Alien: Romulus drew from a surprising but natural point of inspiration for puppeteering its nightmarish Xenomorphs

Alien: Romulus is clearly borrowing from the original Alien films aesthetically, but director Fede Alvarez has shared another slightly funny point of inspiration.

We really don't know all that much about Alien: Romulus just yet, but its first full trailer dropped last month, and at the very least the vibes are looking strong. It's obviously trying to tap into that hazy look the very first film in the series had, leaning into the movie's 70s origins, but it turns out that isn't the only place the pre-sequel is drawing from. Director Alvarez recently spoke with Total Film (via GamesRadar) about the film, where he shared that the cast and crew would narrate the Xenomorph's movements while on set. Specifically, they would mimic the way David Attenborough talks like in documentaries such as Blue Planet or Planet Earth.

"It is done almost like a nature documentary," Alvarez explained of shooting the Xenomorph, which required nine puppeteers in total. "While we were seeing it on set we were joking, [like] 'The creature is coming out slow. It's looking for the scent of the mother…' The creature's not trying to be scary. The creature is trying to get the f**k out of that cocoon, that happens to be a person. It's almost like this is more realistic in a way, but without betraying all the beautiful things of the original designs."

Despite the film releasing next month, plot details are surprisingly light, which is honestly quite refreshing given how much comes out about most movies before they're out these days. A description does explain the film a touch at least: "While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe." The film also takes place between the original Alien and its sequel Aliens, but how it ties into the bigger picture, you'll have to wait and see when it arrives in cinemas August 16.