Lights, Camera, Xenomorphs: Tracking Down The Alien: Romulus Filming Locations

Key Locations

1. Interiors and the colonists’ trailer park

Origo Studios, Budapest, Hungary

Alvarez’s penchant for physical effects led the production to create everything from scratch. He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I have this obsession with no green screens, so we built every creature and set. Everything had to be built so we were really living and breathing in these spaces.”

And those massive sets were constructed on the soundstages at Origo Studios. The facility opened ten years ago, and is no stranger to Hollywood productions – or RIdley Scott’s projects for that matter. Both Blade Runner 2049 and The Martian filmed at the studio. 

When it came to the mining colony, the crew embarked on a thorough location scout of the Budapest area trying to find a real-life location. They visited deep coal mines which were earmarked early on as a filming location for the colonists’ trailer park. 

Those specific sequences wound up being shot at the Origo Studios’ backlot but Marshall attests that initial scouting mission was worth it, offering his team “good reference from a real deep pit, [with] dark dirt, muddy machinery.” 

The team brought in “hundreds of tons of dirt” and then flattened it all out to make space for the ships coming in to land. 

How to Get There

The studio is located in Budapest but unfortunately is not open to the public for tours. 

2. Jackson’s Star Mining Colony

Mátrai Erőmű, Visonta, 3272 Hungary

While Romulus didn’t film in the UK like the early Alien films, it shares location similarities. Alvarez and crew lensed several of its key sequences at an active power plant; Aliens shot it climax at the now-decommissioned Acton Power Plant and Alien 3 filmed the tarry shores of Fiorina 161 near to a colliery beach with glimpses of Blyth Power Plant in the background. Check out my in-depth report on those Alien 3 locations.

Yes, power plants might not be the most happenin’ of places to wanna visit but they’re used a fair amount thanks to their industrial visage. 

What the Romulus crew found was an active power plant outside of the city that still functioned as a working facility throughout production. One of the plant’s representatives even told them that it was impossible to shut it off and they’d have to work around the climate– including fog, wind, rain, and noise. “They actually had landing strip lights coming into that location just for the workers, because some days, it was so heavy that you couldn’t see.”

Production made use of the plant’s cooling towers in its opening sequences. In addition, that same area is where the colony affairs office and crop fields were both set up. Marshall calls them both a “real location built in.”

How to Get There

From the city centre of Budapest, take the M3 east to Visonta if you’re driving. Using public transport, you can catch a train and a bus to venture out but it might be difficult to access the areas used in Romulus as it’s an operational facility.

3. The corridor between Remus and Romulus

Kossuth Lajos tér Metro Station, Budapest 1011, Hungary

The Weyland-Yutani research station where the crew spend most of their time is split into two sides, Romulus and Remus. According to production designer Naaman Marshall, the corridor and staircase that connects the pair was shot at night within the Budapest metro. 

As per several Reddit threads and an hour of research and the YouTube video below, I strongly suspect this is the correct station. Please step in and correct me if I’m wrong!

How to Get There

This station is on the Metro M2 line (thanks to commenter, fabs!) which appears in red on metro maps. You can use the BudapestGO app to purchase tickets or ticketing machines inside metro, bus and tram stations. More information on ticket prices can be found here.

Traveler’s Tip: If you want match-up photos similar to the movie, try visiting outside of commuter hours and popular tourist times. Later at night or very early in the morning.