The 2024 sci-fi horror movie Alien: Romulus brought fans back to a very particular time in the film franchise. After various prequels over the years, we finally returned to the time period associated with Alien and Aliens. Ultimately, however, this also led to a controversial scene which has been fixed for the home video release of Alien: Romulus.
Alien: Romulus takes place in a very specific period of time set between Alien and Aliens. As such, there are plenty of references to both films throughout the movie. One of these references includes the unexpected return of an actor, or more specifically an actor’s likeness, that was recreated for the film with mostly digital effects.
For those who’ve seen the film, they’ll have recognized this actor’s likeness as belonging to the late Ian Holm, who previously portrayed an android named Ash in the original Alien. Ian Holm’s likeness was reused to portray another android in this film, named Rooke this time around, which resulted in some backlash from fans.
While some fans were upset, it was confirmed that the late actor’s estate approved of the use of his likeness. Others simply took an issue with the digital effects used to recreate Holm’s facial features for Rook. Now, as shared with Empire, director Fede Alvarez seems to agree that the effects weren’t displayed as intended for the film’s theatrical release. As such, they have been fixed for the home video release for Alien: Romulus with the extra time they’ve been given.
Here’s what Alvarez shared:
“We just ran out of time in post-production to get it right,” Álvarez said. “I wasn’t 100 percent happy with some of the shots, where you could feel a bit more the CG intervention. So, for people that react negatively, I don’t blame them.”
He added that the effect has since been fixed for the film’s home video release:
“We fixed it. We made it better for the [home]m release right now. I convinced the studio we need to spend the money and make sure we give the companies that were involved in making it the proper time to finish it and do it right. It’s so much better.”
Rook CGI fixes
Physical Media vs Digital / streaming for #AlienRomulus pic.twitter.com/x7V6FPETJF
— We 🖤 Love Physical Media (@VHSDVDBLURAY4K) January 11, 2025
While the effect might look better now, there are certainly still going to be conversations regarding whether or not an actor’s likeness should be used after they’ve passed on. Especially with current concerns regarding artificial intelligence and other digital tools that have been exploited in recent years.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional Alien updates as we have them. A sequel to Alien: Romulus is said to be in development while fans can expect the next iteration of the franchise to take place in the form of a TV series titled Alien: Earth.