Alien: Romulus ‘Fixed’ The Controversial Ian Holm CGI For Home Release: ‘It’s So Much Better’

When Alien: Romulus arrived last summer, it brought cinema’s greatest sci-fi-horror franchise screaming into new life, chestbursting a new Xenomorph rampage onto the big screen. And for the most part, Fede Alvarez’s film – set between the events of Alien and Aliens – revelled in played around with the established iconography of the series so far, touching on everything from Prometheus to Alien: Resurrection, while also liberally paying homage to Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s classics.

Those callbacks didn’t always come without controversy – one surprise awaiting audiences was the arrival of android character Rook, given the face of the late, great Ian Holm (with his estate’s permission), who played nefarious ‘bot Ash in Scott’s original Alien. The result on screen, though, was somewhat uncanny – which became the subject of much discussion among fans. Even Alvarez wasn’t quite convinced. “We just ran out of time in post-production to get it right,” the director tells Empire in a major new interview, reflecting on Romulus. “I wasn’t 100 per cent happy with some of the shots, where you could feel a bit more the CG intervention. So, for people that react negatively, I don’t blame them.”

As a result, Alvarez ensured that the home entertainment release of Romulus features a new-and-improved Rook. “We fixed it,” he confirms. “We made it better for the release right now. I convinced the studio we need to spend the money and make sure we give the companies that were involved in making it the proper time to finish it and do it right. It’s so much better.” Since the character was always created through “a mix of techniques”, it meant recalibrating the various elements, both practical and digital, that brought Rook to life. “[Animatronic puppeteer] Shane Mahan actually did this animatronic of Ian Holm based on a head cast from Lord Of The Rings, and that was the only one in existence,” says Alvarez, noting that, further into production, the choice was made to lean much more on digital effects. “What we did [for the home entertainment version] was revert a lot more to the puppet,” the filmmaker says. “It’s way better.” Thank goodness he didn’t end up using that mysterious black goo.

Read Empire’s full Alien: Romulus interview with Fede Alvarez – talking the film’s reception, its most controversial elements, and where he’d take it next – in the 28 Years Later issue, on sale Thursday 16 January. Pre-order a copy online here. Alien: Romulus is out now on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and digital.