How to Watch All Alien Movies in Chronological Order (2024)

Alien: Romulus, which hit theaters Friday, returns audiences to the universe that Ridley Scott built. It's been 45 years since Scott's original Alien flick kicked off the enduring franchise, and a rewatch of the various sequels and prequels is definitely in order. Whether you want to curate a marathon or are visiting the franchise for the first time, take note: Every Alien movie is available to stream right now.

Alien hit theaters in 1979 and is led bySigourney Weaver in her star-making turn as Ellen Ripley. The movie follows the crew of the Nostromo, a commercial starship, as they investigate a distress call in space. They discover an aggressive alien species running rampant on a dead spaceship, which turns their rescue mission into a fight for survival.

Weaver reprised her role of Ripley in three of the franchise's six installments: James Cameron's Aliens, David Fincher's Alien 3 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Alien Resurrection. She returned to voice the character in the 2014 video gameAlien: Isolation.

How to Watch All Alien Movies in Chronological Order (4)

Fede Álvarez (2013's Evil Dead and Don't Breathe) directed Alien: Romulus, a standalone story between the events of Alien and Aliens. It's worth noting that Fede's sequel andNoah Hawley's Alien TV show won't connect.

How should you watch the Alien movies, anyway? The overall story timeline jumps all over the map — the original series consistently pushes the story into the future, the prequels explore the creature's origins far in the past, and the Alien vs. Predator movies exist in a whole other reality. Like many fans, I don't consider them canon.

You can watch the Alien franchise in chronological order, which would put the prequels first. I suggest starting with the 1979 original and going in theatrical release order. And if you want to make further sense of Alien: Romulus, you can trim the franchise's proverbial fat and minimize your movie marathon to three of the six entries.

Ready to hop on theexpress elevator straight to hell? Here's how you can stream all the Alien movies.

Read more:'Alien: Romulus' Trailer Brings the Chest-Bursting Horror Back to Space

These three Alien movies tie Romulus together

Since Alien: Romulus takes place between the events of the first two movies, it goes without saying that watching Alien and Aliens will help add further context to the story of Romulus. After three decades, Ridley Scott returned to the director's chair for 2012's polarizing prequel Prometheus. These three titles influence the story and aesthetic of Alien: Romulus.

How to watch all the Alien movies in chronological order in the US

  • Prometheus (2012)
  • Alien: Covenant (2017)
  • Alien (1979)
  • Aliens (1986)
  • Alien 3 (1992)
  • Alien Resurrection (1997)

Every Alien movie listed above — including Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) — can be streamed on Hulu for U.S. viewers. The same will go for Alien: Romulus, which was originally supposed to premiere on the streamer before getting a theatrical run.

Hulu starts at $8 per month to stream with ads, while Hulu without ads costs $18 a month. If you prefer a cable-like experience, you can go with Hulu with Live TV for a $77 monthly charge. This option comes with more than 90 channels, Disney Plus, on-demand Hulu content and ESPN Plus (with ads).

You can also opt for one of the Disney Bundles: Hulu and Disney Plus with ads for $10 a month; Hulu and Disney Plus without ads for $20 a month; Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus with ads for $15 a month; Hulu and Disney Plus without ads and ESPN Plus with ads for $25 a month; and the Hulu, Disney Plus and Max megabundle —the ad-based version is $17 per month, while the ad-free one is $30 a month.

Max has one Alien movie available for streaming: James Cameron's action-packed sequel, Aliens.

Subscriptions cost $10 per month (with ads) or $17 per month (ad-free). To watch in 4K, you can also sign up for the Ultimate plan for $21 per month. The Hulu, Disney Plus and Max megabundle may also be of interest. The ad-based bundle comes with a $17 monthly price tag, while the ad-free version is $30 a month.

Where to watch all the Alien movies in the UK

Hulu isn't available for audiences in the UK. Instead, viewers can find every single Alien movie on Disney Plus.

Disney Plus subscriptions in the UK are broken down into three plans. The Standard with Ads plan costs £5 a month. The Standard plan costs £8 a month (or £80 a year) and the Premium plan costs £11 a month (or £110 a year).

How to Watch All Alien Movies in Chronological Order (2024)

FAQs

How to watch Alien in chronological order? ›

Alien movies in release order
  1. Alien (1979)
  2. Aliens (1986)
  3. Alien 3 (1992)
  4. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
  5. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
  6. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
  7. Prometheus (2012)
  8. Alien: Covenant (2017)
Aug 29, 2024

Is it better to watch the Alien movies in chronological order? ›

It's a fractured timeline, but we believe in you—you can keep up. Like the MCU, Star Wars, and the X-Men movies, we're going to recommend that you watch the movies based on the order in which they were released in theaters. So this is, really, the best order in which to watch the Alien movies.

Are all the Alien movies connected? ›

While the main plot of Romulus is largely a standalone story, the movie also serves as an homage to its predecessors—and directly connects to both the original Alien and its Scott-directed prequels, 2012's Prometheus and 2017's Alien: Covenant.

What is the Alien timeline? ›

The Alien franchise's timeline is rich and expansive, exploring humanity's encounters with the alien race Xenomorphs. Chronologically, the films start with Prometheus in 2093, followed by Alien: Covenant in 2104, and Alien in 2122. The franchise also includes Alien vs.

Is Prometheus a prequel? ›

As a direct prequel to Alien, the story was shaped to lead into that film's story, and to recreate the familiar cues of that series, and Scott wanted to avoid repeating his previous accomplishments.

Why no Prometheus 3? ›

It is rebooting but not continuing. Ultimately, it makes sense that Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are not getting a third movie. Together, the films made $643 million at the box office, but the majority of that was for Prometheus. Alien: Covenant made enough to surpass its budget, but it didn't truly excel.

Is Alien Covenant a sequel to Prometheus? ›

Alien: Covenant is a 2017 science fiction horror film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and written by John Logan and Dante Harper from a story by Michael Green and Jack Paglen. A joint American and British production, it is part of the Alien franchise, serving as a sequel to Prometheus (2012).

What planet is Prometheus set on? ›

Many years before that in the prequel, Prometheus (2012), the crew of the Prometheus landed on LV-223 and discovered the Engineers and the structure they created there.

Is Ash in Alien: Romulus? ›

To be clear, the character with Holm's likeness in Alien: Romulus is not exactly Ash. The new film is set between the events of Alien and Aliens, meaning that Ash has already been destroyed by Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) along with the rest of the spaceship Nostromo.

Why is the Alien called Romulus? ›

Summary. "Romulus" is the name of a lab aboard the Renaissance space station in Alien: Romulus. The lab's name is tied to Roman mythology and the story of Romulus and Remus. The movie's real message revolves around the sibling-like relationship between Rain and Andy.

Is Aliens 1986 a sequel? ›

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise.

In what order should I watch Alien? ›

Now, if you want to watch the Alien movies through in-universe chronological order, that means you start with the 2004-set Alien vs Predator movies. Have fun with that. After that, the series jumps forward to the prequel duo: Prometheus is set in 2089, and Alien: Covenant in 2104.

How to watch Alien and Predator movies in chronological order? ›

The following list of Alien and Predator films in release order can be found below.
  1. Alien (1979)
  2. Aliens (1986)
  3. Predator (1987)
  4. Predator 2 (1990)
  5. Alien 3 (1992)
  6. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
  7. AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)
  8. AVPR: Alien vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
Aug 20, 2024

How long would it take to watch all the alien movies? ›

Pro tip: Watching every Alien movie in order will take 17 hours and 15 minutes.

How to watch Alien and Predator movies in order? ›

The following list of Alien and Predator films in release order can be found below.
  1. Alien (1979)
  2. Aliens (1986)
  3. Predator (1987)
  4. Predator 2 (1990)
  5. Alien 3 (1992)
  6. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
  7. AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)
  8. AVPR: Alien vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
Aug 20, 2024

Which one to watch first Prometheus or Alien Covenant? ›

Now, if you want to watch the Alien movies through in-universe chronological order, that means you start with the 2004-set Alien vs Predator movies. Have fun with that. After that, the series jumps forward to the prequel duo: Prometheus is set in 2089, and Alien: Covenant in 2104.

Do I need to watch Alien before Alien: Romulus? ›

Fede Alvarez's new Alien film is set between the Ridley Scott original and James Cameron sequel—but you don't need to rewatch those beforehand. The Alien franchise is probably one of the top four or five sci-fi brands out there.

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