Alien: Earth — a prequel series set before the original Alien movie — begins streaming and launches on cable this week.
The official summary for Alien: Earth reads, “When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s Alien: Earth.
“In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this Corporate Era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans.
“But the game is changed when the wunderkind Founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named ‘Wendy’ marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.”
Created by Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion), Alien: Earth also stars Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adrian Edmondson, David Rysdahl, Essie Davis, Lily Newmark, Erana James, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Kit Young, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El and Sandra Yi Sencindiver.
Alien: Earth begins with a two-episode premiere on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FX on cable and streaming on Hulu. Alien: Earth consists of eight episodes.
An ad-based package for Hulu costs $9.99 per month, while the ad-free package costs $18.99 per month. Hulu is also available in a bundling package with Disney+ and Max for $16.99 per month with ads and $29.99 per month without ads.
The Release of ‘Alien: Earth’ Comes 46 Years After The Original ‘Alien’ Movie
Director Ridley Scott kicked off the Alien franchise in 1979 with Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, Tom Skerritt as Dallas, John Hurt as Kane, Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, Yaphet Kotto as Parker, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett and Ian Holm as Ash.
Despite being a hit, the franchise didn’t produce a sequel until 1986 with director James Cameron’s Aliens, followed by director David Fincher’s Alien 3 and director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien: Resurrection.
After a pair of Alien vs. Predator movies in 2004 and 2007 that aren’t considered official entries in the Alien franchise, Scott returned to direct the Alien prequels Prometheus in 2012 and Alien: Covenant in 2017. The franchise went dormant again until 2024, when director Fede Alvarez came out with Alien: Romulus, which is set between the events of Alien and Aliens.
Executive produced by Scott, Alien: Earth begins Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FX on cable and streaming on Hulu.
