The latest film in the Alien series is, according to the film's director, a homage to the 2014 game Alien Isolation.
In an interview on the Total Film podcast (via GamesRadar), Fede Álvarez, the director of Alien: Romulus, explained that he placed a telephone in certain scenes of the film to pay homage to Creative Assembly's game.
According to Álvarez, using phones as save points in the game always made him nervous because every time he saw one, he knew something dangerous was about to happen.
For this reason, he decided to include an Easter egg in the film by placing a telephone in certain scenes before something scary happens.
“The film is structured in such a way [that] “Every time something bad happens, you see a phone,” he explained.
“In the game, every time you knew there was a phone involved, you thought, 'Shit, I'm about to get into a bad situation.' It's the same here.”
“You'll see them strategically placed throughout the film. When you see the phone, it's like you have to brace yourself for impact.”
Álvarez also thanks Alien Isolation for making him realize that Alien can still be made scary today and for making him want to take on an Alien project of his own.
“Alien: Isolation showed me that Alien can be truly terrifying and well done. [today]”, he said.
“I played for a few years after it came out. Don't Breathe had just come out. Or did I wait for Don't Breathe to come out and then play that game?
“So I thought to myself at the time, 'Damn, if I could do anything, I'd love to do Alien and scare the audience again with that creature and those environments.' I played and realized how terrifying Alien could be if you put it back in that tone.”
Alien: Romulus is the seventh main entry in the Alien series and is scheduled to be released on August 16th.