Timothy Olyphant has been cast in a major role in Noah Hawley’s upcoming “Alien” series at FX, TheWrap has learned.
The “Justified” star previously worked with Hawley on Season 4 of “Fargo.” He returned earlier this year as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on “Justified: City Primeval,” which was set in Detroit, Michigan.
Hawley, who serves as the series showrunner, writer and director, is eyeing an early 2025 premiere date, he recently TheWrap.
“The plan right now is to go back in January and be shooting in February, and looks like shoot until July or so, which puts the air date somewhere in the first half of ’25,” Hawley said.
Originally, the series, which is set 70 years before the events of Ridley Scott’s 1979 film, was supposed to begin filming in March 2022, but was put on hold for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Production officially began in July in Thailand with a British cast under a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement. Filming at that time did not include series’ lead Sydney Chandler, who is American. The SAG-AFTRA strike shut them down in late August.
“It’s very exciting that I get this opportunity, with films like ‘Fargo’ or ‘Alien,’ to live within the world that was created by these directors and storytellers,” he told TheWrap. “Fargo” is based on the 1996 Coen Brothers movie, while the “Alien” franchise began with Scott’s 1979 film.
The new series does not actually take place on the USCSS Nostromo, the doomed craft from the first film, but is inspired by the design of the original film. “You’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m in the movie,’” said Hawley of walking onto the set.
Deadline first reported the news.
