We already have Star Wars Day and Back to the Future Day, so why not Alien Day?
20th Century Fox has announced plans to honor the blockbuster sci-fi horror franchise with its own special day next month, and there’s already a long list of Alien-inspired products and events lining up to honor the characters and creatures made famous by the series. Mark your calendars, folks: Alien Day will now officially be celebrated each year on April 26.
The decision to go with April 26 as Alien Day is a nod to the infamous moon “LV-426,” where the crew of the space freighter Nostromo had their first, ill-fated encounter with the xenomorphs in Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien.
There’s already a pretty impressive schedule of events and products being launched on Alien Day, not the least of which is a special, limited-edition series of shoes based on those worn by Ellen Ripley (as played by Sigourney Weaver) in James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens. The “Stompers” being released that day were initially revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, and will be available in both the high-top form worn by Ripley and the mid-top version worn by the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) in the film. They’ll be available to order on Reebok.com that day, but it’s unknown exactly how many will be made or how much they’ll cost.
On the big-screen side of things, the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain will hold screenings of both Alien and Aliens around the country that day, and anyone who pre-orders a ticket will get a commemorative t-shirt designed by the Mondo art team (the same artists responsible for the Mondo movie posters that are beloved by many movie fans). Tickets for the double-feature screenings go on sale today online and at Alamo theater locations.
Among the other Alien-related happenings coinciding with the franchise’s special day, there will be a range of new, exclusive movie merchandise made available from a long list of sellers, as well as a new audio drama available through Audible titled Alien: Out of the Shadows and starring Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), a new Alien novel titled Alien: Invasion published by Titan Books, and a fancy new, hardcover edition of Dark Horse Comics’ original Aliens series from the ’80s.
And that’s just the tip of the xenomorph-filled asteroid …
There’s also a good chance that we’ll get more news about the upcoming Alien: Covenant movie set to star Prometheus actor Michael Fassbender, as well as Demian Bichir, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, Jussie Smolett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez, and Ben Rigby. That sequel to Prometheus (and pseudo-prequel to Alien) is scheduled to hit theaters August 4, 2017.
Over at ComingSoon.net, there’s a fairly comprehensive list of products that will be released on Alien Day, along with information about how to get your hands on them. Basically, April is going to be a good month to be an Alien fan.