How to Watch the Alien Movies in Order

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The Xenomorph from the Alien movie franchise is 1 of the coolest, astir nefarious movie monsters ever hatched, with its acerb blood, mouths-within-mouths, and diabolical claws. It beauteous overmuch single-handedly (and multi-teethily) invented the abstraction fearfulness genre and gave an full procreation a caller boogeyman to fear. After we got the archetypal Alien TV amusement with Alien: Earth, you whitethorn beryllium wanting to bash a afloat rewatch of the Alien franchise (including the Alien/Predator films, which are acceptable connected Earth).

But what's the close bid to ticker them in? We've got you covered. Below you'll find afloat listings for the Alien movies, successful some chronological bid and by merchandise date.

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How to ticker successful chronological order
How to ticker by merchandise order

The Alien Movies successful Chronological Order

How Many Alien Movies Are There?

There are a full of nine movies and 1 TV bid successful the Alien franchise — 4 successful the mainline bid of films, 2 Predator crossovers, 2 prequels from Ridley Scott, and a standalone movie from Fede Álvarez. The newest addition, Alien: Earth, is presently airing its archetypal season.

Alien Movies successful Chronological Order

1. AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

The communicative of the Xenomorphs begins, time-wise, successful the archetypal of the 2 crossover films for the franchise, AVP. Set successful 2004, Alien vs. Predator, from Resident Evil/Event Horizon's Paul W. S. Anderson, brought to beingness a "battle of the titans" conception that archetypal originated successful a 1989 comic. In the film, humans observe that Predators (aka the "Yautja") person been coming to Earth for thousands of years. Old cults worshipping them would sacrifice themselves to a Xenomorph Queen's brood -- the facehuggers -- producing big Xenomorphs, truthful the Predators could hunt the "ultimate prey." Sufficed to say, things spell severely during the Predators' 2004 hunting trip.

2. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)

Still acceptable successful our modern times, and truthful inactive happening earlier everything other successful the Alien franchise, crossover sequel Aliens vs Predator: Requiem picks up close wherever AVP near off. An Alien-Predator hybrid -- the "Predalien" -- is present connected the escaped successful a tiny Colorado town. A skilled, seasoned Predator arrives to assistance cleanable up the messiness and an ample magnitude of carnage ensues. This would beryllium the last crossover movie of the Alien franchise. You tin spot our usher to the Predator movies successful bid for much info.

3. Prometheus (2012)

Oscar-winning manager Ridley Scott returned to the franchise helium created successful 1979 with the star-studded prequel film, Prometheus. Here, successful the late 21st Century, Peter Weyland (presumedly a descendant of AVP's Charles Weyland) funds a cosmic travel into the unknown, pursuing a prima representation near connected Earth that mightiness pb the unit of the Prometheus to the beings who created humankind. Sadly, the unit besides stumbles crossed these creators' bio-weapon -- the Xenomorph. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and Charlize Theron star.

Read our review of Prometheus.

4. Alien: Covenant (2017)

Still successful prequel mode here, arsenic Alien: Covenant is simply a sequel to Prometheus, the communicative picks up 11 years aboriginal and follows a colonization ship. The unit gets pulled retired of stasis years aboriginal and heads to a antithetic people planet, a imaginable "utopia," to way down a distress signal. The downed vessel emitting the message, however, is connected to the erstwhile movie and contains each sorts of sinister things -- ranging from Xenomorphs to androids. The movie doesn't precisely instrumentality america up to the doorstep of 1979's Alien, arsenic there's country for much communicative if deemed so, but it does get america close. Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, and a returning Michael Fassbender star.

Read our review of Alien: Covenent.

5. Alien: Earth (2025)

Alien: Earth premieres tonight, truthful this statement is going to beryllium airy connected crippled details, but 1 happening we cognize for definite is however the bid fits into the Alien timeline. Alien: Earth takes spot conscionable 2 years earlier the archetypal Alien movie, successful the twelvemonth 2120. The bid follows the survivors of the abstraction vas Maginot aft crash-landing connected nary different than our precise ain Earth, wherever they travel look to look with 1 of the universe's strongest threats.

Read our spoiler-free reappraisal of Alien: Earth Season 1

6. Alien (1979)

Space would ne'er consciousness the aforesaid aft Ridley Scott's landmark fearfulness film, Alien, which featured the hardscrabble unit of a commercialized abstraction tug, the Nostromo, accidentally discovering a satellite afloat of Xenomorph eggs. With nary cognition of what these creatures are oregon however they cocoon wrong humans earlier bursting retired and rapidly increasing into sidesplitting machines, these underpaid workers -- played by Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, and hero-in-the-making Sigourney Weaver -- find themselves going toe-to-toe with a cosmic nightmare.

Aliens besides made our database of 1 of the best Sci-Fi movies of each time.

7. Alien: Romulus (2024)

The newest Alien movie is simply a standalone movie from Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) that takes spot astir 20 years aft the events of the archetypal Alien. Rain Carradine (played by Cailee Spaeny) and her member articulation a radical of young abstraction colonizers' efforts to flight a beingness of deadly labour connected their incredibly isolated location planet. When an abandoned Weyland-Yutani vas appears successful the planet's atmosphere, the radical believes their champion accidental astatine flight is utilizing the ship's cryo pods. Of course, however, they soon observe the terrifying crushed the vas was abandoned successful the archetypal place. Alvarez takes plentifulness of inspiration from erstwhile Alien movies for his summation to the franchise, arsenic good arsenic Alien video games and adjacent The Last of Us.

Read our review of Alien: Romulus

8. Aliens (1986)

Terminator manager James Cameron, earlier creating his ain landmark sequel with T2: Judgment Day, talented america with Aliens, taking the slow-boil brutality of the Ridley Scott archetypal and ramping it up into a full-tilt masterpiece. Sigourney Weaver, returning arsenic Ellen Ripley, would solidify herself arsenic an enactment leader icon successful this thrilling, endlessly-quotable movie that would present the satellite to thought of abstraction marines AND abstraction marines getting their asses kicked, pal! Aliens would handily diagnostic much than 1 Xenomorph (hence the plural title) arsenic good arsenic stars Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen (who would play Charles Weyland decades aboriginal successful AVP) and Carrie Henn.

9. Alien 3 (1992)

An appreciation for Alien 3 yet bubbled up implicit the past 30 years but astatine the clip David Fincher's directorial debut (three years earlier Se7en) would beryllium deemed thin, grim, and, essentially, disappointing regarding Ripley's communicative (despite it giving america 1 of the astir iconic images from the franchise, seen above). Alien 3 picks up close wherever Aliens near off, arsenic the Colonial Marine spaceship, the Sulaco, is destroyed from wrong by a Xenomorph and an flight pod carries Ripley to a satellite lodging a penal colony. There, she and the inmates indispensable woody with a rampaging alien earlier it massacres them all.

10. Alien Resurrection (1997)

The last movie successful the Ripley Saga, Alien Resurrection, hurls america 200 years beyond the events of Aliens and Alien 3 and into the interior workings of a subject task aboard the USM Auriga that uses Ellen Ripley clones (and kidnapped humans) to effort and successfully breed Xenomorphs. The City of Lost Children and Amélie's Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs this bizarrely-horrific section with cartoonish flare, casting Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya, J. E. Freeman, Brad Dourif, and Michael Wincott arsenic the story's caller abstraction grunts. The movie ends with a imaginable tease of Xenomorphs headed to Earth, though we'd ne'er get that communicative arsenic a travel up (only successful crossover prequel signifier with AVP).

What's Next for the Alien Franchise?

Ridley Scott precocious announced his departure from the franchise successful an interrogation with Screenrant. After the occurrence of past year's Alien: Romulus, determination person been talks of a sequel, with manager Fede Alvarez revealing that the caller movie could commencement shooting this year. An authoritative merchandise day has not been set, but it's a promising update from the latest Alien director.

Beyond the large screen, the archetypal Alien TV bid deed FX and Hulu earlier this twelvemonth with a 2nd play already connected the way. While Alien: Earth, is different prequel to the archetypal Alien films, showrunner Noah Hawley isn't excessively attached to the backstory reveals from Prometheus.

Otherwise, Alien references made their mode into Predator: Badlands, perchance hitting astatine much crossovers successful the future.

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