Everything to Know About FX's Alien TV Series

First released in 1979, the landmark science-fiction horror film Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver as a warrant officer on a derelict spacecraft taking on an extraterrestrial that killed off her crew, became an instant classic delivering multiple sequels and spin-offs. Now the beloved Alien franchise is being reimagined as a television series on FX written and directed by Fargo's Noah Hawley and starring Justified's Timothy Olyphant.

The series premiere of Alien is coming, so we'll try to answer your questions, such as when does Alien premiere, who is in Season 1 of the show, and where to watch Alien.

Alien latest news

Alien is back to filming in Thailand, and we got roundabout confirmation of that fact in one of the coolest ways possible: a Justified reunion between Walton Goggins, who is there to film the upcoming season of The White Lotus, and Timothy Olyphant, who is there to film Alien. 

Deadline also said that filming has restarted in a story that confirmed Alien isn't planned to be a limited series, and could go on for multiple seasons. "It's designed to be an ongoing series," FX boss John Landgraf said. "Then as far as Fargo goes, it's a matter of timing because I'm hoping Noah's going to be working subsequent seasons of Alien and really try to turn that around fast."

Previously, Alien series creator Noah Hawley spoke with Deadline about filming the new series. Filming of Alien began in July of 2023 in Bangkok, but due to the writer's and actor's strike production stopped. "I got some footage. Some of the first hour was shot before we had to shut down. It's stuff to play with and edit," Hawley told Deadline.

Alien Season 1 release date

The first season of Alien will premiere sometime in 2025. FX chairman John Landgraf confirmed the release window at the 2024 Television Critics Association winter press tour in February, but did not specify when in 2025 it would release.

Alien trailer

There's no trailer yet, but when one is released, we'll post it here!    

What will Alien be about?

Alien will be set somewhere that the Alien franchise has never been: Earth. The show will take place before any Alien movie, about 70 years into the future, and focus on the technology that eventually sets up the future the original movie is set in. (The movie Alien was set in 2122.)

In early 2022, Hawley spoke to Esquire about his new novel, Anthem, but during the interview, he also gave audiences a sneak peek about what to expect in the new Alien television series.

"In the movies, we have this Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is clearly also developing artificial intelligence — but what if there are other companies trying to look at immortality in a different way, with cyborg enhancements or transhuman downloads?" said Hawley. "Which of those technologies is going to win? It's ultimately a classic science fiction question: does humanity deserve to survive?"

Giving a further picture of what viewers can expect, Hawley continued, "Even if the show was 60% of the best horror action on the planet, there's still 40% where we have to ask, 'What are we talking about it, beneath it all?' Thematically, it has to be interesting. It's humbling to get to play with the iconography of this world."

"[Alien] is big imaginative reimagining of that franchise," Landgraf told Deadline in February. "It was really fun to watch [Noah] take on the Alien franchise in the way I watched him take on Fargo, to try to figure out how to deconstruct where the magic of it comes from and what were the key ingredients and how he can deliver those ingredients in a different way without just repeating things that have been done before."

Will Ripley Be in Alien?

Currently there are no plans for Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies, to be in the TV series. Given that FX's TV series is set 70 years before the movie, it's doubtful that the timeline would allow for Ripley to even exist during the series' timeline.

Who will be in Alien?

At the end of November 2023, Variety reported that Alien has filled the main casting roles, however, at this time, it's unclear which role each person will play. The best-known actor in the series is Timothy Olyphant who stars alongside Don't Worry Darling's Sydney Chandler and Alex Lawther who had a main role in Netflix's The End of the F***ing World.

Alien Main Cast:

• Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, a synth who mentors Wendy (unconfirmed)
• Sydney Chandler as Wendy, a hybrid meta-human who has the brain of a child but the body of an adult
• Alex Lawther as CJ, a soldier
• Essie Davis as Dame Silvia
• David Rysdahl
• Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier, a CEO
• Adarsh Gourav as Slightly
• Kit Young as Tootles
• Babou Ceesay
• Jonathan Ajayi
• Erana James
• Lily Newmark
• Diêm Camille
• Adrian Edmondson

Where can I watch Alien?

Alien will be an FX series, which means it will almost certainly also air on Hulu. Some FX series bypass cable and stream directly on Hulu if they're part of Hulu Originals, like The Bear and A Murder at the End of the World. Shogun reversed the "next day on Hulu" trend and streamed on Hulu the morning new episodes premiered on FX later that night.