Typically, audiences can rely on seeing a movie’s protagonist make it to the end unscathed. However, every so often, filmmakers like to defy expectations by having the character we have been following meet their maker, usually at the story’s conclusion, but sometimes even earlier. Beware of SPOILERS as we revisit some iconic movies that shocked the world by showing the main character’s demise.

Ghost (1990)

The acclaimed romantic “horror” movie Ghost is a prime example of a film in which the main character is dead for the majority of the story. Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is murdered about 20 minutes in, but his spirit remains to solve the truth behind his death and reach out to his longtime girlfriend, Molly (Demi Moore), with the help of a medium named Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg, in an Oscar-winning performance).

Titanic (1997)

The fictional romance at the center of James Cameron's Titanic comes to a tragic end when Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) succumbs to the ocean's freezing temperatures – a death many believe could have been prevented if Rose (Kate Winslet) shared her makeshift liferaft. She is later reunited with her lover, however, when she succumbs to old age at the end of the Best Picture Oscar winner based on a true story.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Tom Hanks' Captain John H. Miller does, indeed, accomplish his eponymous mission in Steven Spielberg's harrowing war movie classic, Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, he does not survive the task, but not before urging Private John Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) to "earn" the life he has been given, thanks to this rescue.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame comes to a bittersweet conclusion when the team is forced to say goodbye to the hero who kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the first place, Tony "Iron Man" Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), after he saves the universe. Using nano-bot equipped armor to form a makeshift Infinity Gauntlet, he erases Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his army from existence with a finger snap that is, unfortunately, too much for his mortal body to handle.

Gladiator (2000)

Director Ridley Scott's Gladiator is the story of Roman general Maximus (Russell Crowe), who is sold into slavery by corrupt emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who also murders his family. However, he does reunite with them in the afterlife after defeating Commodus in a duel that he does not survive, having been previously and unfairly wounded by his opponent.

Beetlejuice (1988)

The title character is not the main character in Tim Burton's ghoulish comedy, Beetlejuice, although Michael Keaton's mischievous bio-exorcist (whose name is actually spelled "Betelgeuse") is dead throughout. The plot kicks off when Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) suffer a fatal accident and then try to rid their house of its new living tenants.

Alien (1979)

We all think of Scream Queen Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley as the hero of the Alien movies, but that is not quite the case at the beginning of the saga. Ripley is promoted to the hero of the story and captain of the Nostromo after the Xenomorph attacks Dallas (Tom Skerritt) in a shocking twist.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

There is not exactly one true protagonist in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, as each of its three non-linear stories ultimately has a different lead. However, John Travolta does get top billing for the Oscar-winning drama and his character, Vincent Vega, is mowed down with an uzi by Butch (Bruce Willis) in the second chapter, which is also the film's chronological finale.

No Country For Old Men (2007)

Technically, Tommy Lee Jones' Ed Tom Bell is the true central character of Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning adaptation of author Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. However, much of the modern Western movie classic follows Josh Brolin's Llewellyn Moss and his struggle to outrun and outwit the sadistic Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), up until his abrupt murder.

Psycho (1960)

It at least seems like Janet Leigh's Marion Crane is the central focus of Alfred Hitchcock's masterful horror movie, Psycho, until about halfway through the story. After the real estate secretary is brutally killed while taking a shower in her motel room, we realize the true "psycho" is Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), who murders Marion and others while subconsciously taking on the identity of his dead mother.

Logan (2017)

Hugh Jackman's retirement from the role of Wolverine was confirmed by the end of Logan, in which the former X-Men member, whose healing ability had been diminishing, gives his life to protect Laura (Dafne Keen) and other young mutants. Of course, seven years later, a variant of the Adamantium-clawed mutant would star in Deadpool & Wolverine, but the emotional conclusion of James Mangold's Oscar-nominated film is no less effective for it.

Citizen Kane (1941)

The first scene of co-writer and director Orson Welles' revolutionary drama, Citizen Kane, depicts the death of the megalomaniacal title character, Charles Foster Kane (Welles). The succeeding story follows an investigation regarding the meaning of his final word, "Rosebud."

Hereditary (2018)

The marketing for first-time feature director Ari Aster's stunning A24 horror movie, Hereditary, made it seem as if the story would follow young Charlie (Milly Shapiro), making her demise all the more shocking. The unsettling twist confirmed that Charlie's mother, Annie (Toni Collette), was the film's true protagonist, but, of course, she would end up losing her head as well.

The Departed (2006)

Director Martin Scorsese's The Departed is the story of two men on opposite sides of the law, namely undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Sgt. Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), who has ties to Boston's Irish Mob. Both lose their lives by the end, with Costigan getting killed by James Badge Dale's also corrupt Trooper Barrigan, and Sullivan getting killed by Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam (Mark Wahlberg).

The Sixth Sense (1999)

In The Sixth Sense, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) tries to help a young boy (played by Haley Joel Osment) come to terms with his ability to see ghosts. At the end, in just about the best M. Night Shyamalan movie twist, it is revealed that Malcolm himself is a ghost, but neither he nor the audience knew the entire time.

Promising Young Woman (2020)

The Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman is a unique type of revenge movie, following Cassie (Carey Mulligan) and her bid to punish those involved with the assault that drove her friend, Nina, to take her own life. In the end, she achieves her goal, but by allowing herself to get murdered by the man who assaulted Nina, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), which finally incriminates him.

The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)

The Place Beyond the Pines is widely considered one of the best Ryan Gosling movies, despite the fact that the actor is not actually in the film for very long. Roughly halfway through the story, his character, Luke, dies whilst struggling to get away from a bank robbery job gone wrong.

A Quiet Place (2018)

In the heartbreaking final act of the acclaimed post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, A Quiet Place, Lee Abbott (John Krasinski, who also co-writes and directs) lets out a loud scream to attract the vicious, sound-hunting aliens away from his children, ultimately sacrificing himself for them. In addition to returning to helm the sequel, A Quiet Place Part II, Krasinski reprises the role in a flashback to the day the Death Angels' invasion begins.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Josh and Benny Safdie's Uncut Gems sees self-destructive jeweler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) jump through hoops to pay off his insurmountable debt. At the shocking end of the intense, acclaimed A24 movie, just after finally landing the big win he needs, he is abruptly shot in the head by his brother-in-law's unstable goon, Phil (Kevin William Richards).

Train To Busan (2016)

An essential reason why South Korean import Train to Busan is regarded as one of the greatest zombie movies ever made is its heartbreaking conclusion in which Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is bitten trying to protect his daughter, Su-an (Kim Su-an). The father is seen reminiscing about Su-an's birth right before he becomes one of the undead and, with all the humanity he has left, makes the decision to throw himself off the train and not bring harm to anyone else.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is not only a film that gets real about mental health, but depicts one of the bleakest realities imaginable for an asylum patient, as seen in the eyes of criminal Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), who only ended up in the institution by pleading insanity. After discovering that McMurphy has been lobotomized and that life has left his eyes, "Big Chief" Bromden (Will Sampson) mercifully suffocates his friend to death before escaping.

Soul (2020)

One of Pixar's best movies, Soul, tells the story of a jazz musician (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who dies in an accident just after landing the gig of his life. He then explores the afterlife, struggling to figure out a way to return to Earth.

Terrifier (2017)

Terrifier 2 introduces one of the most beloved horror movie Final Girls in Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), but the woman you expect to make it out alive in its predecessor is not so lucky to be called a Final Girl. In fact, Tara Heyes (Jenna Kanell) even dies in a subversive way, as it seems she is about to put an end to Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) before the sadistic harlequin pulls out a pistol and shoots her in the head.

300 (2007)

Zack Snyder's 300 is an intense, highly fictionalized account of events surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae. One detail that the film does get right is that the Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) was killed in battle.

To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)

Director William Friedkin's intense crime thriller, To Live and Die in L.A., follows Secret Service agent Richard Chance (William Petersen) and his determination to find Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe), a counterfeiter who killed his partner. Unfortunately, Masters manages to escape as Chance and Masters' associate, Jack, fatally shoot each other.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

One of the most essential reasons why Deep Blue Sea is a classic shark movie is the moment when the film takes a literal bite out of its biggest star, Samuel L. Jackson. The actor's character, Russell Franklin, is in the middle of a heroic speech when a genetically engineered shark leaps out of the water, pulls him underneath the surface, and eats him alive.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

A movie dad we would be proud to have is Guido Orefice, played by co-writer and director Roberto Benigni in the heartbreaking Holocaust-era drama, Life is Beautiful. The Jewish-American man remains committed to using humor to shield his young son from the unspeakable tragedy surrounding him up until the very moment he is shot by Nazi officers.

Carnival Of Souls (1962)

In the cult horror film Carnival of Souls, Candace Hilligoss stars as Mary Henry, who takes a job as an organ player for a traveling carnival after suffering a terrible car accident. However, as the final scene reveals, Mary never actually survived that accident.

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Sean Connery was open about how much he disliked one of his last movies, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which is based on a comic book by Alan Moore that groups various iconic figures of literature together, including Captain Nemo and Tom Sawyer. At least, if there had been a sequel, the former James Bond actor would not have needed to show up for it as his character, legendary adventure hero Allan Quatermain, passes away at the end.

15 Minutes (2001)

15 Minutes is a buddy cop action flick in which veteran New York detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro) teams up with fire marshal Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) to investigate the crimes of two Eastern European convicts seeking fame and fortune by selling off video recordings of their violent acts. One video they successfully sell to a popular news program is the murder of Flemming, who is suffocated to death roughly halfway through the film.

Alien 3 (1992)

Sigourney Weaver explained to the Chicago Tribune that she only agreed to star in Alien 3 if Ellen Ripley is killed off, which does occur when she jumps into a burning furnace as a baby Xenomorph bursts from her chest. Of course, the actor would come back just once more for Alien: Resurrection, but as a clone of Ripley.

The Lovely Bones (2010)

Many critics and audiences agree that director Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones is not a great movie despite its interesting plot. Based on author Alice Sebold’s novel, it stars Saoirse Ronan as a teenage girl watching over her family, and the man who murdered her, from the afterlife.

Here’s the thing. If you’re excited about upcoming sci-fi flicks, then you have a lot to look forward to, including movies about aliens, and movies about predators.

As an old-school fan who mostly likes the “classics,” I think it’s safe to say that a majority of people would agree that the Alien series is a better franchise than the Predator series. In fact, in our list of the 35 best sci-fi movies of all time, two Alien movies made the list. Do you want to know how many Predator movies made the list? ZERO.

That said, even though I’d probably slot certain Alien movies higher than the where I'd rank the Predator movies when it comes to overall quality, I still prefer the latter when all is said and done. Here’s why.

First Off, The Predator Series Is More Fun Than The Alien Series

You know a word I would never associate with the Alien franchise? Fun. I mean, even the Alien vs. Predator movies, which were supposed to be more action-packed than the base Alien films, still felt too dark for my liking. Compare it to something like 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, which was deliberately silly, and I think you can see where I'm coming from. In every way, the Alien series is not known for being enjoyable. Tense? yes. Scary? You betcha. Fun? Nope!

And, it’s not supposed to be! The funny thing about the first two Alien films, is that not only did they make our list of the best sci-fi films. They also made our best horror movies list! In every way, the fear factor runs deep in the Alien series’ DNA, as all of the movies are supposed to make you feel uncomfortable.

Not so with the Predator series, which has always been kind of camp. Arnold Schwarzenegger is no Sigourney Weaver, and a majority of his acting in the first film was one part muscles, and two parts catchphrases (“Get to the choppa!”).

And, that's the thing, all of the Predator movies (well, save for the abysmal Alien vs. Predator: Requiem) are meant to be fun action flicks.

Now, granted, some of them are more fun than others (I personally love Predator 2, Prey, and of course the 1987 original), but I find all of them to be way more enjoyable than the Alien series, and that's saying something, given how good most of the Alien movies are.

They Also Have A Lot Less To Live Up To, Meaning They Can Take More Creative Risks

I mentioned earlier how Alien and Aliens are two of the greatest sci-fi/horror movies of all time, and that's a lot to live up to! So much so that when the most recent Alien movie, 2024's Alien: Romulus came out (which we called the third best Alien movie in our review), one thing that some people liked about it was that it felt like a return to form.

Movies like Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, and Prometheus all felt different from the first two movies, but aside from Prometheus, I feel like a majority of people probably wish they hadn't felt so different.

And, that's probably because the first two movies set impossibly high standards. Not so with the first Predator, though, which while fun, was not something that couldn't be altered or even improved upon.

Even the first Predator sequel, Predator 2, changed up the setting dramatically, putting it in L.A. Predators, meanwhile, was like a back to basics Predator movie set on a different planet. And then, The Predator was all over the place (though, maybe not in a good way). This was followed up by the excellent Prey, which was a period piece.

Which is the beauty of the Predator franchise! Since it doesn't have one (Or two!) of the greatest movies of all time in its series, it can pretty much take as many risks as possible. The Alien series…not so much, since any new movie will always be compared to the first two films, which is kind of a bummer.

I Also Like How The Predator Movies Have Almost Always Felt More Character-Focused Than The Alien Movies

I’m going to say something controversial: Aside from Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, and Michael Biehn, I’d say that a majority of the other actors in the Alien movies are pretty forgettable.

I know, I know, who could forget Ian Holm as an android, or Michael Fassbender as, er, another android? Yes, some characters certainly do stand out, but I think we can all agree that besides Sigourney Weaver, the real stars of the Alien movies are probably the Xenomorphs.

Which again, cool. Xenomorphs are some of the most iconic creatures in all of sci-fi. That said…I always felt like aside from the first few Alien movies, most of the characters, besides Sigourney Weaver, felt like they were just there to be killed by the Xenomorphs.

This is the exact opposite of the Predator movies, with the Alien vs. Predator films being the exception, rather than the rule when it comes to not providing interesting human characters.

Because honestly, what is a Predator movie if not a story about a human going up against an alien? Yes, both the Xenomorphs and the Predators are alien races that hunt their prey, but the Alien films often seem like they’re more focused on the monsters (and the chilling atmosphere) rather than the characters, while the Predator movies are almost always centered on a human character (Like Dutch, Mike Harrigan, Royce, Naru, etc) facing off against an alien threat. I love that aspect of the Predator films, and I find that human element lacking in most of the Alien flicks.

As Somebody Who Can Get Claustrophobic At Times, I Also Prefer The Wide-Open Settings In The Predator Films

I’ve already written about horror movies that I’m too scared to watch, but I have managed to watch every single Alien movie. That said, some of them have been really tough to sit through, since I’m a bit claustrophobic, and the Alien movies thrive on this fear.

Aliens crawling through tight spaces, the extremely close corridors of space ships, the feeling of being stuck out in space. It all really just gets under my skin time and time again, making all of the Alien films feel extremely visceral, and like I said earlier, uncomfortable. And, all of this is intentional.

It’s a hallmark of the series, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Even so, I still much prefer the wide-open areas of the Predator series. There’s a certain scariness of being that out in the open, what with the Predator camouflaging itself with its surroundings. Even so, I never feel squished or tight watching a Predator movie.

Au contraire, it all feels very spaced out, which I can take a lot more of than what we get with the Alien franchise.

For instance, I sometimes like to do Predator marathons, but I wouldn’t dare do that with the Alien series. I can only do one Alien movie per day, as I couldn’t take those close corners for more than a single movie. I wouldn’t be able to breathe!

Lastly, I've Just Always Found Predators To Be Cooler Than Xenomorphs

Finally, I know the Xenomorphs are scarier, but I’ve always just thought the Predators were cooler.

For instance, I like that they’re constantly seeking out the strongest people for the joy of the hunt. This has always seemed like a really cool concept to me, since I love stories where it’s ultimately one-on-one. And, while we’ve gotten stories with multiple Predators, I’ve always enjoyed the element of that final showdown, which we’ve gotten in some of the Alien movies, though not to the same extent or build up.

I also really like the different kinds of Predators. Yes, there are different kinds of Xenomorphs, but I just like the different designs of the Predators even more. And when we got the AvP movies, I always rooted for the Predators. They seem more scrappy, which I approve of.

In every way, I’m more of a Predator dude than a Xenomorph guy. So, even though we’re possibly getting a new Ridley Scott Alien movie, I’m much more excited for Predator: Badlands (which is making “a wild change” by making a Predator the protagonist, but I’m willing to give it a chance!).

But, what do you think? Are you a more of a Predator fan, or a Xenomorph stan? Either way, you can’t go wrong!

It's a good time to be a fan of scary movies, as the genre has been experiencing a thrilling renaissance for years now. One of the upcoming horror movies arriving shortly in theaters is James Ashcroft' The Rule of Jenny Pen, which stars John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush. And the latter actor spoke to CinemaBlend about the project, and name dropped Alien when helping to describe its setting.

Alien is arguably one of the best horror movies of all time, and many fans of the genre hold it in high regard. And after speaking with Mr. Rush about his performance as Stefan Mortensen in The Rule of Penny Pen, his comments about the James Cameron's rang true. I asked the film and stage legend what it was like playing his character, who was in a rehab center for a stroke and therefore had less control over his body. Rush offered:

While Rush has to internalize most of his performance in Jenny Pen, it sounds like he appreciated the challenge. Plus, he was able to manipulate his electric wheelchair in a specific way based on each scene.

During our interview, which also included his co-star John Lithgow (who low-key stole the Oscars), Rush spoke about the movie's grim setting. The movie is set in a rehabilitation center, where Lithgow's villainous Dave Crealy is tormenting his fellow residents. It's bleak and oppressive setting, one that Rush equated to Alien aka one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. As he told me:

That's definitely the vibe for The Rule of Jenny Pen. Personally, I wanted to reach into the screen and take care of the various senior citizens that Lithgow was torturing with his titular puppet. CinemaBlend's Rule of Jenny Pen review praised the movie's "nasty" contents and oppressive tone, which was surely aided by its setting.

On paper Alien seems like it couldn't be more different from The Rule of Jenny Pen. But Rush's comments did highlight just how gripping it was to be trapped within one setting for the new horror flick's runtime. Add in the way Dave Crealy was able to freely manipulate those around him, and it felt like no one was safe.

While I didn't originally see it, I thought Rush's comments really captured what the movie did well. Audiences can watch and make this comparison themselves when The Rule of Jenny Pen gets its wide theatrical release March 7th as part of the 2025 movie release list.

There are a lot of bad companies in the world of film and TV, companies that would be brutal work for like Inotech in Office Space. Those are hardly the only ones. Imagine having to show up to work every morning for Lumon in Severance. Or even a place that might seem like fun like Dunder Mifflin in The Office, would really be awful. Here is our list of companies that would be terrible to work for from TV shows and in movies.

Inotech (Office Space)

Bill Lumberg (Gary Cole) from Inotech in Office Space would be just a terrible boss to work for. The worst part is that he was just one of the many bosses working for the company. It's no wonder everyone was so miserable that everyone had their idea on how to get out of the rat race, from embezzling money to burning the place to the ground.

InGen (Jurassic Park)

Sure, on the surface InGen in Jurassic Park would be an amazing place to work. It's on a tropical island, there seem to be great benefits, and if you're a scientist, it's cutting edge work. Of course, then you have to consider the dinosaurs. Life will find a way and when it does, you're going be in a lot of trouble.

Nakatomi Trading (Die Hard)

Let's be honest, just having to work with a guy like Ellis (Hart Bochner) would be bad enough. Adding in an attack by a bunch of psycho thieves at the Christmas party and well, yeah, it would be pretty awful working for Nakatomi Trading in Die Hard.

The Dharma Initiative (Lost)

It's pretty hard to decide what the worst job would be if you were a part of the The Dharma Initiative in Lost. Desmond being stuck in the hatch typing in the numbers ever few hours has to be close to the top of the list. It's also very cult-like and for anyone who has worked for a company like that, they know just how weird it can be.

Omni Consumer Products (RoboCop)

Omni Consumer Products in RoboCop does some terrible stuff. It's basically a company, led by an egomaniac, that has absolutely no moral compass. Sure, it's a pretty dystopian situation in the world of RoboCop, but that's no excuse, you need to do better than work for an awful company like Omni.

Kruger Industrial Smoothing (Seinfeld)

George (Jason Alexander) in Seinfeld had a few bad jobs on the show. When working for the Yankees is the best job, you know the rest have to be bad. Kruger Industrial Smoothing has to be the worst though. Mr. Kruger is a guy who just doesn't seem to care about anything at all, and what in the world is "industrial smoothing"? Christmas at Kruger Industrial Smoothing seems especially annoying.

Pierpoint & Co. (Industry)

The British hit Industry shows all the worst sides of investment banking. One of the worst aspects of working in that industry is the cut-throat competition that all bankers deal with, especially at Pierpoint & Co o the show. Some may thrive, but most people would hate it.

Weyland-Yutani Corporation (Alien)

Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise is one of the most morally bankrupt companies on this list, and that is really saying something. Over and over it is clear that the powers that be don't care one bit for the health and safety of their employees. Over and over, those employees wind up dead. You'd think someone would blow the whistle, but all these years later, Weyland-Yutani is still at it.

Dunder Mifflin (The Office)

Everyone loves The Office and we all love laughing along with all the whacky stuff that goes on every day at Dunder Mifflin. But think about it, how awful would you feel if you had to deal with Michael Scott (Steve Carell) every day of your life. IT wouldn't take long before you lost it on him, right? It's easy to understand why Jim (John Krasinski) is so miserable all the time.

Wernham Hogg (The Office - UK)

Perhaps the only place worse to work in a sitcom world than Dunder Miflin would be Wernham Hogg in the British version of The Office. Michael Scott is terrible, but David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is mean-spirited and just plain nasty sometimes, in addition to being a total idiot. How anyone ever works for Brent is really hard to understand.

Lumon (Severance)

This list has a lot of sketchy, miserable companies on it, but Lumon from Severance probably takes the cake for the worst. It has everything that makes everyone else terrible all wrapped up into one. Menial tasks with little reward, shady technology, psychopathic leadership, a cult-like atmosphere... the list goes on and on.

The Wonka Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory)

Working at a candy company might sound like a dream for many people, until you learn that all of your co-workers are weird orange beings that are liable to burst into song at the drop of a hat. Add on to that a wildly narcissistic CEO who is completely unpredictable and throws up little tests all the time to test your loyalty and it's safe to say you'd want no part of working for Willy Wonka.

Miller/Gold Talent Agency (Entourage)

Nobody wants to work for a boss whose base level is "yell as much as I can at everyone." It might be a great place to get ahead in a tough entertainment industry, but working for Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) on Entourage would be completely soul-sucking, right? Right.

Tyrell Corporation (Blade Runner)

Anyone working in a giant building that looks like a cross between an Imperial ship from Star Wars and a mid-century brutalist building in Germany should know exactly what kind of company they are working for, right? Building and designing replicants, who are basically enslaved techo-humans, seals the deal. You don't want to work here.

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (The Simpsons)

Being a low-level drone in Sector 7-G at a nuclear power plant would be a pretty miserable existence. It seems to work for Homer Simpson, and he's never permanently lost his gig, no matter what he does, but let's be honest, Homer is an idiot. Anyone of even normal intelligence would be out there in a hurry.

Bluth Company (Arrested Development)

A family filled with morons running a company mired in controversy and corruption like the Bluth Company in Arrested Development sounds pretty awful on its face alone. When you get in there, you'd realize that the one family member who is trying to make it work can't control anyone else in his family. Even working for the Banana Stand would be better than going into the office every day at Bluth.

Spacely's Sprokets (The Jetsons)

Even back in the 1960s no one wanted to work for a giant corporation like Spacely's Sprokets. Not only do they not make a real product (sprockets?) but Mr. Spacely is the worst kind of CEO, the kind that rules with fear and intimidation. That's no way to run a company no matter what year it is. We should all have flying cars by now though.

Umbrella (Resident Evil)

As the name of the show implies, Umbrella, the over-arching company in charge of seemingly everything in the world of Resident Evil is, well, evil. The list of things it does that are pure evil is far too long to list in one place, but it's safe to say that you could never truly feel good about your job here.

BiffCo (Back To The Future 2)

The future looks pretty bleak if Biff is in charge. After stealing the time machine and the Sports Almanac, Biff rakes up so much money that he can pretty much do whatever he wants. No one should have to work for a boss like Biff or a company like BiffCo. Who names a company "BiffCo" anyway? Beware the man who builds monuments to himself.

J. Peterman Company (Seinfeld)

The J. Peterman Company on Seinfeld doesn't seem like the worst place to work. it's a trendy catalog, and there is cake in the break room all the time. The serious drawback is working for an egomaniac like Peterman himself. It would be impossible to take orders from a guy like that.

Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory (Family Guy)

It would take about ten seconds to sour on a CEO like Jonathan Weed, owner of the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory on Family Guy. His smug, pretentious behavior would get old quickly and there aren't enough toys in the world to make going to work for a guy like that every day worth it. Peter got lucky when Mr. Weed died and the whole factory was torn down.

Sunshine Taxi Company (Taxi)

Two words, Louie De Palma. Or is that three? Either way working for Danny DeVito's character on Taxi would be miserable. There are some appeals to driving a cab. You can make your own hours, and you can be alone with your thoughts a lot, but then you remember you have to return to the garage and put up with that jerk. No thanks.

Veridian Dynamics (Better Off Ted)

Senior vice-president of the Research and Development department at Veridian Dynamics sounds like a pretty sweet gig for Ted on Better Off Ted and for the most part, the day-to-day isn't bad at Veridian. The problem is that it is the definition of a soul-sucking multinational conglomerate and it takes a real toll over the long term when you realize you are a completely replaceable cog in a giant machine.

E Corp (Mr. Robot)

A company like E Corp - what kind of name is that anyway? - would make anyone want to be a bad hat hacker working to bring the whole place down. They prey on the most vulnerable and have no morals or ethics whatsoever. This is easily one of the worst companies in television history

Hooli - (Silicon Valley)

It's pretty easy to understand why anyone worth their salt would want to ditch Hooli and strike out on their own. Anyone would have been in the same kind of position with a company like Hooli, knows what it's like to watch others benefit from your good ideas and hard work. Pied Piper is chaotic, but it's theirs.

Zorg Industries (The Fifth Element)

Gary Oldman is brilliant as Zorg, the leader of Zorg Industries on The Fifth Element. The character is completely unhinged and that is not the kind of person anyone wants to work for, setting aside how awful the company itself is. It's simply a company with way too much power.

ENCOM (Tron)

On its surface ENCOM seems like a pretty standard technology company that could do a lot of good for the world. Then you realize it's being run by a total megalomanic. Ed Dillinger cheated his way to the top, and holds onto his power in a ruthless and morally bankrupt way. He's despicable.

MomCorp (Futurama)

Planet Express in Futurama may have it's own set of issues, but working for its rival, MomCorp and dealing with Mom would be way, way worse. At least Planet Express feels like a family. Sometimes, anyway.

Soylent Corporation (Soylent Green)

There is nothing worse on this list than people serving people to other people and Soylent Green is people! That's really all that needs to be said. It's not the only terrible thing that the Soylent Corporation does, it's just the worst thing in the world.

LexCorp (Superman)

It's good to have a hard and fast rule that working for a supervillain like Lex Luther is never a good idea. LexCorp does so many evil things it's hard to know exactly where to start when it comes to reasons why no one should work for a company like that. The worst thing might be that Superman, of all people, could show up and end everything you're doing in a hurry.

Buy N Large Corporation (WALL-E)

The Buy N Large Corporation might have started as an innocent yogurt company but it grew into something far too large, with far too much influence and power. Like other companies on this list, it's just too good for anyone's own good.

Oscorp (Spider-Man)

Oscorp wasn't started by one supervillain, it was started by two! Yeah, there's no way anything you could do at that company would be for the good of anyone except the two evil geniuses that run it. Easy pass.

While Alien: Romulus made us scream last summer, the 2025 movie schedule will still deliver even more terrified reactions. That’s especially true when you consider that fans who side more with the Predator legacy of movies will have some fresh kills to enjoy thanks to Badlands and the upcoming Hulu film.

With these two creature feature titans resurging so close to each other's orbit, we continue to wonder if we’ll ever get a high-quality crossover movie that would merge the Alien movie timeline with that other sci-fi franchise in a more canonically accepted manner. And Romulus helmer/co-writer Fede Àlvarez sounds like he'd volunteer for that gig if one or more studios stepped up to fund it.

In fact, he already has an idea for what he’d want to do for such a project, and those thoughts require a nice, juicy F-bomb. Speaking with Collider, Àlvarez couldn’t contain himself, and shared his strategy in two parts, starting with:

I don’t know about you, but even though we already have two Predator movies to look forward to this year, I'm still kind of hoping this crossover plan will happen sooner than later. I mean, we know that a secret Predator movie was already filmed as a Hulu subscription exclusive, set for release before Badlands hits theaters. So it's not without precedent.

Could Fede Àlvarez have already conspired with his geek brother in arms Dan Trachtenberg to take steps that might put their hypothetical Alien vs. Predator movie on the board? It's certainly worth asking, although who says that the Predator franchise should do all the heavy lifting?

Continuing to flesh out his thoughts on using 20th Century Studios’ franchises as backdoor prequels to this potential crossover, Alien: Romulus’ co-writer/director turned the tables to consider this possibility:

Pondering these twin scenarios has me thinking about the story behind Split’s twist ending, which saw M. Night Shyamalan turning his seemingly standalone film into the middle entry to the Eastrail 177 Trilogy. Connecting the legacy of Unbreakable to the finale that was Glass, no one knew it was going to happen until it unfolded on the screen.

Imagining a brand new chapter in either of these sci-fi greats throwing the other into its fold as a twist that does just that is truly worthy of a “fuck yeah.” That's a premiere I'd need to attend, just to soak in the cheers and shouts of the public first learning that this rematch was indeed on.

Of course, one would hope that based on how Fede Àlvarez described it, that twist would be deployed much earlier in the picture. It’s all speculation at this point, though we do know that the Evil Dead reboot mastermind has taken on Alien: Romulus’ sequel as his next film. Perhaps it won’t be too long before we learn whatever the next steps may be in this horrifyingly intriguing universe.

Until then, I'll definitely be watching both of those upcoming Predator movies a lot closer when they arrive later this year. Which, to me, is another excuse to rewatch Romulus, as there could be some potential clues scattered among that bout of carnage and destruction.

When your picture’s a hit, everyone can hear you cheer. Right about now we’re probably hearing director/co-writer Fede Álvarez making some noise, thanks to Alien: Romulus’ success echoing into the 2025 movie schedule. With a sequel in development, it’s the right time to do something big for the fans, and there’s a Sigourney Weaver rumor that seems to suggest that’s what’s happening for Romulus 2.

Though I’m excited that the Alien movie timeline icon could be returning, I’m not sure how I feel about the potential details as to how. Per unnamed sources reported by DanielRPK (via ComicBook.com), this potential further expansion of the universe director Ridley Scott helps oversee could be bringing Ellen Ripley back into the fold.

Apparently this would be through Alien: Romulus 2 using some sort of digital de-aging, as this potential appearance would necessitate such methods. Unfortunately no other details are provided as to what sort of role our last survivor of the Nostromo would play, and how she might cross paths with Cailee Spaeny’s Rain. Honestly, that’s the least of my concerns after reading this rumor.

I would absolutely love to see Sigourney Weaver (who starred in some of the best sic-fi movies of all time) return for another battle with Xenomorphs. In fact, I’m still someone who mourns the loss of Neill Blomkamp’s promising Alien 5 project, which would have given us a “present day” Ripley back in action with Michael Biehn’s very much alive Cpl. Hicks. And clearly, if one of the stars of the Avatar franchise not only found time, but also interest to jump back into this world - I’d buy a ticket in a heartbeat.

Flipping to the other side of that coin, even with Alien: Romulus’ Ripley easter egg in play, there’s part of me that doesn’t want to see her return in such a manner. With everything we don’t know about how this sequel will use the character, there are a lot of other questions that start to pop up.

For instance, how much CGI de-aging are we talking about here? That query is especially valid considering Fede Álvarez’s “corrections” to Romulus’Ian Holm appearance. Which, to be fair, partially ease my woes as his dedication to getting it right is 100% in the right place.

At the same time, does this mean Sigourney Weaver will be physically acting as Ellen Ripley once again? I wouldn’t be surprised if the 20th Century Studios brass somehow steamroll over minor scheduling issues with the Avatar sequels, but there's bound to be a moment or two where one project needs to take priority. I think we all know who's getting preferential treatment when it comes to that coin flip.

While I am a bit fearful for how this rumor may play out, there is a bright side to this new Alien: Romulus 2 rumor. Should it be true, there’s a possibility that Àlvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues may be using Ellen’s return to set up a very promising crossover. As both men have taken influence from Alien: Isolation, perhaps we’ll get to see Amanda Ripley somehow reunited with her mother - while teaming up with Rain for whatever egg hatched hell comes next.

I’ll try to keep an open mind until we have more information, and I’m sure all of you fine readers will do the same. While we wait for progress on the sequels to both Alien: Romulus and Alien: Isolation, the former can currently be streamed through usage of a Hulu subscription. If you’re looking for more, don’t forget that the FX original series Alien: Earth will be premiering this summer, and available on that very same platform.

One of my favorite parts of being a fan of horror movies is the practical effects. I am the director’s cut best friend when a movie has good costume and monster design because I want to know everything about what brought this beast to the screen. Director Sir Ridley Scott broke down some of the challenges he faced when bringing the Xenomorph to life, and I could listen to him talk about it all day.

In an interview with GQ, Sir Ridley Scott discussed some of his most iconic films and shared the filming techniques that went into bringing such classic moments to life. Among the movie moments, Sir Scott shared a glimpse into the creative and technical process that went into the 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien. He spoke a little about the role of Ash in the story and how it adds a little bit more of a creep factor to the movie. But on the topic of the Xenomorph itself, Sir Scott had this to say:

In comparison to newer movies like Alien: Romulus, where there was no shortage of long shots of the Xenomorph up close, if you were to rewatch the classic Alien, you can tell that the main monster of the film is used in short supply. Considering Alien is viewed as one of the best horror movies of all time, Sir Scott really did use ‘less is more’ to his full advantage. For a majority of the movie, our main monster is in the shadows. Most scenes with an alien were the face-hugger, and even then, our leading creature feature can only account to two minutes of actual onscreen time.

It really shows what a genius director Sir Scott is, as well as his knowledge and mastery of his craft at the time. As stated, this is before CGI and green screen. Everything was just practical effects and good lighting, something that I did appreciate to hear Alien: Romulus used in its own repertoire. If you’ve seen the video of the animatronic Xenomorph they made, that thing is horrifying even in bright light.

In the past, Ridley Scott has talked about how the times have changed, and that modern horror movies don’t really use ‘less is more’ anymore, which is very true. If you were to watch every Alien movie in chronological order, story-wise, you’d be hit with some serious horror movie whiplash going from the original 1979 movie straight into Alien: Romulus. No spoilers, but the ending of that movie alone is enough to say, "Enough said."

Regardless, the techniques used in the original Alien movie still hold the test of time. While modern audiences probably won’t be flung from their seat, the overall creep factor is still very strong. The tight claustrophobic corridors and moving shadows is still king, in my opinion. Hopefully we get to see more of that in the sci-fi series Alien: Earth, as I’m hoping it’ll be a nice mix of old and new. For now, I’m gonna binge all the old Alien movies using my Hulu subscription and with the lights off.

Cailee Spaeny had one of the most successful runs in 2024. Coming off of Sofia Copolla’s Priscilla, where she played Priscilla Presley, Spaeny collaborated with the brilliant Alex Garland on the challenging apolitical drama Civil War, then returned to the world of big-budget action sci-fi for the spectacular and unnerving Alien: Romulus. Both of those films – different as they are on the surface – ended up on my personal Top 10 list for 2024 because of what they attempted, and what they accomplished. It seemed inevitable that 20th Century would push for a sequel to Alien: Romulus, given the financial success of the movie, and the critical acclaim. And because I’m protective of the franchise, I’m thrilled by the recent comments director Fede Alvarez made about the sequel’s development.

Fede Alvarez understands the challenges that come with making sequels to some of the most beloved horror franchises of all time. In 2013, the director stepped into the Evil Dead series, and turned heads with his violence. He helped launch Don’t Breathe into its own franchise, but then shifted into the Lisbeth Salander adaptations for The Girl in the Spider’s Web. You might think that he’d want to keep branching out into his own worlds, but he instead decided to reinvent the Alien series with Alien: Romulus. He will have the opportunity to return to this galaxy if he wanted to, but in a conversation with Empire, he explained some of his hesitancy when he said:

How often do you hear that from a director? Fede Alvarez is basically turning up his nose to a guaranteed paycheck from a major studio to continue his story, because he doesn’t want to push on unless he has a reason. Too many people would easily say yes, then figure the story out after the fact. Instead, we see examples like Alvarez or Matt Reeves on The Batman series who are willing to press pause on production and wait until a script is ready.

As for the status of the script of a possible Alien: Romulus sequel, Fede Alvarez had an update. And it has me very excited, because I know that he’s hoping up the bar of quality before he gets back in the saddle. Speaking to Empire, Alvarez said:

We won’t see an Alien: Romulus sequel this year. If it happens at all, I’m thinking 2026 or 2027. So while you are waiting, dial up our guide to upcoming 2025 movies, and plan a more recent trip to the theaters.

The term “Final Girl” refers to the female protagonist in a slasher film, creature feature, or almost any other kind of thriller who, typically ends up being the last person standing against the main villain or obstacle. We looked back at some of the most iconic characters associated with this trope from some of the best horror movies of all time and came up with this assortment of the horror Scream Queens who come first in our hearts.

Sidney Prescott (Scream)

Neve Campbell's lead role from the 1996 Wes Craven-helmed classic is not actually the sole survivor of Ghostface's murder spree and would appear in several more sequels. However, Sidney Prescott is, essentially, the compendium of all the most inspiring Final Girls to come before her, especially when you consider that Scream was a compendium of all the best slasher movies to come before it.

Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare On Elm Street)

Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) has a tougher break than most "Final Girls" as she never has a chance to have a moment's rest since sleeping makes her more vulnerable to Freddy Krueger's attack. However, she shows Robert Englund's iconic horror movie villain no mercy in the final act of 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street, taking down the burned boogeyman Kevin McCallister-style before Home Alone was even conceived.

Sally Hardesty (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre)

Most "Final Girls" earn their merit from bringing their attacker to some sort of justice, which makes Marilyn Burns' role from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre an odd one out since Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) is still alive and well by the end of Tobe Hooper's nightmarish 1974 classic. Yet, Sally Hardesty's sheer will to survive and ability to ultimately escape his sawblade and flesh-eating family should be commended, especially after all she goes through.

Alice Hardy (Friday The 13th)

It is a shame that, after surviving the events of 1980's Friday the 13th, Alice Hardy never had the opportunity to take on Jason Voorhees – a sentiment actor Adrienne King agrees with. Then again, she is the one who beheads the notorious killer's mother (and one of the greatest female horror movie villains), Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), essentially setting off Jason's vengeful killing streak, which makes her an undisputed legend of Crystal Lake lore.

Sarah Connor (The Terminator)

While more widely associated with classic action movies thanks to its later sequels, James Cameron's 1984 sci-fi masterpiece The Terminator is a slasher movie in its metallic bones. Thus, Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, whose son is destined to lead humanity in a revolt against mechanical overlords, should be recognized as a definitive "Final Girl."

Jess Bradford (Black Christmas)

Many audiences might know Olivia Hussey best from her star-making turn as the female lead of Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. However, she is also an icon in the horror community for leading Bob Clark's 1974 holiday horror movie favorite, Black Christmas, as a college student who begins to suspect that she and her fellow sorority sisters are being stalked by a homicidal creep during winter break.

Jeryline (Tales From The Crypt Presents: Demon Knight)

Spun-off from the eponymous hit horror anthology TV show, 1995's Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight depicts the modern-day peak of an eternal quarrel between an immortal warrior (William Fichtner) and the demon (Billy Zane) he is sworn to fight against. However, by the end of the film, Jada Pinkett Smith's Jeryline proves to be out to be the true titular hero.

Sienna Shaw (Terrifier 2)

Only a lucky few have survived the many unspeakable acts by Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), such as Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) in Terrifier 2. Just as quickly as the creepy clown movies' horrifying harlequin became a hall-of-fame slasher villain, she became one of the top "Final Girls" of her generation, ensuring her return in Terrifier 3.

Ellen Ripley (Alien)

In Ridley Scott's terrifying, 1979 space movie masterpiece Alien, Ellen Ripley wound up becoming the sole survivor of the Xenomorph's attack on the Nostromo (unless you count the cat, Jones). Sigourney Weaver would return to the role bigger and better in James Cameron's more action-oriented 1986 favorite, Aliens, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination and a place among cinema's fiercest "Final Girls."

Laurie Strode (Halloween)

There are few horror movie icons more widely beloved as Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis, particularly for her breakthrough performance as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's riveting smash, Halloween. When the Haddonfield teen first took on Michael Myers in that 1978 classic, the "Final Girl" trope was essentially invented and every slasher movie protagonist has tried to live up to her influence since.

Ginny Field (Friday The 13th Part 2)

The first "Final Girl" in the Friday the 13th movies to take on the one, the only Jason Voorhees in 1981's Friday the 13th Part 2 is Ginny Field. Played by Amy Steel, she is also the one who discovered the horror movie villain's somewhat understandable motivation to avenge the death of his mother, which she cleverly used against him.

Julie James (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

Jennifer Love Hewitt's Scream Queen moment came when she led the cast of 1997's I Know What You Did Last Summer as Julie James. She would reprise the "Final Girl" role the following year in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, which sees her still suffering the consequences of seemingly causing the death of an innocent man in a car accident.

Maxine Minx (X)

In Ti West's acclaimed 2022 A24 horror movie, X, Mia Goth's Maxine Minx became the only survivor of a massacre on the set of an adult film that was meant to be her big break. Luckily, as revealed in 2024's MaXXXine, she would go on to have a decent career in the industry, which would eventually win her a part in a legitimate horror film but not without a run-in with another crazed killer with a personal vendetta against her and the general moral decline of the '80s.

Erin Harson (You're Next)

In director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett's You're Next, a dysfunctional family gathering is interrupted by a group of masked assailants who keep their secluded home surrounded with deadly traps and weaponry. Luckily, they have some help from one family member's girlfriend, Erin Harson (Sharni Vinson), who is revealed to have been raised on a survivalist compound, making her one of the most refreshingly resourceful horror movie characters of all time, regardless of gender.

Clear Rivers (Final Destination)

For starters, is there a single horror movie "Final Girl" with a more wicked name than Ali Larter's character from 2000's Final Destination? It was a shame to see the Grim Reaper finally claim her soul in the sequel but her willingness to take that risk to help a new group of doomed characters makes Clear Rivers a legend.

Naru (Prey)

In 2022, Prey was criticized by a few for the "unrealistic" depiction of a petite, young, 18th Century Comanche woman single-handedly taking down a hulking extraterrestrial whose most notable adversary from the previous Predator movies was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Well, any true fan of the 1987 original should know that it takes brains and not brawn to defeat said creature, and Naru (Amber Midthunder) was one of the first humans to realize that instinct and use it to victory.

Dani Ardor (Midsommar)

One of the few "Final Girls" to willfully and effectively adopt the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy is Dani Ardor (Oscar nominee Florence Pugh) from 2019's instant A24 movie classic, Midsommar. Not receiving the comfort she needs from her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), after suffering the horrifying loss of her entire family, she finally finds it when she attends a cultural festival run by a group of Swedish villagers who put a big smile on Dani's face as she watches them burn Christian alive.

Jamie Lloyd (Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers)

Danielle Harris was only at least 11 when she earned Scream Queen status by following directly in the footsteps of the quintessential "Final Girl," Laurie Stroud. Harris stars in 1988's Halloween 4: The Return of the Michael Myers as the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode, Jamie Lloyd, whose uncle makes her his next intended prey.

Mia Allen (Evil Dead)

Jane Levy proved that an Evil Dead movie without Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams in the lead is still worth hailing to with her performance in Fede Alvarez's 2013 reboot as Mia – an addict whose road to recovery is grossly interrupted by malevolent entities that turn her into a vessel of grueling terror. Luckily, her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), manages to cure her possession, leading to one relentlessly brutal final showdown between her and a boss Deadite.

Grace (Ready Or Not)

In Radio Silence's brilliant 2019 horror-comedy movie, Ready or Not, Samara Weaving plays the newly married Grace, who falls prey to a ritual that forces her entire extended family to hunt her to death. While she does receive some help from her brother-in-law and it is ultimately Satan's wrath that saves her, she manages to outrun, outwit, and out-fight many of them and (mostly) maintain her sanity throughout the bloody ordeal.

Adelaide/Red (Us)

Throughout much of Jordan Peele's 2019 sophomore effort, Adelaide (Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o) has the audience's full support until the shocking Us ending that reveals she was her tethered duplicate Red the whole time, having switched with the real Adelaide decades ago. This marks one of the few instances in which the "Final Girl" (who does manage to save her entire family from the Tethered) is revealed to be the true villain in the end.

Casey Cooke (Split)

One of the various roles that have made Anya Taylor-Joy a great Scream Queen for her time is Casey Cooke from the 2017 M. Night Shyamalan movie, Split. She cleverly uses her own history of abuse as a weapon against her captor... or, more accurately, "captors," since James McAvoy's Kevin Wendell Crumb is a DID patient housing a few unfavorable personalities

Dana Polk (The Cabin In The Woods)

In director Drew Goddard's ingenious horror genre deconstruction The Cabin in the Woods, a group of college students fall prey to strange and terrifying circumstances on a camping trip, unaware it is all part of a ritual that requires people with their common personality types. Dana Polk (Kristin Connolly) absolutely fits "The Facility's" definition of a "Final Girl" but she ends up being the kind who also stands her ground and ends up turning the tables on them, in spite of the apocalyptic circumstances.

Sarah Carter (The Descent)

What makes 2005's The Descent a special kind of horror film that acknowledges grief is that Sarah Carter (Shauna Macdonald) is a protagonist who defies expectations with her resilience. She endures the loss of her husband and daughter, the discovery that her husband was being unfaithful with one of her best friends, and being trapped in an unexplored cavern with man-eating mutants like a total boss.

Kirsty Cotton (Hellraiser)

It's bad enough that Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) struggles to warm to her stepmother, Julia (Claire Higgins), in Clive Barker's 1987 favorite, Hellraiser. However, learning that Julia was murdering men so that she could reunite with her reanimated lover, Frank (also Kirsty's uncle) who has escaped captivity from a group of sadomasochistic demons is quite a challenge.

Jen (Revenge)

At the beginning of Coralie Fargeat's 2018 feature debut, Revenge (indeed one of the best revenge movies), Jen (Matilda Lutz) comes off as a conceited bimbo. However, after her boyfriend's business partner takes advantage and, instead of offering help, the boyfriend leaves her for dead in the Moroccan desert, she proves to them that she is not one to mess with and to us that she is a resilient hero worth rooting for.

Tree Gelbman (Happy Death Day)

Tree Gelbman is one of the few "Final Girls" who actually does die in her own movie... multiple times. Writer and director Christopher Landon's Happy Death Day is a fun slasher-style take on the time loop movie genre in which Jessica Rothe's protagonist finds herself reliving the same day over and over again and must use her "unlimited lives" to figure out who has been trying to kill her.

Alison Parks (Chopping Mall)

Chopping Mall is a 1986 cult favorite from producer Roger Corman in which a group of teens become locked inside a shopping center with security robots that have gone inexplicably haywire. The way Kelli Maroney's Allison Parks claps back at the machines with their own catchphrase ("Have a nice day!") before making junk out of them makes this awesomely cheesy movie worth a watch.

Maddie Young (Hush)

One of Mike Flanagan's best movies, 2016's Hush, is a creepy, well-crafted thriller about an author named Maddie (Kate Siegel) whose secluded home is invaded by a masked murderer (John Gallagher Jr.). Despite having lost her ability to hear as a teenager, Maddie prevails in her deadly cat-and-mouse game with the stranger using her sharp instincts.

Emerald Haywood (Nope)

If not for its stunningly unique take on the alien invasion movie genre or its clever satirical commentary on the influence of spectacle, the number one reason to see Jordan Peele's 2022 thriller Nope is Emerald Haywood. Keke Palmer's infectious, scene-stealing performance as the ambitious, amateur UFO hunter makes the character a standout "Final Girl" (of sorts) for the ages.

Jessie Burlingame (Wrong Turn)

Wrong Turn – in which six people fall prey to a group of murderous mutants when they become stranded in the middle of nowhere – is one of the more underrated slasher-style thrillers of the early 2000s. In the same breath, Eliza Dushku's character, Jessie Burlingame, is one of the more underrated "Final Girls" of her time, bearing the right amount of intelligence and resilience to be considered a worthy horror movie hero.

Marybeth Dunston (Hatchet)

Some "Final Girls" have remained staples of their respective franchises, even if that means recasting them with different actors. For instance, Marybeth Dunston was originally played by Tamara Feldman in 2006's Hatchet but was portrayed in the next three sequels by Halloween franchise star Danielle Harris.

The Alien franchise has been going strong since 1979, even though many fans would argue that most of the sequels don’t measure up to Ridley Scott's original film. Scott himself has never been shy about admitting that sequels to his movies made by others were substandard. While he has been critical of the Alien sequels, he feels differently about James Cameron’s Aliens and about Cameron himself.

James Cameron famously took over the Alien franchise from Scott to make Aliens, a movie he promised would make the studio lots of money. He swapped out the original film’s horror elements for a more action-oriented story. Scott tells THR that Cameron was very complimentary of the original film, and he planned to make an action movie because he already knew he couldn’t top the original movie’s fright. Scott explained…

If nothing else Cameron appreciated the compliment that Alien could not be outdone on its own terms. He calls Aliens “fun” which isn’t the same thing as calling it a great movie. But he doesn’t lump it into the same camp that he does the sequels that followed it, which he clearly feels were less than impressive, despite having arguably better technology at their disposal.

Scott says he felt after the fourth film the franchise had been run into the ground. He then had the idea to resurrect the franchise via the prequel film Prometheus. While neither of Scott's prequel Alien movies were as well received as the original, they were able to keep the franchise rolling.

Most people would likely agree both Alien and Aliens are among the best science fiction movies ever made, though it’s unlikely anybody else would count the other films in that same class. The only exception might be the most recent film in the series, as Alien: Romulus was heralded as a return to form by many critics.

The future of the Alien franchise is quite bright. An Alien TV series is on the way. What Ridley Scott will think of it all is anybody’s guess. However, Scott is also working on yet another Alien movie of his own. Fans will certainly be excited for that. Whatever happens, Aliens as a franchise isn't going anywhere.

It couldn’t have pleased me more to see Alien: Romulus absolutely crush in its box office run on the 2024 movie schedule. Director Fede Álvarez’s midquel was a dark spectacle that proved the saga still has a loyal fanbase, whether or not Ellen Ripley is present.

That development has apparently inspired some movement in further expanding the Alien movie timeline. I’m chestbursting with excitement after reading that not only do we have a Romulus sequel in development to look forward to, but Ridley Scott is actually working on an idea of his own.

Ridley Scott’s Super Busy Dance Card Now Includes An Alien Sequel

A recent THR profile on Scott and his production company, Scott Free, talked up quite a few of the projects that the Academy Award nominee has on the table at the moment. Among the pile of potential pictures are concepts like writer Joe Penhall’s script about the Battle of Britain, the previously announced thriller Bomb with scribe Kevin McMullin, and, of course, his currently developing Gladiator III.

Scott’s previous regrets over not making sequels to classic films like Blade Runner and Alien certainly do seem to be motivating him to revive and develop the franchises he’s left behind in the past. Clearly that F-bomb filled reaction to Alien: Romulus wasn’t the final word on Ridley Scott’s excitement over the wide wide world of Xenomorphs. His potential return couldn't come at a better time, as there’s an important story I think he’s looking to finish with his hypothetical follow-up.

What I Think This New Ridley Scott Alien Movie Will Be About

I love big swing movies. I’ve been on the record about this several times in the past, and I even recently talked about why Halloween III is the best classic series entry. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I love what both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant added to 20th Century Studios’ long running franchise.

And it’s that thread that I think Ridley Scott is about to return to with this brand new bag. Considering how well Fede Álvarez and frequent collaborator/co-writer Rodo Sayagues threaded the needle to include nods to pretty much every Alien entry in the series, there's plenty of room for another chapter in the earlier half of this story.

Alien: Covenant’s ending in particular was left wide open for more handiwork through Michael Fassbender’s David. While I don’t know if Scott is looking to just close this loop with one film, or if he’s still willing to explore a couple more entries before the series closes in on Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Alien female lead, it’s certainly tempting to have his touch back in the series; especially when his big swings come with some pretty huge casting calls.

Recentering ourselves in reality for a moment, we don’t know if we’ll even see this new Alien movie from Ridley Scott anytime soon. Nor do I, or anybody outside of Scott Free’s inner circle, have an inkling as to what this story truly will be about. All I do know is that 20th Century Studios’ Alien and Predator plans are very bullish when it comes to both of those series, and I’m ready to see more from both sides.

No matter which side wins, we win in this case, as you can run through almost the entire libraries of those sci-fi masterworks with the power of a Hulu subscription. But if you want to watch Alien: Romulus, you’ll have to either rent or buy it digitally at the moment, or wait until December 3rd for the physical release that includes the first VHS from a major studio in over a decade. Until we meet again, don’t let the bedbugs bite.