FX's 'Alien' TV Series Taps Sydney Chandler In Lead Role

The "Alien" franchise is poised for another comeback. The iconic sci-fi/horror series is getting revived in the form of both a new live-action movie, and also a new live-action television series for FX. According to The Hollywood Reporter, actress Sydney Chandler ("Pistol," "Don't Worry Darling") has been cast to star in the upcoming FX "Alien" television series.

The new series comes from award-winning "Fargo" showrunner, Noah Hawley ("Lucy in the Sky"). Chandler is reportedly the first actor cast in the series. THR also notes that plot and character details are currently being kept under wraps. The only information that's been revealed is that Chandler will be portraying one of the show's lead characters.

The new television series is not to be confused with a new live-action, big-screen reboot of the franchise, featuring the iconic Xenomorph and Facehugger creatures, that was announced in March by Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Studios. As reported by The Blast, the new live-action feature stars Cailee Spaeny ("Mare of Easttown") and will be directed by Fede Alvarez ("Evil Dead," "Don’t Breathe").

Filming on the new movie began in March in Budapest, Hungary. It does not yet have an official release period, but Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu are also part of the cast. Alvarez is directing the feature from a script he co-wrote with his longtime collaborator Rodo Saygues. Original 1979 "Alien" filmmaker Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Bonaparte") is producing the new film.

FX picked up the new "Alien" TV show with a straight-to-series order in late 2020. THR reports that the new series will not be a reboot of the franchise, but instead, it will serve as "an extension and reinvention" of the series. Additionally, the show is not expected to feature any established character from the previous films, including longtime franchise star Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley. That makes sense, considering Ripley's fate at the end of "Alien 3," which has yet to be rewritten out of continuity, even when she returned in 1997's maligned, "Alien: Resurrection."

Additionally, THR notes that FX CEO John Landgraf previously informed reporters that this new series take is expected to take place before the events of the first film. That would be before Ripley and her fellow doomed crewmates aboard the USCSS Nostromo discovered the derelict alien spacecraft on the planet LV-426 in the original, seminal 1979 classic film. The film will be set near the end of the 21st century. The first "Alien" is set in the year 2122.

Based on Landgraf's comments, the series is also expected to be set on Earth, which should be interesting. There is no indication in any of the other films that there was ever a massive Xenomorph outbreak on Earth. While it is possible that Weyland-Yutani, aka the antagonistic and villainous "Company" of the previous films, had foreknowledge of the Xenomorphs, the Derelict, the Space Jockey, the Facehuggers, the Facehugger eggs, and variants of the Xenomorph species, other humans and "Company" employees did not. It will be fascinating to see how Hawley approaches the lore and worldbuilding of the series along with what's previously been established in the films.

"Alien" star Chandler is also set to appear in the Apple TV+ series, "Sugar." The new "Alien" series is currently in the works for FX and will air on the network at a later date TBA.