In 2024, nearly every week brings a new VFX-heavy blockbuster determined to wow audiences across the globe with aliens, beasts, superheroes, and other forms of fantasy. In space, no one can hear you scream, but they might hear you observe the sheer volume of modern blockbusters. In this world, a new “Alien” movie can no longer be seen as a predetermined Oscar juggernaut, especially given the erratic quality of the franchise overall. However, the shockingly persistent level of Oscar recognition for this franchise is a fascinating anomaly among major sci-fi franchises. Leave it to the “Alien” movies to subvert expectations for how the Academy treats motion pictures heavy on toxic goo and chest bursters.
With the imminent release of “Alien: Romulus” and the 2025 Noah Hawley “Alien” TV show for FX/Hulu, it’s more apparent than ever that the “Alien” franchise just won’t die. Like one of those Xenomorph creatures always chasing people through air ducts, this saga is relentless. It’s always taking on new forms and getting executed by fresh filmmakers, but they’re always working from the DNA of original masterpieces “Alien” and “Aliens.” Those new entries also function in the shadow of the surprisingly robust “Alien” legacy at the Academy Awards. “Alien” features don’t simply set the box office on fire; they also often score major Oscar nominations.
That reality is intriguing since so many big sci-fi franchises don’t receive that sort of consistent Oscar love. For instance, fellow 20th Century Fox sci-fi saga “Planet of the Apes” only scored two nominations for its inaugural groundbreaking installment. The franchise would not return to the ceremony for 43 years until “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” The original “Star Wars” received a slew of Oscar nominations – including a Best Picture nomination – but its follow-ups rarely, if ever, have scored nominations outside of the technical categories. Of course, countless other major sci-fi franchises have never even scored any nominations at the Oscars.
Meanwhile, the very first “Alien” installment established an Oscar-friendly precedent for the saga, with two nominations and a win (for Best Visual Effects). On the surface, it might have seemed like “Alien” was double-doomed to get overlooked by the Academy since it wasn’t just a sci-fi film but also a horror film. Those are two genres the Academy has always been hesitant to recognize. However, “Alien” scored a respectable two Oscar nominations – a haul later blown away by “Aliens.” That 1986 pop culture sensation secured a stunning seven Oscar nominations, including another Best Visual Effects win.
Among those seven nominations was a Best Actress nomination for Sigourney Weaver, an accomplishment that’s hard to comprehend. What leading lady in a sci-fi movie would score such a nomination today? Daisy Ridley wasn’t recognized for any of the three “Star Wars” sequel trilogy installments. Keke Palmer was overlooked in the category for her outstanding work in “Nope,” despite winning Best Supporting Actress from the New York Film Critics Circle. Also, Zoe Saldaña was ignored for the first “Avatar” film under the direction of “Aliens” director James Cameron. Weaver’s Best Actress nomination for “Aliens” was already impressive, given the genre from which it emerged.
However, what was more impressive was that Weaver was reprising the role of Ellen Ripley in “Aliens.” Typically, Oscar-nominated performances are ones where an actor plays a character for the first time. There have been instances of Oscar-nominated reprisal performances, but it’s usually for characters – like Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” – on whom the Academy previously bestowed Oscar nominations. Weaver getting overlooked in Best Actress for “Alien” makes her nomination for “Aliens” all the more impressive. It was a staggering achievement encapsulating the awards season successes of “Aliens.”
“Alien” had so deeply ingratiated itself into the Academy that even a more divisive entry like 1992’s “Alien 3” couldn’t stop the Oscar love. The third film in the franchise scored a Best Visual Effects nomination the same year as “Batman Returns“ and “Death Becomes Her“ (the latter of which won the Oscar). A few years later, the especially toxic reception for “Alien: Resurrection“ would be solidified when that title became the first entry in the saga to score no Oscars nominations. The Best Visual Effects category at the 70th Academy Awards made room for “Titanic,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,“ and “Starship Troopers,“ but not “Alien: Resurrection.”
After some detours into the world of fighting Predators, the mainline “Alien” saga finally returned – with original director Ridley Scott in tow – to theaters in June 2012 with “Prometheus.” This entry would score a Best Visual Effects nomination at the 85th Academy Awards, the same category the first two “Alien” movies had dominated. There was never a chance “Prometheus” would beat out that year’s eventual Best Visual Effects Oscar winner (“Life of Pi“) to score the saga’s fourth Oscar victory (following two Visual Effects wins and a Best Sound Effects Editing victory for “Aliens”). However, its presence in this category 34 years after “Alien” debuted showed the enduring strength of the franchise.
The “Prometheus” sequel, “Alien: Covenant,” failed to score any Oscar nominations the year of its release, though, in its own way, it reaffirmed the continued awards season resilience of the “Alien” films. In late December 2017, “Alien: Covenant” was named one of the ten finalists on the second shortlist for Best Visual Effects that year but was not nominated. Other titles on that shortlist that failed to score an eventual nomination were “Dunkirk,” “Okja,” “The Shape of Water,“ and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” “Covenant“ is, to date, only the second solo “Alien“ movie to miss a Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination. However, it at least got far enough into the voting process to rub shoulders with Best Picture nominees like “Dunkirk“ and “The Shape of Water.”
Only time will tell if “Alien: Romulus” can score Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, or Best Makeup & Hairstyling (perhaps something even more?) and keep the Oscar legacy of “Alien” movies alive. The emphasis on practical effects work – in a homage to the first two “Alien” titles – in the “Alien: Romulus” promotional materials already feels like something that could get the attention of Academy voters. Still, if “Alien: Romulus” doesn’t, it’ll be, more than anything else, due to the increased competition for VFX-heavy movies since the first four “Alien” installments in the 20th century.
What’s your favorite “Alien” film? Do you think “Alien: Romulus” could get Oscar attention this year? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.
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