As we enter summer blockbuster season, we’re ready for the latest Alien movie. It’s been seven years since we had one, so we’re excited for what’s to come.

The director of Alien, Ridley Scott, will be on board as a producer on the project, and the story will centre around a group of young people who encounter – you guessed it – some kind of terrifying alien. It will feature rising stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and David Jonsson (Rye Lane).

If you’re wondering where the name comes from, like the previous movie in the franchise, Prometheus, Romulus is another name borrowed from mythology: he was the founder of Rome and its first king.

Here’s everything else we know so far about Alien: Romulus.

It will be set between the events of the original movie Alien (1979) and its sequel Aliens (1986), and follows a group of young space colonists who meet a terrifying life form in space while scavenging a derelict space station.

Alien: Romulus has been confirmed to be a standalone entry to the franchise, and not connected to the stories from the rest of the movies. Intriguing.

Director and writer Fede Alvarez opened up to Entertainment Weekly about how the movie differs from the rest of the Alien movies and why he wanted young people as the protagonists.

“My first instinct, just to try something different that hasn’t been seen before, was to approach it from the angle of characters who are not professionals or scientists; they’re not even adults,” he said. “I liked this concept of putting people in the front seat of the story who are closer to what the audience is — not that the audience is young, more that the audience is completely virgin to the realities of space. 

“When the characters are professionals, they know more than you do. But when they’re still in their early 20s, they don’t know how to operate the fucking airlock.”

We also know that a sibling relationship between protagonist Rain and her brother will be central to the film. It will look at the fact that he is synthetic, but not an antagonist, which has been the case in other Alien films.

The key cast for the movie will be made up of Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson (Rye Lane), Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu. No word yet on whether any previous Alien stars will be making cameos.

It will hit cinemas on 16 August.

Yes there is, and it looks equal parts epic and gross. Watch below.

Images: Disney