After the first three Alien films, the following films always received special titles or certain additions like Prometheus or Alien: Covenant. The latest sequel, Alien: Romulus, which is currently in cinemas, also follows this pattern.
However, the addition to the title was not only chosen because the two modules of the space station in the film are called Romulus and Remus. Director Fede Álvarez has explained the more detailed background to the choice of this particular title.
Alien: Romulus title alludes to Roman mythology
The director of the current Alien film told Digital Spy that the addition of Romulus specifically refers to the Roman mythology surrounding Romulus and Remusthe founders of the city of Rome:
All the main relationships in the story are sibling relationships of surrogate mothers, of biological siblings, so there are different perspectives on it. There are many themes in the film, but one of them is, what it means to be someone’s siblingwhat it really means. What are your responsibilities? Do you have any or not? They should take care of you; you should take care of them. How do you see it?
Here you can watch another Alien: Romulus trailer:
Alien Romulus – Final Trailer (German) HD
In the story of Romulus and Remus, the former was ultimately murdered by the latter, which does not exactly shed an optimistic light on the approach of the new Alien installment. The plot of the sci-fi horror sheds light on the relationship between the protagonist Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her artificially created adoptive brother Andy (David Jonsson), among other things.
Romulus was chosen as the Alien title for another reason
In an interview with Digital Spy, Álvarez revealed why his film has the additional title Romulus instead of Remus. The reason is that the chosen name from seven letters and Alien: Romulus is part 7 of the sci-fi horror saga.