May 25 marks the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s Alien. While Fox may be a very different company in just a week, that doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be a party for this historic film.
Wanting to honor this landmark film, Fox looked at over 550 pitches for Alien short films. It was finally knocked down to the final six, and then those filmmakers were given unprecedented access to the franchise., characters, and stories.
Beginning on March 29, you’ll be able to see a new film each week on IGN. Then, on May 3, the films will begun appearing on the official Alien Anthology social channels and on the AlienUniverse website.
Here are the breakdowns of each short film.
- “ALIEN: Alone”: Hope, an abandoned crew member aboard the derelict chemical hauler Otranto, has spent a year trying to keep her ship and herself alive as both slowly fall apart. After discovering hidden cargo, she risks it all to power up the broken ship in search of human life. Written and Directed by Noah Miller.
- “ALIEN: Containment”: Four survivors find themselves stranded aboard a small escape pod in deep space. Trying to piece together the details around the outbreak that led to their ship’s destruction, they find themselves unsure to trust whether or not one of them might be infected. Written and Directed by Chris Reading.
- “ALIEN: Harvest”: The surviving crew of a damaged deep-space harvester have minutes to reach the emergency evacuation shuttle. A motion sensor is their only navigation tool leading them to safety while a creature in the shadows terrorizes the crew. However, the greatest threat might have been hiding in plain sight all along. Directed by Benjamin Howdeshell.
- “ALIEN: Night Shift”: When a missing space trucker is discovered hungover and disoriented, his co-worker suggests a nightcap as a remedy. Near closing time, they are reluctantly allowed inside the colony supply depot where the trucker’s condition worsens, leaving a young supply worker alone to take matters into her own hands. Written and Directed by Aidan Breznick.
- “ALIEN: Ore”: As a hard-working miner of a planet mining colony, Lorraine longs to make a better life for her daughter and grandchildren. When her shift uncovers the death of a fellow miner under mysterious circumstances, Lorraine is forced to choose between escape or defying management orders and facing her fears to fight for the safety of her family. Written and Directed by the Spear Sisters.
- “ALIEN: Specimen”: It’s the night shift in a colony greenhouse, and Julie, a botanist, does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have triggered her sensitive lab dog. Despite her best efforts the lab unexpectedly goes into full shutdown and she is trapped inside. Little does she know, an alien specimen has escaped the mysterious cargo, and a game of cat and mouse ensues as the creature searches for a host. Directed by Kelsey Taylor.
We have to say, as a way to celebrate an anniversary, this one ranks pretty far up there as a great way to do it. We’ll be watching for sure.
TechnoBuffalo LLC (dba TheNerdy.com) has affiliate partnerships with various companies. These do not at any time have any influence on the editorial content of The Nerdy. TechnoBuffalo LLC may earn a commission from these links.
