Brian Duffield, director of Whalefall, has denied rumours that he’s writing or making an Alien sequel, though he says he did help out on a script. Writer-director Brian Duffield may be about to trap audiences (and poor, luckless Austin Abrams) in the belly of a massive sperm whale, but over the summer, there were plausible-sounding ... Whalefall director Brian Duffield denies rumours he’s making an Alien film
Brian Duffield, director of Whalefall, has denied rumours that he’s writing or making an Alien sequel, though he says he did help out on a script.
Writer-director Brian Duffield may be about to trap audiences (and poor, luckless Austin Abrams) in the belly of a massive sperm whale, but over the summer, there were plausible-sounding rumours that the filmmaker was about to head off to the Alien franchise.
With the cinematic wing of the Alien universe in a state of flux, the word from Hollywood’s insiders was that 20th Century Studios boss Steve Asbell had asked Duffield to step in and work on either a sequel to 2024’s Alien: Romulus or some other entry in the series.
Asbell even quote-tweeted the story on X, adding the comment, “Who?” – clearly a joke, since Asbell had been working with Duffield on No One Will Save You and this autumn’s Whalefall.
It all sounded plausible enough. But, Duffield says, it’s not true.
“I’m not writing,” he told TheWrap. “I’m not directing.”
Dang.
This isn’t to say that the rumours weren’t entirely inaccurate, though. Duffield revealed that Asbell had indeed invited him to work on an Alien script – but by the sounds of things, it was more a polish, or perhaps as simple as providing some notes on changes, rather than a full-blown project.
“I helped on a script,” Duffield said. “They needed some help for a few weeks over Christmas and Steve Asbell at 20th asked – as I was taking a break on Whalefall over the holidays – if I would help them out a little bit. It was a very brief window. I’m not a part of it. I haven’t been asked to be a part of it, but it’s cool. I know what they’re doing and it’s really neat. But that’s not an adventure I’m going on.”
Read more: Podcast | In conversation with writer-director Brian Duffield
So what is going on with the Alien movies? The answer, at the moment, is Ridley Scott. Director Fede Alvarez delivered 20th Century Studios a solid film with Alien: Romulus, and for about a year, it looked as though the studio was fast-tracking a sequel with him at the helm.
But then he abruptly departed, the story being that Alvarez had clashed with executive producer (and Alien director, of course) Ridley Scott over the script. Alvarez wanted to write David into his sequel; Scott wanted to keep the character, played by Michael Fassbender, under close guard in case Scott ever got to make a sequel to Alien: Covenant.
Now it turns out that Scott has plans to make the next Alien movie himself. “I’m rewriting the next Alien film,” he said in September. “I suddenly went back in and got involved.”
The reason being that he thought that Alien: Romulus was only “okay” and that he thinks the franchise “needs some help. So I’ve gone back in.”
There’s a question, however, as to when or if he’ll find time to make it. He’s currently busy on a big adventure film, Treasure Island, and presumably still plans to make his Bee Gees biopic. But there’s also the spectre of The Dog Stars – the post-apocalyptic sci-fi film that did tepid business at the tail end of the summer.
The more likely scenario, perhaps, is that Scott will hand off the directing duties to another director while keeping a tight rein on the project as a producer.
Whoever that director turns out to be, it doesn’t sound as though it’ll be Duffield. Or A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski, who was rumoured for a while.
There’s clearly something going on behind the scenes (“I know what they’re doing and it’s neat,” to quote Duffield again). But for now, the next Alien movie is likely to be years away.
Whalefall is out on the 16th October 2026.
