Cailee Spaeny reveals ‘Alien: Romulus’ will be set between first and second movies in sci-fi franchise

Cailee Spaeny says the upcoming ‘Alien: Romulus’ film will be set between the first and second movies in the franchise.

The ‘Priscilla’ star, 25, has landed a leading role in the Fede Alvarez-directed revival in the series, which had been described as a standalone story in the aliens universe.

But she told Variety at the Gotham film awards about the film, due out in August 2024: “It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie.

“They brought the same team from ‘Aliens,’ the James Cameron film. The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours.

“So getting to see the original design with the original people who have been working on these films for 45-plus years and has been so much of their life has been really incredible.”

Ridley Scott’s original 1979 sci-fi horror film concluded with Sigourney Weaver’s heroine Ellen Ripley hurling a xenomorph out of her escape pod and putting herself into cryogenic sleep for a voyage back to humanity.

Seven years later, James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ showed her being rescued from deep sleep before she ended up accompanying a military mission to investigate a potential xenomorph attack on a space colony.

Referring to her part in 2018’s ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, Cailee added: “My first film was big-budget sci-fi. I feel like I’m going back to that world. And I have so much fun.

“I like trying to do as many different things as I can. So I swapped my high heels and my beehive for spacesuits and lots of wire work.

“I love watching those old ’70s, ’80s action sci-fi films. And I’m such a fan of that IP and Sigourney Weaver. It’s legendary to get to be a part of it.”

Cailee was nominated for outstanding lead performance for her role as Elvis Presley’s wife in ‘Priscilla’, but it went to Lily Gladstone, 37, for her work in ‘The Unknown Country’.