The "Alien" franchise has jumped around in time so much that it can be hard to keep track of it all. The first four films in the series, from Ridley Scott's original through "Alien Resurrection," follow a linear timeline and span about 260 years, with the meat of that time existing between the beginning of "Resurrection" and the end of "Alien 3." "Alien" takes place in the year 2122, "Aliens" occurs nearly 60 years later in 2179, after Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) spends several decades drifting through space in cryosleep, and "Alien 3" essentially takes place right after "Aliens." Then there's a 200-year jump to "Resurrection" in 2379.

After that, though, everything gets a bit more difficult to follow.

The next film released in the series (not counting the "Alien vs. Predator" films

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