Summary
Cailee Spaeny’s next movie,Alien: Romulus, should be a significant improvement from her first science fiction movie role. Cailee Spaeny was one of thefirst cast members to joinAlien: Romulus, the newest entry in Ridley Scott’s iconic sci-fi horror franchise. Though there are still very fewconfirmed details aboutAlien: Romulus' story, a trailer has been released, and it already looks like a very promising movie. It also seems somewhat similar to Cailee Spaeny’s first role in a feature-length film, though her next movie should be much better.
WhileAlien: Romulusis Spaeny’s next movie, it’s not the only project she’s already been cast in. Along withAlien: Romulus, Spaeny is filming two new projects:Beefseason 2, and the sequel toKnives Out, titledWake Up Dead Man. Those projects make Spaeny’s future look very bright, butAlien: Romulushas also highlighted a mistake from early in her career. Luckily, her new sci-fi role should be much better than her first film as an actor.
Alien: Romulus Timeline - When It Takes Place Compared To The Other Movies
The ninth installment in the Alien film series, Alien: Romulus, has been released 38 years after the first movie, but it makes the timeline confusing.
Pacific Rim: Uprising Was Cailee Spaeny’s First Movie Role
Cailee Spaeny’s first sci-fi movie, and her first movie role in general, came inPacific Rim: Uprising. She played Amara Namani, a young Jaeger pilot who teamed up with John Boyega’s Jake Pentecost to fight a Kaiju invasion. While it may be Spaeny’s first feature film, it was far from her best.Pacific Rim: Uprisingonly earned 42% with critics onRotten Tomatoes, and only 37% with audiences. It also had a lackluster box office performance, earning just $290 million (viaBox Office Mojo) - well shy of the $375 million it needed to turn a profit.Fortunately,Pacific Rim: Uprisingdidn’t start a downward trend for Spaeny.
Cailee Spaeny technically had an acting credit beforePacific Rim: Uprising. She played Erica in the short filmCounting to 1000, butPacific Rim: Uprisingstill counts as her first feature-length film.
What Cailee Spaeny Has Done Since Pacific Rim: Uprising
ThoughPacific Rim: Uprisingwasn’t a particularly impressive start to Spaeny’s acting career, it didn’t slow her down at all. Since 2018, Spaeny has appeared in seven movies and three TV shows, and many of them have been hugely successful.Spaeny’s career has also been on a noteworthy hot streak in the past few years, as she starred in two critically-acclaimed films:Priscilla, where she played the titular wife of Elvis Presley, andCivil War, where she played the young photojournalist Jessie. Her success wasn’t just a matter of luck, though, as Spaeny has also proven she can nail a leading role.
Civil War
Jessie
One movie in particular perfectly highlights why Cailee Spaeny is such a popular actor:Priscilla.Spaeny was nominated for 12 awards due to her performance inPriscilla, and she even won the Venice Film Festival’s award for Best Actress in 2023. Many of the reviews forPriscillaalso point out that Spaeny gave a talented, nuanced performance, and that she had more than enough range to play Priscilla at different points in her life.
Priscilla
Cast
Based on the memoir written by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, Priscilla is a biography-drama that follows the titular woman through the journey that was her and Elvis Presley’s relationship. From the moment they met at a party through their marriage, Priscilla takes viewers through the eyes of the lovers through the highs and lows of their relationship.
Alien: Romulus Is The Sci-Fi Movie Role Cailee Spaeny Deserves
Through the course of her career, Spaeny has more than proven she’s worthy of much better movies thanPacific Rim: Uprising. She has been a consistently great actor, and her last sci-fi movie simply doesn’t reflect that.Spaeny has earned a chance to make a better sci-fi movie thanPacific Rim: Uprising, andAlien: Romulusis the perfect chance to prove just how much she’s developed since her first film. Spaeny will be playing a character named Rain Carradine inAlien: Romulus, and she should be able to easily transfer all her previous experience into the role.
The trailer forAlien: Romulusgave a few hints about who Rain is, and what the role might demand of Cailee Spaeny. Rain seems to be a spiritual successor to Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley from the originalAlienfilms.Her similarities to Ripley, coupled with the few story details that are available about Rain, like the fact that her brother is on board the ship with her, indicate Spaeny will have a very meaty role to chew on. She’ll likely have to play the part of a terrified survivor, a grieving sister, and a deadly warrior all at once. Luckily, Spaeny has more than enough range.
It’s taken six years, but Cailee Spaeny finally has the sci-fi movie role she deserves. Her return to the genre will be quite different from her debut -Pacific Rim: Uprisingis far from a survival horror movie - but it should be a marked improvement. Some ofthe bestAlienmovieshave come in recent years, and based onAlien: Romulus' trailer and cast, the next installment should continue that trend. Cailee Spaeny could very well become a sci-fi icon thanks toAlien: Romulus, and her own talents as an actor.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
