Summary

• Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley has reflected on the future of the show while it is in post-production.
• He says that "it could be the next 10 years of my life."
• The show's longevity could ultimately depend on the franchise not oversaturating the marketplace with theatrical and small screen installments.

Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley has shared an unusually optimistic outlook on the future of the show. The FX series, which is a prequel to Ridley Scott's original 1979 sci-fi horror classic, will be set on Earth in the not-too-distant future. The ensemble cast of the Alien: Earth show includes Sugar's Sydney Chandler, Andor's Alex Lawther, Mary & George's Samuel Blenkin, The Babadook's Essie Davis, The White Tiger's Adarsh Gourav, Shadow and Bone's Kit Young, and Justified's Timothy Olyphant.

The Hollywood Reporter recently sat down for an interview with Noah Hawley. When the conversation turned toward Alien: Earth, he shared that he is very proud of how the show - which is currently in post-production - is turning out and that he thinks "it could be the next 10 years of my life." While he shared that some of that time estimate includes the visual effects requirements of the show, he says that for people hoping to see a show set in the universe of the iconic sci-fi movies, "I'm going to give them something special." Read his full quote below:

It could be the next 10 years of my life, for sure. We just wrapped. I’m in post, editing away. Obviously, there’s a large visual effects component that takes time. But I couldn’t be happier with the show that we shot. If people wanted a television series based on the world of Alien, I think I’m going to give them something special.

Can Alien: Earth Really Run For A Decade?

The Show's Longevity Depends On The Franchise's Audience

Hawley's hopes that the show could be a part of his life for a long time to come could indeed bear fruit, as the Alien movies are continuing to perform well in theaters. At the time of writing, the newest installment, Alien: Romulus, is projected to earn the second-best opening weekend of the entire nine-movie franchise, which will likely lead to it recouping its relatively conservative $80 million budget. If its box office continues to grow and becomes one of the highest-grossing installments in the franchise, it seems like more big screen sequels will not be far behind.

However, audience for Romulus could prove to be a double-edged sword for the Alien prequel. If the show runs for one or more seasons alongside multiple sequels playing in theaters, the market could become oversaturated with material from the franchise, resulting in diminishing returns for one or both branches. This approach seems to have already impacted other multimedia franchises, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has pulled back from releasing too many shows and movies in the same year despite having the benefit of multiple subfranchises following different protagonists and antagonists, something that the sci-fi franchise does not have.

So far, every project in the Alien franchise has featured the alien Xenomorph except Prometheus, though the 2012 prequel did feature a similar parasitic alien creature that has been referred to as the Proto-Xenomorph.

If Alien: Earth models itself after the Star Trek franchise and continues to expand the science fiction universe around the franchise's central characters, it could potentially avoid issues with running alongside theatrical movies. However, it will be walking a tightrope, as being too similar to the movies could result in franchise fatigue, while being too different may result in them losing their core audience. Ultimately, it remains to be seen if the Hawley show garners the viewership needed to be renewed in the first place.

Source: THR