The “Alien” franchise made famous by Sigourney Weaver, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and David Fincher is about to undergo an “inequality”-inspired transformation at FX.
Showrunner Noah Hawley told Vanity Fair this week that he’s interested in exploring a need for society to “spread the wealth” in his upcoming project.
“On some level it’s also a story about inequality,” Mr. Hawley, who also serves as the showrunner for “Fargo,” said Thursday. “You know, one of the things that I love about the first movie is how ’70s a movie it is, and how it’s really this blue-collar space-trucker world in which Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are basically Waiting for Godot. They’re like Samuel Beckett characters, ordered to go to a place by a faceless nameless corporation. … It is the story of the people you send to do the dirty work.”
The series, which will not focus on the iconic “Ripley” character played by Ms. Weaver, will take place on Earth and explore “what happens when the inequality we’re struggling with now isn’t resolved.”
“If we as a society can’t figure out how to prop each other up and spread the wealth, then what’s going to happen to us?” Mr. Hawley asked. “There’s that great Sigourney Weaver line to Paul Reiser where she says, ’I don’t know which species is worse. At least they don’t f— each other over for a percentage.’”
Filming for the project is scheduled to begin next Spring, IGN reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.