Just as a new video from Alien: Romulus dropped online, there was a knock at my door. It was an unassuming package that held something glorious: a VHS tape of something from the same film, and once I got over the excitement of the tape on its own, I had to see what was on it.
The tape was sent by Disney’s marketing team and after I posted some very excited and well-received images on social media, a member of that team messaged me and urged me to watch the tape. No, it was not just the same clip that had been released online. There was something more. I needed to find a VCR. Thankfully, a friend of mine—film critic Courtney Howard—messaged me to say her husband Jeff had one about 20 minutes away. I grabbed the tape and my laptop, and headed to their home.
While I was driving over, Courtney checked the VCR and, unfortunately, it wasn’t working. We spent 15 minutes trying to figure out the problem—in the meantime contacting other friends in the “I still have a VCR” club, one of whom wasn’t home so he couldn’t help, and another who thought he’d lost his, but then found it—when Jeff finally arrived back home after a run. Jeff, superhero that he is, revealed he had a second VCR in the house and proceeded to get it. (Always be organized, people.) Thankfully, this one worked and we put the tape in.
First up was a brand-new clip blending footage from this classic news footage to announce that Alien: Romulus will have a panel in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Here’s that clip, which I subsequently tweeted. But that wasn’t all of it. The tape kept going and, like The Ring, I kept watching. First, the most recent trailer. Next, that new featurette. Then, a brand new clip which I recorded on my phone… definitely not as director Fede Alvarez intended, but certainly how Disney marketing did.
Pretty awesome. As it was playing I kept thinking a) Jeff has a widescreen TV that’s stretching this out, and b) I wish I’d turned the volume up. But no matter. The kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants nature of it was the point. And now you know all about it, which was also the point of a very cool, fun, and original idea from the Alien team. Here are a few more images of the VHS.
Alien: Romulus opens in theaters August 16. We’ll have more soon, including coverage of that Comic-Con panel.
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