Where was Alien: Romulus filmed? All shooting locations explored 

The new installment of the legendary Alien saga, Alien: Romulus, will amaze the audience with its super-intense plot and creepy atmosphere. Adding to the team of the legendary franchise is director Fede Alvarez, famous for his previous works in Evil Dead and Don't Breathe, in a movie featuring an entirely new cast trapped with the deadly xenomorph inside a desolate space station.

Most of the filming for Alien: Romulus took place in Budapest, Hungary—the famous Origo Studios. This is an ultramodern facility known to have some big-budget Hollywood productions take place there, which formed the setting against which the space scavengers' frightening encounters get fleshed out.

The whole production was based within this studio, and practical effects were relied upon to a great degree for convincing on-screen display. This made Alvarez keep CGI to the minimum possible so that the actors and the audience would come close to the terrifying realism of the Alien universe.

---

Origo Studios (Budapest, Hungary): The Heart of Alien: Romulus Production

The film was mostly shot at Origo Studios, Budapest, which has been around since 2012 and has hosted several other blockbusters like Blade Runner 2049 and Dune.

Fede Alvarez insisted on practical effects. He wanted everything from spaceships to miniatures, and the sets were to be painstakingly built so that actors could physically relate to their surroundings.

This not only contributed to the realism of the movie but also gave a nod to the original Alien movies, where practical effects were paramount.

---

Impact of practical effects on Alien: Romulus

The call to go practical rather than CGI on Alien: Romulus was an ultra-conscious choice based on Alvarez's vision of creating a more real and intense horror element.

Physical sets and creature designs made up the claustrophobic and truly terrifying aspects fans of this franchise have become accustomed to.

This provided a way for the actors to deliver more realistic reactions to the on-screen terrors, as they were reacting to actual objects and not just digital placeholders.

It's the use of animatronics, puppeteering, and old-fashioned techniques such as painted backdrops that gave this film its texture and authenticity, something often lost in over-reliance on CGI.

---

What is Alien: Romulus about?

Alien: Romulus is a 2024 American science-fiction horror film that serves as the seventh installment in the Alien franchise and is a stand-alone interquel that takes place between the events of Alien.

It follows a young space colonist group whose scavenging of a derelict space station inadvertently releases a xenomorph.

One of the few women among the workforce on the mining colony planet Jackson, Rain jumps eagerly at moving to a disused orbital research platform, which could vastly upgrade her living conditions and those of her friends on the far-off, mostly lawless planet of Yvaga.

Together with an android, Andy, they moved around to explore the place, but the worst happens when they are met by creatures and the full terror of a xenomorph. The theme of the film is built around survival, the relationship between siblings, and the terror that lies deep down in space.

---

Alien: Romulus is a shining example of how practical effects can truly be effective in modern filmmaking. By choosing Origo Studios in Budapest as the primary location and investing in physical set designs, Fede Alvarez has brought to the screen a movie that is true to its roots—the Alien movies.