‘Alien: Earth’ Aims for a Second Season as FX Bets A Lot of Money on the Future of Sci-Fi TV
Noah Hawley, the mind behind five seasons of Fargo, has poured nearly eight years into Alien: Earth, FX’s bold new sci-fi series based on the legendary Alien franchise. The show hasn’t even aired yet, but already, there’s talk of a second season. Hawley hopes the first season, which premieres August 12, will prove the concept. If audiences respond well, the team is ready to go bigger.
“Season 1 is the proof of concept,” Hawley says. “And if it works commercially, then Season 2 is about building a model upon which we can envision making a Season 3, 4, 5.”
The show is set in 2120, two years before the events of the original Alien movie. It brings the terrifying Xenomorph creatures down to Earth, dropping them into a future where mega-corporations run everything.
One of these companies created Wendy, a strange hybrid being who looks like a woman but thinks like a child. Wendy is played by Sydney Chandler, who leads the cast in what FX hopes will be their next big hit after recent wins like Shōgun and The Bear.
Chandler’s performance is already earning praise from those close to the project. Hawley says, “She’s truly a star, and the world is going to see that.” But despite her central role, Chandler chose not to appear in a recent publicity shoot for the series.
“The show is built around Sydney’s character,” Hawley says. “I’m disappointed that my female-centric show, based on a female-facing franchise, does not have my lead actress on the cover. It felt awkward to be there with Tim without her.”
He hasn’t spoken to Chandler about her decision. “I don’t have to showrun the publicity,” he says, with a shrug. Still, Chandler is gearing up for a wave of press, including Comic-Con.
“How can I best help to represent the truth of this show and the pride that I feel for everyone involved in it?” she says. “Because it was such a long shoot, and we put so much into it.”
That shoot took place mostly in Bangkok, Thailand, with multiple studios and massive stages. The weather added a certain gritty charm that matched the tone of Alien. Production designer Andy Nicholson says, “Bangkok has a patina — the mold growing everywhere. That was great.” But it wasn’t easy. Chandler filmed from February to July 2024, and often felt the pressure.
“You hit a point on a long shoot where exhaustion creeps in and you’re hanging by a thread,” she admits. “But you’re still giving everything that you can for the passion of the job.”
Hawley says about 600 people were on set every day. Despite the size, the vibe stayed focused. Timothy Olyphant, who plays a cyborg in the series, noticed something different. “On previous projects, you can feel the presence of outsiders meddling,” he says. “I never felt that on this job.”
Olyphant wasn’t sure at first what kind of show they were even making. “It’s quote-unquote ‘Alien,’ but I’m not sure it’s ‘Alien,’” he says. “If you take the monster away, you still feel like you got a good story.”
The story centers on Wendy, who remembers her family and searches for her brother while navigating a dangerous world. She has to decide where she belongs, with the humans, or the machines. And then there are the aliens. They slither, crawl, and show up in some shockingly new forms. Hawley wanted to bring back the fear people felt watching the original films.
“I want you to have the feeling that you had watching those first two films,” he says. “And I can’t get that feeling of discovery back unless I introduce new creatures where you have no idea how they invade your personal space.”
Some of those new creatures made even the cast uneasy. Babou Ceesay says, “I don’t like creepy-crawlies. Insects. Goo!” One moment during testing really got him. “I see a guy in a suit, and then he’s on the stilts, eight feet tall, and the extra mouth comes out, and my reptilian brain goes, This is dangerous.”
The show’s journey wasn’t smooth. Shooting began in July 2023, but was paused in August due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Still, Hawley had written all eight scripts ahead of time. He tried to keep things going with the U.K.-based Equity actors during the early days of the strike.
“I wouldn’t say it was frustrating,” he says. “I certainly believed in the cause.” He later joined other showrunners in urging the WGA to push forward talks, which helped end the strike faster. “I needed to balance my own beliefs with the legal liabilities, and the roles that I have as a producer, as a director, as a writer.”
Back when Hawley first dreamed of doing an Alien show, the idea seemed out of reach. The rights weren’t even available. Then, after Disney bought 20th Century Fox in 2019, it became possible. FX leaders, especially John Landgraf, believed Hawley was the right guy to reinvent the franchise.
“Noah makes these things that always have something to say,” says FX’s Gina Balian. “But he’s also a fanboy.”
The show reflects modern worries too, climate change, powerful tech companies, the future of humanity. Olyphant says, “Storytelling, regardless of if it’s futuristic or historical, is always going to be about the time in which it’s written.”
One of the boldest parts of the show is Wendy herself. A child’s mind in a woman’s body. Hawley was inspired partly by watching his own kids. It wasn’t always easy to pull off. FX was cautious. In one scene, Wendy cups her new body and says, “These are weird!” Chandler manages to make the moment work.
When Chandler first read the script, she didn’t wait. She wanted the role. “I called my poor agent and explained that I’d like to go to Canada. ‘Do you think I could go knock on Noah’s door?’” she says. She didn’t know yet that she and Hawley both lived in Austin. She just knew this role was something special.
It’s been a long ride for Hawley too. “I still really can’t believe this show is going to come out,” he says. “A significant part of my life has been spent making these eight hours.”
If there’s a second season, he’s hoping they can move the production to a new location. Bangkok worked, but it was tough. “Thailand is a challenging location for a number of reasons — the health and well-being of your crew; my ability to participate,” he says. Like Game of Thrones or Wednesday, he hopes future seasons can evolve — and go even bigger.
But first, FX and fans will have to see how this new chapter of Alien lands. If it works, Wendy’s story is just getting started.
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