The next movie in the Alien film franchise is directed by Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe filmmaker Fede Alvarez, which will notably be the first Alien movie released by Disney.

Principal photography wrapped on Alvarez’s Alien earlier this year, and it’s currently set for theatrical release on August 16, 2024. While we wait, we’ve got a first reaction this week.

And not just any first reaction. This one comes directly from the mouth of Ridley Scott, the director of the original Alien and producer of Fede Alvarez’s upcoming installment.

Alvarez explained during a conversation with Guillermo del Toro at the recent DGA Latino Summit 2023 that he was nervous about Ridley Scott watching the film for the first time.

Alvarez tells del Toro, “And then he walks into the room and [he said], ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s fucking great.'”

“My family knows it was one of the best moments of my life to have a master like him, who I admired so much, to even watch a movie I made but particularly something like this… and talk to me for an hour about what he liked about it,” Alvarez adds. “One of the best compliments he said was, ‘The dialogue is great. Are you the writer?’ Yes!“

Thanks to Variety for transcribing these quotes from the DGA Latino Summit.

Alvarez directed the brand new Alien movie for Ridley Scott and 20th Century Studios, with Cailee Spaeny (The Craft: Legacy, Pacific Rim Uprising) leading the cast. Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu also star.

The project is described as “an original standalone feature.”

THR recently previewed, “Plot details are being kept in a cryochamber, but as opposed to the other movies which focused on adults in corporate, militaristic and scientific roles, this now-ninth installment of the franchise will focus on a group of young people.”

“In this ninth entry in the immensely popular and enduring film series, a group of young people on a distant world find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Alvarez co-wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues (Evil Dead).