Latest News

“There Is No Comic Relief” – McBride on Alien: Covenant

During promotion for his latest HBO series, Vice Principals, Danny McBride spoke to HitFix about Alien: Covenant. It’s only a brief clip but McBride manages to say quite a lot. He talks about how Ridley Scott asked to meet him with no knowledge of what movie it was about. McBride went on to say that as Ridley Scott was showing him pictures of spaceships, McBride realized “Jesus. This is fucking Alien. He’s talking to me about Alien right now.

McBride explains that he expected to be the “silly comic relief” but that impression changed as soon as he saw the script. “Then I got the script and I’m like this shit is dark! There is no comic relief in this at all. This is a dark horror movie. And that was exciting. To be able to step into something like that and to participate in a way that not relying on things I’d done before.”

Talking about his latest HBO project (Vice Principals), Danny McBride commented on Alien: Covenant saying that "there is no comic relief in this at all!" "There Is No Comic Relief" - McBride on Alien: Covenant

Talking about his latest HBO project (Vice Principals), Danny McBride commented on Alien: Covenant saying that “there is no comic relief in this at all!”

So for those worried about McBride’s background with comedy, it would sound as if they have no need to worry about his character providing silly comic relief in Alien: Covenant. Thanks to Darkoo for the news. Keep an eye on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest on Alien: Covenant.



Post Comment
Comments: 73
« Newer Comments 12 Older Comments »
  1. NickisSmart
    I like that he got uncomfortable acting across from Fassbender, never having been in a movie with an android, before, and becoming uncomfortable when the person across from him never, ever showed any emotion. I loved that, in Prometheus, with David 8, but I think it will be a lot better in a more Alien-like setting, like with Ash--never reacting. Just watching.
  2. Corporal Hicks
    Quote from: NickisSmart on Jul 31, 2016, 07:28:27 PM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 31, 2016, 08:16:04 AM
    McBride has one. Daniels has one. They're loving their shotguns!

    Where is it said/shown that McBride has a shotty?

    The interview that was posted on the last page.

    Quote from: SuicideDoors on Jul 31, 2016, 06:06:36 PM
    Man I'm loving these McBride tidbits so much!! Closer in tone to Alien  8) describing his interactions with Fassbender's android produced a genuine ear to ear smile

    Yeah, I'm really digging McBride's interviews. He's saying the right things and pushing my buttons.
  3. Mustangjeff
    Quote from: The Eighth Passenger on Jul 20, 2016, 03:17:48 PM
    Quote from: Mustangjeff on Jul 19, 2016, 11:34:35 PM
    I don't think we can draw any conclusions to the qualifications of McBride's character as of yet.  I've seen some brilliant people at my employment who look a little rough around the edges.  For example, one of my coworkers has a PHD in particle physics, but you wouldn't think twice if you saw him as a Walmart greeter.

    :laugh:
    I must admit, I usually look like a bit of a nerf-herder myself. I shouldn't be judging. Now where did I put that shaving razor?

    Quote from: Mustangjeff on Jul 20, 2016, 11:59:02 AM
    To me the Ark in Space concept makes a lot of sense.  It's possible the Covenant was launched without FTL closer to 2030.  If the movie takes place around 2100, that would allow the Covenant to travel 60-70 LY at sub-light speeds.

    It could be used to explain why the ship is filled with couples, and why they sent ships filled with people instead of probes.  A small sub-FTL probe might lack the capabilities and propulsion storage to get anywhere close to light speed to be useful.

    Makes sense, but that would rule out another David being on-board (as the Corporal claims) if they left earth decades before the Prometheus expedition. You also have the issue of the Covenant being a Weyland - Yutani ship. The merger between the two companies only happened sometime after the events of Prometheus. So that would effectively rule out that theory.

    I guess we'll have to wait and see how they fleshed-out the story.

    Quote from: Kapital on Jul 20, 2016, 06:32:22 AM
    If all of them are couples maybe Daniels its already pregnant of Ripley....

    Ripley is already 11 or 12 years old by then.

    Oh your right.  I forgot about the David on board the Covenant.  There were different David models, so it's possible that the Covenant is sporting an older model.   What we might get is something along the lines of a David 8 vs David 3 or David 4.



    David 8 : David on the Prometheus.  He was a new model at the time the Prometheus was launched.

    Weyland builds and successfully deploys thousands of Seventh Generation Davids into workplaces across the universe. Human acceptance of David 7 reaches an all-time high thanks to Weyland's highly classified emotional encoding technology, David 7 can accurately replicate most human emotions down to the tiniest nuance while consistently achieving all mission objectives.
    JULY 6, 2068

    David 6 : Only 7% of humans can recognize the sixth generation of David as a cybernetic individual.
    FEBRUARY 26, 2062

    David 5 : Weyland makes significant intellectual and emotional updates to the David android, further increasing human acceptance.
    JULY 7, 2052

    David 4 becomes the first commercially available model of the David series. He is eventually expected to improve work-flow and efficiency at offices and homes across the world.
    APRIL 1, 2042

    After android regulations are lifted, the third generation David is deployed internally in order to test human acceptance of cybernetics individuals. Results are encouraging.
    JUNE 30, 2035

    Weyland makes significant adjustments to the David android prototype, facilitating David's first interaction with humans. This initial meeting is very promising.
    JANUARY 1, 2028




    Well, I think my theory is shot about the Covenant being an old-tech space ark type colonization ship.  One small "item" blows that idea out of the water.  The Weyland-Yutani patch

    The patch on the crew clothing pretty much means that the Covenant must have launched after the events in Prometheus in order for the corporate merger to have happened.

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChAW3wfW4AQs2xr.jpg
  4. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯
    Quote from: Mustangjeff on Jul 19, 2016, 11:34:35 PM
    I don't think we can draw any conclusions to the qualifications of McBride's character as of yet.  I've seen some brilliant people at my employment who look a little rough around the edges.  For example, one of my coworkers has a PHD in particle physics, but you wouldn't think twice if you saw him as a Walmart greeter.

    :laugh:
    I must admit, I usually look like a bit of a nerf-herder myself. I shouldn't be judging. Now where did I put that shaving razor?

    Quote from: Mustangjeff on Jul 20, 2016, 11:59:02 AM
    To me the Ark in Space concept makes a lot of sense.  It's possible the Covenant was launched without FTL closer to 2030.  If the movie takes place around 2100, that would allow the Covenant to travel 60-70 LY at sub-light speeds.

    It could be used to explain why the ship is filled with couples, and why they sent ships filled with people instead of probes.  A small sub-FTL probe might lack the capabilities and propulsion storage to get anywhere close to light speed to be useful.

    Makes sense, but that would rule out another David being on-board (as the Corporal claims) if they left earth decades before the Prometheus expedition. You also have the issue of the Covenant being a Weyland - Yutani ship. The merger between the two companies only happened sometime after the events of Prometheus. So that would effectively rule out that theory.

    I guess we'll have to wait and see how they fleshed-out the story.

    Quote from: Kapital on Jul 20, 2016, 06:32:22 AM
    If all of them are couples maybe Daniels its already pregnant of Ripley....

    Ripley is already 11 or 12 years old by then.
  5. Denton Smalls
    Wow, the couples thing took me by surprise but I like it.

    QuoteIf all of them are couples maybe Daniels its already pregnant of Ripley....

    I was thinking the same thing! Maybe we'll see Ripley's dad too?
  6. Mustangjeff
    Quote from: Scorpio on Jul 20, 2016, 06:51:55 AM
    The couples/colonisation ship angle reminds me of Ark in Space, which is a Dr Who serial that has a few similarities to Alien.  'Elizabeth Shaw' being another Dr Who connection.

    Of course it has been in a lot of other stuff, too.  Pandorum being one of the most recent.

    To me the Ark in Space concept makes a lot of sense.  It's possible the Covenant was launched without FTL closer to 2030.  If the movie takes place around 2100, that would allow the Covenant to travel 60-70 LY at sub-light speeds.

    Why would writers go this route?

    It could be used to explain why the ship of filled with couples, and why they sent ships filled with people instead of probes.  A small sub-FTL probe might lack the capabilities and propulsion storage to get anywhere close to light speed to be useful.

    It also provides a jolt when the crew gets to Paradise and they find David waiting.  If we assume the crew is unable to communicate with Earth in real-time, they pretty much have to take David's word for anything he says.
  7. Scorpio
    The couples/colonisation ship angle reminds me of Ark in Space, which is a Dr Who serial that has a few similarities to Alien.  'Elizabeth Shaw' being another Dr Who connection.

    Of course it has been in a lot of other stuff, too.  Pandorum being one of the most recent.
  8. Mustangjeff
    Quote from: The Eighth Passenger on Jul 19, 2016, 09:45:32 PM
    Quote"I'm having a blast on that movie. It's awesome. I'm the pilot of the spaceship, the Covenant. It's a colonisation ship. It's full of couples."
    "We're setting off to find a planet that we're hopefully going to colonise and s*** doesn't go as planned."

    Quote"I'm the pilot of the spaceship Covenant, which is a colonization ship, searching for a planet where we might start life anew. I run the ship."

    Looking at a few of McBrides quotes, it's rather odd that all these couples would just randomly travel through space hoping to find some habitable planet where they can start live anew in a COMPANY spaceship choked up with weed and piloted/captained by a rather scruffy and iffy looking character.

    Why would W-Y spend money on a venture such as that? You'd usually send out probes first to find a suitable planet. W-Y would also want to be assured of a return on their investment so the planet would obviously need to be rich in precious metal or mineral wealth before sending anyone anywhere.

    It just doesn't add up, unless W-Y is running some kind of coffin ship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_ship) scheme of dubious legality.

    I don't think we can draw any conclusions to the qualifications of McBride's character as of yet.  I've seen some brilliant people at my employment who look a little rough around the edges.  For example, one of my coworkers has a PHD in particle physics, but you wouldn't think twice if you saw him as a Walmart greeter.

    My first thought when I read "colonization ship" in the synopsis was of a large slower moving ship carrying a large group of colonist as a generational ship, or possibly asleep.  I even speculated that this ship might have been launched years before the Prometheus mission.

    According to the Weyland industries timeline

    1) Hypersleep chambers were patented in 2030
    2) FTL was discovered in 2032
    3) First FTL ship was built in 2034

    So it's possible that the Covenant was launched around 2035-2040 and had FTL/Hypersleep capabilities.


    Here are a few random thoughts.

    1) Maybe the Covenant was launched on a predetermined route and automated to search for habitable planets.  The crew is awakened once the computer finds a suitable planet.

    2) Maybe David puts two and two together that planet Paradise is actually along this flight path and bides his time, or maybe he sends the ship a signal to change course and come to him.  In any event, it's possible that it didn't take David ten years to get from LV223 to Paradise, but that is how long he waited for the Covenant get there.

    3) Maybe David communicated with the Company about the events on LV223?  David asked for research materials, and the company offered up the crew of the Covenant in exchange for tech.

  9. 426Buddy
    I'm sure their mission will be fleshed out further in time, but I'm assuming they get taken off course from their original destination or the planet was probed and deemed a paradise without realizing its an engineer world.
  10. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯
    Quote"I'm having a blast on that movie. It's awesome. I'm the pilot of the spaceship, the Covenant. It's a colonisation ship. It's full of couples."
    "We're setting off to find a planet that we're hopefully going to colonise and s*** doesn't go as planned."

    Quote"I'm the pilot of the spaceship Covenant, which is a colonization ship, searching for a planet where we might start life anew. I run the ship."

    Looking at a few of McBrides quotes, it's rather odd that all these couples would just randomly travel through space hoping to find some habitable planet where they can start live anew in a COMPANY spaceship choked up with weed and piloted/captained by a rather scruffy and iffy looking character.

    Why would W-Y spend money on a venture such as that? You'd usually send out probes first to find a suitable planet. W-Y would also want to be assured of a return on their investment so the planet would obviously need to be rich in precious metal or mineral wealth before sending anyone anywhere.

    It just doesn't add up, unless W-Y is running some kind of coffin ship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_ship) scheme of dubious legality.
  11. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 19, 2016, 01:54:13 PM
    Quote from: tmjhur on Jul 19, 2016, 01:43:26 PM
    Do you guys think that brown haired David will be called David or have a new name?

    I reckon he'll be a David. That was his model name after all and he was mass produced.

    Reminds me of all those Bishops they had in Aliens: Colonial Marines. It was just f*cking Bishop's everywhere you looked.  :laugh:
  12. Corporal Hicks
    Quote from: tmjhur on Jul 19, 2016, 01:43:26 PM
    Do you guys think that brown haired David will be called David or have a new name?

    I reckon he'll be a David. That was his model name after all and he was mass produced.

    Quote from: SuicideDoors on Jul 19, 2016, 01:45:32 PM
    Alien covenant is sounding more and more to me like a direct prequel to Aliens, never mind Alien. To be honest it sounds glorious

    It will be interesting to see them play up the colonisation angles. Before it became Prometheus, Alien Zero/Engineers/Genesis was rooted in the idea of getting terraforming technology from the Engineers.
  13. BonesawT101
    Loving the simple premise. Colonists set out to discover a brave new world to seed with life, discover an amazing uncharted paradise planet, then all hell breaks loose when they get more than they bargained for.

    More and more this is sounding like the movie Prometheus should have been. Although I enjoyed that movie for what it was, I was still disappointed with it for what it wasn't.
  14. BonesawT101
    New details from McBride-
    Comic actor Danny McBride says he has been sworn to secrecy about his work on the new Alien movie from director Ridley Scott.

    The US star, known for his roles in comedy films such as Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express, will play the pilot of a spaceship in Alien: Covenant, Scott's second prequel to his 1979 horror classic.

    The film, which is due for release in August 2017, is a follow-up to 2012's Prometheus and also stars Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace.
    McBride told the Press Association: "I got a f****** document of like 10 pages of everything I'm not allowed to say about it."

    "I'm having a blast on that movie. It's awesome. I'm the pilot of the spaceship, the Covenant. It's a colonisation ship. It's full of couples."


    "We're setting off to find a planet that we're hopefully going to colonise and s*** doesn't go as planned."

    That's everything he mentions about Covenant. Original article is on belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  15. Corporal Hicks
    If you click the Quote button on a post you want to respond specifically too, it'll include a copy of that message so it's obvious who you're replying to. There's also a modify button on your own post after you've sent it so you can go back and change anything.


    Quote from: BishopShouldGo on Jul 14, 2016, 04:07:54 PM
    Bleak and macabre makes sense. Ridley had comedy overload with The Martian. I just hope they don't go overboard. This is an expensive movie, the masses won't like bleak.

    And he didn't even consider Martian a comedy.  :laugh: I'm sure we'll still some Alien-level moments of levity. But an over all darker tone is definitely something I'm happy about. *shudders at the thought of Resurrection's comedy*
  16. NickisSmart
    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Jul 14, 2016, 07:56:05 AM
    Quote from: NickisSmart on Jul 13, 2016, 03:38:33 AMHow much humor did The Thing have? Not very much.

    "You gotta be f*cking kidding..." and "Yeah, F*CK YOU TOO!" were both pretty damn funny.

    But I agree, there shouldn't be too much overt humour in this. The original Alien had some nice levity from Barker and Brett before the shit hit the fan.

    True, but on a whole, the movie ain't exactly a barrel of laughs. Though I always chuckle at the end result of MacReady's chess match with the computer. Cheatin' bitch. :)
  17. Plagueharvester813
    I think we all can agree with that


    what I just said does not make any sense but I was trying to reply to Whiterabbit and the reply button isn't working on my computer

    also is there a way to edit your posts because I don't want to have to make multiple comments like this that clog up the page
  18. BR1XER
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 14, 2016, 08:07:03 AM
    I asked Wayne Hagg how he would describe Covenant's tone...his response was "macabre".


    Quote from: HuDaFuK on Jul 14, 2016, 08:04:38 AM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 14, 2016, 08:01:05 AMFrom Barker you say?  :P

    Pfft, everyone here knows what I meant... 'B' ain't even near the 'P' key :laugh:

    No idea how you pulled that one off.  :laugh:
    Auto-correct is a bitch.

    Quote from: whiterabbit on Jul 14, 2016, 10:07:43 AM
    Guys you do know there is a risk of going over board on the horror and dreadful theme. By today's standards Aliens isn't all that violent but back in the day it was hard for many to watch. Oh boy if they pull that off again it would be a long time coming. Then again I'm reminded of Prometheus all to quickly.
    What risk? Surely you mean the risk of desensitizing audiences to violence or horror? Because if anything, the latest installments haven't been frightening enough, except for a few exceptions.
  19. whiterabbit
    Guys you do know there is a risk of going over board on the horror and dreadful theme. By today's standards Aliens isn't all that violent but back in the day it was hard for many to watch. Oh boy if they pull that off again it would be a long time coming. Then again I'm reminded of Prometheus all to quickly.
« Newer Comments 12 Older Comments »
AvPGalaxy: About | Contact | Cookie Policy | Manage Cookie Settings | Privacy Policy | Legal Info
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Patreon RSS Feed
Contact: General Queries | Submit News