Timothy Olyphant to star in an Alien prequel series on FX

Timothy Olyphant is one of my favorites. He’s ruggedly handsome, he’s a great actor that’s now in Star Wars canon, and he seems like a genuinely good person in real life. That’s my personal triple threat of attraction right there. He also gets so confused with Josh Duhamel that even his own mother couldn’t tell them apart once. Sometimes, Mr. Rosie and I will look at each other out of nowhere and go, “It was justified” in a poor attempt to imitate that famous line from Justified‘s pilot episode.

Deadline got the exclusive that Olyphant will be once again teaming up with Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley for an undisclosed role in Hawley’s upcoming series based on the movie Aliens. Olyphant will star opposite Sydney Chandler. While it’s not confirmed yet, the role is rumored to be that of Kirsh, a synth who acts as a mentor and trainer for meta-human hybrid Wendy (Chandler’s character). The main cast also includes Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, and Kit Young.

Executive produced by Ridley Scott, the new Alien series is set in a time period before Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and is the first story in the franchise that takes place on Earth, roughly 70 years in the future.

Production on the show began in Thailand July 19, four days after the start of the actors strike, without SAG-AFTRA members, including Chandler. Filming continued for more than a month with cast who were affiliated with the Equity British trade union. Production is slated to resume in early 2024, likely in January.

“I got some footage. Some of the first hour was shot before we had to shutdown. It’s stuff to play with and edit,” Hawley told Deadline recently. “I’m excited to get back in there.”

All the scripts for Alien were completed before the WGA strike was called in May.

Olyphant has been a fixture at FX over the last decade and a half. He headlined the network’s long-running hit drama Justified and recently starred in and executive produced the limited series followup, Justified: City Primeval. In addition to his major recurring role on Season 4 of Fargo, Olyphant also was a series regular on Season 2 of FX’s Damages.

[From Deadline]

Now, I know what you’re going to say. There are no new ideas anymore and we’re in the Franchise/Reboot Era. You’re also asking, “Do we really need a prequel to Alien?” On the first point, I totally agree. I’d love to see something fresh and new. As for the question of whether or not we need another franchise expansion, I also would probably lean towards we don’t need an Alien prequel, either. I love the first two movies, but I’m not sure I’d have much interest in watching a prequel series. However, Olyphant being attached to it is kind of a game-changer for me. I’m definitely interested in watching a series with a potential Robo-Raylan (Copyright: Mike Redmond). Consider my interest piqued because at the very least, this makes me want to at least check out the inevitable panel at San Diego Comic-Con about it.

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Photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon, MAGO/Zoonar.com/Lumeimages.com / Avalon, Robin Platzer/Twin Images / Twin Images / Avalon and Getty

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