Alien: Romulus goes old-school with its marketing as the first full scene gets released on VHS

There are marketing campaigns and then there are Alien: Romulus marketing campaigns. 

The Fede Alvarez-directed Alien movie has already had the James Cameron seal of approval, and now it’ll appeal to fans of a certain vintage – by releasing its first scene on VHS.

A handful of press were sent a mysterious tape featuring the unique Alien: Romulus gift. On it, as shown by io9/Gizmodo, there’s a full scene from seemingly early on in the movie. You can see it for yourself above.

The scene in question revolves around the crew getting ready for liftoff and embarking on a mission, presumably towards the space station Renaissance. Listen closely and you can even hear the name of the planet they’re floating above: Varga. 

The core cast, including Aileen Wu, Archie Renuax, and David Jonsson’s characters, are all shown, alongside Isabela Merced and Cailee Spaeny. Everything looks pleasingly lo-fi, too – not least of all the analog-style technology, which is only given greater tactility by the fuzzy picture quality and artifacting on the VHS.

“Me and @20thcentury decided to release one full scene from my movie #AlienRomulus thou I had just one condition… it needed to be on VHS,” Alvarez tweeted after the surprise marketing blast. The tape also included a tease for Alien: Romulus’ panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

Alien: Romulus, which is set between the events of Alien and Aliens, is releasing in theaters on August 16, 2024. A new trailer was released in June. For more, check out the new horror movies coming your way very soon.