The latest installment of the iconic franchise Alien has arrived on the small screen with the series titled Alien: Planet Earth. This new project, created by Noah Hawley, aims to capture the essence of the original material while updating it for a contemporary audience. One of the most notable challenges of the series has been the famous ‘chestburster’ sequence, one of the most memorable moments in the history of science fiction cinema.
Do you want to feel it in your chest?
The prosthetics artist Steven Painter, responsible for executing this iconic scene, has expressed the pressure he felt when approaching his version. In statements to Bloody Disgusting, he revealed that he worked for a year on the sequence. Hawley explicitly mentioned the scene with John Hurt in the original film, which raised expectations for achieving a comparable or even superior result.
The chestburster scene in Alien: Planet Earth takes place in the seventh episode, the penultimate of the season, when a newborn Xenomorph emerges from Arthur’s chest. Unlike the classic version, where poor Kane is the host, this time the focus is on showing the full body of the monster in daylight, allowing viewers to appreciate the detailed and chilling design of the creature.
Painter approached the task with great care, repeatedly reviewing the original scene to break it down and take elements that would allow him to update it. “We hope we have given the fans what they wanted to see”, Painter commented, while emphasizing the importance of keeping the essence of the franchise alive through this new format.
All episodes so far of Alien: Planet Earth are now available to watch on Hulu in the United States and on Disney Plus in the United Kingdom, giving fans the opportunity to enjoy this new interpretation of the saga that has defined a genre.