Alien (franchise)

Alien is an American science fiction horror and action media franchise created by screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, which began as the 1979 film Alien. The series primarily follows deadly encounters between humans and the extraterrestrial Xenomorphs in the future. Released as seven films distributed by 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox) and produced by Brandywine Productions since 1979, the series has led to numerous novels, comics, and video games, and a 2025 television series created by Noah Hawley titled Alien: Earth. Sigourney Weaver starred as warrant officer Ellen Ripley in the first four films, Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997). The other three films follow different characters, and include prequels Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), and Alien: Romulus (2024), which is set between the first two films. The films were directed by Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Fede Álvarez. The film series has also inspired a number of spin-offs—most notably the Alien vs. Predator series, which combines the continuities of the Alien franchise with the Predator franchise and consists of two films as well as various series of comics, books, and video games.