Hell yeah, Alien: Romulus is coming out on VHS
Be kind, rewind!
Image: 20th Century Studios; Disney
In space, no one can hear you stream. Luckily, 20th Century Studios is releasing Alien: Romulus on a “fully functioning VHS tape” on December 3. When we’re all living sans-Netflix in Pharrell’s Martian colony, at least we’ll know there’s one thing a corrupted satellite or space version of David Zaslav can’t take away from us.
Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez announced the release during a “special Beyond Fest-partnered screening” in Los Angeles yesterday. The VHS celebrates 45 years since the original Alien film was released in 1979, back in the good old days when Blockbusters were as common as chestbursters and a stream was just a small river. The movie will be presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, with a vintage-esque sleeve featuring artwork from Matt Ferguson.
Just announced by writer and director Fede Álvarez at #BeyondFest: A limited-edition VHS of #AlienRomulus will release on December 3. Artwork by @Cakes_Comics. pic.twitter.com/g4YXzKldoT
— 20th Century Studios (@20thcentury) October 20, 2024
Of course, the Alien “interquel,” which stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, and Isabela Merced, is being released on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD as well. Those releases will also hit shelves December 3, and include some equally old-timey bonus features like “featurettes with filmmakers Fede Alvarez and Ridley Scott, behind the scenes content, and alternate and extended scenes,” per a press release.
It that still sounds a bit newfangled for you, Alien: Romulus isn’t the only thing to release on completely impractical (but also completely awesome) physical media this year. Green Day is leaning all the way into what will hopefully become a fun new trend by releasing their seminal 1994 album, Dookie, “the way it was never meant to be heard”—a.k.a. by putting one song each on any household toy that can make noise. Those include a floppy disk (“Having A Blast”), Teddy Ruxpin doll (“Chump”), Gameboy cartridge (“Welcome To Paradise”), Big Mouth Billie Bass (“Basket Case”), HitClip (“She”), and even a toothbrush (“Pulling Teeth,” of course). You can learn more about that project below. Time to dust off those VHS players, and love live physical media!