FX has shared new details about the upcoming seasons of two of its highly anticipated television series from Emmy Award-winning writer-director-producer, Noah Hawley – Alien and Fargo. During today’s Television Critics Association (TCA) virtual press tour, the cable network’s chief, John Landgraf stated that Hawley will shoot a fifth season of Fargo, which will be followed by the inaugural season of Alien, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“We need to shoot Fargo this winter, so we’ll be shooting Fargo before Alien, though we have more scripts for Alien than Fargo,” Landgraf revealed. “Noah is writing both right now.
”
FX’s chief shared that he’s received one script for Fargo, noting that “It’s printed out and sitting on my desk in my home office.” He added that he hasn’t read the script yet, as he didn’t want to be tempted to share spoilers during the TCA event. He also divulged that he’s seen five scripts for Alien, as well.
While further delving into Alien‘s television spin-off, Landgraf revealed that the show won’t feature any characters from the franchise’s movies. That will include protagonist Ellen Ripley, who was played by Sigourney Weaver in the four installments of the original film series.
“All I can tell you is Ripley won’t be a part of it, and neither will any other characters — other than the alien itself,” he stated.
“Alien takes place before Ripley,” the network executive also shared. “It’s the first story in the Alien franchise that takes place on Earth. It takes place on our planet, near the end of this century we’re currently in — 70-odd years from now.
“Noah has an incredible ability to both find a way of being faithful and showing fidelity to an original creation, like to the Coen brothers [with Fargo] or to Ridley Scott’s [Alien] movie and James Cameron’s follow-up Aliens, but also to bring something new that represents both an extension and reinvention of a franchise at the same time. He’s done a masterful job with Alien as he did with Fargo. There are some big surprises in store for the audience,” Landgraf teased.
“I hope they will feel like it’s faithful to the franchise they love but also a brave and original reinvention of that franchise,” the FX’s chief continued.
“Setting it on Earth is really interesting. We have to think forward about the future of the planet in terms of the environment, governance, technology and create and design a version of the planet in the future … Noah wants to do that in a distinctive and original way,” he added.
Landgraf also announced today that Fargo‘s fifth season will take place in a contemporary time period, and return to the Upper Midwest. Its story will tackle the following questions: “When is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours?” He didn’t share any further plot details or casting information about the crime drama’s upcoming season, however.