After recent Alien projects like Alien: Covenant and Alien: Romulus were considered damp squibs by some, there was apprehension going into Alien: Earth. But Noah Hawley's passion project is proving itself to be one of the finest franchise installments we've seen in a long time.
Alien: Earth is set in 2120, just a couple of years before the events of Ridley Scott's seminal movie. It sets the scene when a mysterious spaceship, the USCSS Maginot, crash-lands in Prodigy City on Earth, carrying all sorts of unique (and inherently dangerous) alien creatures, including the titular Xenomorph. Sent out to investigate the crash landing, Wendy— the first Hybrid—and other Hybrids discover the different species of aliens, and before long, the Xenomorph is set loose.
This series is nuanced in a way that Alien movies in recent years have lacked. It's thought-provoking and stylish, but when it delves into the horror aspect, it's thrilling, bloody, and terrifying.
Alien: Earth reaches 9.2M views in first six days
The excellence of Alien: Earth is reflected in its viewership. As reported by Deadline, Disney tends to keep viewership figures behind lock and key. However, for Alien: Earth, the House of Mouse revealed that the series attracted an impressive 9.2M views globally across Hulu and Disney+ in its first six days. Views are determined by hours watched divided by the title’s runtime.
Viewership figures can get confusing, so to put it into an easily digestible perspective, Marvel series Agatha All Along garnered 9.3M views in its first seven days, and Star Wars series The Acolyte reached a wildly impressive 11.1M views in its first 5 days. Clearly, the stats for Alien: Earth aren't quite on par with other huge franchises, but it's had a positive start nevertheless.
There's also a big catch when it comes to Alien; it's an FX series, as Variety points out. These figures from Disney are specifically for streaming. Alien: Earth also airs on FX’s linear channel. We don't have the figures for that side of viewership yet, but it presumably takes up a notable slice of views.
New episodes of Alien: Earth premiere Tuesdays on FX and Hulu in the United States, and Disney+ internationally. It'll be interesting to see how the series retains its viewership. Currently, it has not been renewed for another season, but given the positive response from critics and promising ratings, they'd be silly not to explore additional installments.
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