Best Order to Watch the Alien Movies June 2025

Horror, action, and sci-fi all come together in a franchise that’s been going strong for 45 years. While you might be a little late to the most recent Alien film released last summer, there’s still time to catch up before FX’s Alien: Earth premieres on August 12. Here’s the best Alien movie watch order.

Should I watch the Alien movies in release or chronological order?

Before you get started, you may wonder whether to watch the Alien movies in release order or chronological order. And while you could go chronological, we really don’t recommend it. Watching the films in release order is generally the best way to experience the story as it evolved, and the way fans did.

The timeline is a little fractured, sure, but we have faith in you! And if you’ve spent any time navigating the multiverse chaos of the Marvel or even the Star Wars universe, this will be easy.

The best order to watch the Alien movies as of June 2025

Beyond organizing this list in release order, we’ve also included the Alien vs. Predator movies, even though they’re technically considered crossover rather than canon. Still, we wanted to give you the full picture when it comes to the best order to watch the Alien movies. No shortcuts here!

Alien (1979)

Alien is the movie that started it all. With a fantastic script by Dan O’Bannon and directed by the visionary Ridley Scott, Alien is a space slasher film that also serves as a masterclass in tension, horror, and unforgettable creature design. Sigourney Weaver cements herself as an icon here, and the rest of the cast is just as compelling — an endlessly watchable ensemble. While some might argue the film doesn’t hold up, we strongly disagree. If Alien were released today with the exact same shots and scenes, it would still be considered a landmark in sci-fi horror.

Aliens (1986)

Fifty-seven years after the events of the first Alien, the story picks back up with Ellen Ripley — now awakened from stasis and the only survivor from a disastrous attack on her ship. When contact is lost with a human colony on LV-426, the same moon, Ripley joins a squad of Marines to investigate. Perhaps some of the sequel’s brilliance can be attributed to James Cameron taking on both directorial and writing responsibilities, which, of course, means things just get bigger and bolder. Although it took some time to get this film off the ground, it received critical acclaim and is now considered one of the greatest films of the 1980s.

Alien 3 (1992)

Once again, Ellen Ripley manages to survive a spaceship catastrophe, this time crash-landing on Fiorina 161, a penal colony inhabited by former inmates of a maximum-security prison. Previously, having only directed music videos, Alien 3 was David Fincher‘s first feature film. And no, he wasn’t happy about it, pointing to a disagreement between his vision and studio interference. While it’s not on the same level as Aliens, it remains part of the Alien canon and is highly recommended viewing for fans of the franchise. And, of course, if you’re a David Fincher fan, it’s worth watching to see his growth as a director between Alien 3 and his next film, Se7en.

Alien Resurrection (1997)

Written by Joss Whedon and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Alien Resurrection picks up 200 years after Ellen Ripley’s sacrifice. The movie follows a group of scientists aboard the USM Auriga who use Ripley’s DNA to clone her, intending to turn her into a weapon to stop the Xenomorphs from reaching Earth. But this time, her blood is mixed with the Queen’s, giving us a super-powered Ripley with an unsettling, empathetic connection to the aliens. Although the film didn’t get the Whedon-penned sequels that were once planned, the story continued in the Alien comics. Alien Resurrection received mixed feedback from fans and critics. While it was the lowest-grossing film in the series in the United States and Canada, it still performed decently internationally, earning $161 million worldwide.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

The first crossover film, Alien vs. Predator, attempts to bridge the two iconic franchises. Despite its ambition, the movie didn’t fare well critically — it currently holds a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes — and Ridley Scott later trashed its timeline in his prequel films. The plot centers on an ambitious Charles Bishop Weyland (played by Lance Henriksen), who funds an expedition to Antarctica after a mysterious heat signal is detected. Weyland and his team, hoping to uncover the source, are led by resourceful guide Alexa Woods (Sanaa Lathan). The expedition doesn’t fare well, and soon enough, they run into some parasitic aliens. Making matters worse, another deadly species arrives, and the humans find themselves caught in the middle.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Another crossover not considered canonical, this one fared even worse than Alien vs. Predator, currently sitting at a meager 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, if you’re committing to the complete watchlist, dig deep — but honestly, if you had to skip one of the Alien movies, this might be it. The sixth film in the Alien franchise and the fourth in the Predator series, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, is a direct sequel to its predecessor. Picking up immediately after the previous film, a Predator ship crashes in a Colorado forest, unleashing an Alien-Predator hybrid that makes its way toward a small town.

Prometheus (2012)

Bringing back Ridley Scott as director, with a script by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, Prometheus finally gives us a prequel that takes the story back to the end of the 21st century. In this prequel, we follow the crew aboard the spaceship Prometheus as they investigate a star map linking several ancient Earth cultures. But soon, they discover that the very existence of the human race is at stake. While we don’t get Ripley this time, we get fantastic performances from an ensemble cast, including Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, and Guy Pearce. One of the standout themes in Prometheus is artificial intelligence, specifically through an android named David — something that feels even more unsettling to watch now through our current lens.

Alien Covenant (2017)

Things get even darker in Covenant, the prequel follow-up to Prometheus. Ten years after the events of the previous film, the colony ship Covenant, carrying thousands of passengers and human embryos in cryostasis, is en route to a distant planet for colonization. Along the way, the crew picks up a mysterious signal from a nearby planet that appears to be a promising (and much closer) alternative. Captain Oram (Billy Crudup) and second-in-command Daniels (Katherine Waterston) decide to investigate the hopefully hospitable planet, only to meet David, the lone survivor of the Prometheus mission. One of our favorite Alien movies to watch, Covenant delivers both action and dread.

Alien Romulus (2024)

Set in 2142, putting us between the original Alien movie and its sequel. In the most recent film, a group of young space colonists come upon a derelict spaceship. They scavenge in search of resources. Unfortunately, they encounter a xenomorph that has managed to survive, and it quickly turns into a battle for survival. Directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues, Romulus brings some much-needed fresh blood to a franchise that could’ve easily started feeling tired. Plus, the human-Xenomorph offspring is maybe one of the most horrifying-looking creatures ever.