Fede Alvarez has confirmed that he will not direct the sequel to Alien: Romulus; his only credit to the sequel so far is writing the script. Now, Alvarez, along with producer Ridley Scott, is on the hunt for a fresh new director to helm the Cailee Spaeny-led franchise.

“We just finished the script…But I’m gonna pass the torch on this one as director,” the filmmaker told TooFab at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights on Thursday, further explaining, “I’m going to produce it, with Ridley Scott, we’re going to produce it together, and we’re right now trying to find a new filmmaker to come in.” Alvarez co-wrote the sequel feature script with Romulus co-writer Rodo Sayagues.

Alien: Romulus came out in August 2024 and earned approximately $350 million at the global box office. The response led 20th Century Studios to slate a sequel feature. When it was first released, Alvarez told The Hollywood Reporter that they had “ideas” of where the second feature would go if they got one. “My philosophy is that you should never make [a sequel] in two years. You’ve got to get away. You’ve got to get the audience to really want it. If you think about Alien and Aliens, there are seven years between them. But we definitely have ideas about where it should go.”

So, fans should take this as an indication that the Alien: Romulus sequel won’t be gracing our screens until late 2026 at the earliest.