Director of ‘Romulus’ says pregnancy story was inspired by ‘The Last of Us’
Director Fede Álvarez was inspired by The Last of Us Part II when working on Alien: Romulus. The story of the pregnant character Dina, voiced in the game by Shannon Woodward, inspired him to make Isabela Merced’s character pregnant in the film. In an eerie moment of prescience, Merced is now playing the video game character in Season 2 of the HBO television series.
“Fun fact: I was playing #TheLastOfUs2 while writing #AlienRomulus. The story of a pregnant Dina gave me the idea to make the character Kay pregnant too,” Álvarez tweeted on Friday. “Then I cast Isabella Merced in the role of Kay… A year later she is cast in the role of Dina in the HBO series… True story.”
Season 2 of the series will premiere next year, so some may be thinking not only of the hit game but also of Alien: Romulus. But audiences already have a small taste of what Merced could do in the role on screen.
Alien: Romulus grossed $41.5 million in its opening weekend from 3,885 U.S. theaters and grossed $66.7 million internationally. The film stars Merced, Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson as a trio of young adults who hope to escape their remote planet at any cost. Set between the first Alien (set in 2122) and Aliens (2183), the film manages to connect to each film in the Alien series.
Álvarez previously said he pitched the idea of making an “Alien” film after the release of “Don’t Breathe” in 2016. He had a meeting with Ridley Scott’s production company. “At that point, I had made two films and both had done really well. And someone said, ‘When you get to this point, you can really do whatever you want. If you could do anything, what would you do?'”
He continued: “Well, I would do ‘Alien’. That’s the movie I’ve always wanted to do. No questions asked.”
In 2019, he got a call from 20th Century’s production manager Steve Asbell and was asked to present his “Alien” pitch. “I told him what I was planning to do. And he asked me if I wanted to write the script and direct it. And I just said, ‘Yeah, hell yeah.’ And here we are,” Álvarez explained.
