Romulus Director Recalls Disney’s Pushback on Shocking Final Scenes

Director Fede Álvarez has built a reputation for crafting truly horrifying scenes, a skill that shines through in the recently released Alien: Romulus. The film’s final scenes take terror to stunning new levels, making them some of the most talked-about sections. Álvarez revealed that even The Walt Disney Company executives questioned the necessity of these extreme sequences, which pushed him to go even further. Alien: Romulus is now showing in theaters.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Alien: Romulus

In a shocking twist, the character Kay (Isabella Merced) injects herself with alien DNA in hopes of healing her fatal injuries. Instead, this action modifies her DNA, passing on alien genetic material to her unborn baby. This baby then gruesomely explodes out of her, growing into a monstrous human/xenomorph hybrid known as the “Offspring”. As if this wasn’t horrific enough, Kay also begins to lactate black goo to nourish the creature.

“If I give you a script and you read it and go, ‘Let’s do it!’ then I feel I’ve failed. I need the studio to go, ‘Are you sure about this? Do you really want to do that?'” Álvarez shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “This kind of feedback always happens with my movies. They asked me similar questions about Don’t Breathe and the blood rain in Evil Dead. When the studio pushes back, that’s when I know I’m on the right track. Initially, they had reservations about the Offspring scene, but not because they disliked it.”

He continued, “They just wondered, ‘Is it too much? Do we really have to go there?’ And I said, ‘Yes, now that you’ve questioned it, I know I will.’ So that’s exactly what we did. When you’re making an Alien movie under Disney, and they immediately say, ‘Yeah, let’s make it,’ then you’re failing somehow. We really pushed it to the limit, and I’m glad we did.”

Interestingly, Álvarez’s cinematic style—marked by an unexpected final act of terror—has become a signature of his work. Even those unfamiliar with his previous films might have anticipated this horrifying twist.

“All my movies have a fourth act. It’s just how we write. There’s always a moment that feels like the movie is over, but then there’s another act that follows. It fits well because Alien has a fourth act too,” Álvarez noted. “You could argue that even Aliens has a fourth act with its final sequence. It’s at that moment when you think it’s all over, the movie gives you one last extreme twist.”

Alien: Romulus is currently in theaters.

What did you think of the sequence?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Comicbook.com