Alien Covenant

Date Released: May 19, 2017 (May 12, 2017 – UK)
Directed By:
 Ridley Scott
Written By: Jack Paglen, Michael Green, John Logan
Certificate:
 R
Length:
123mins
Starring: 
Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudip, Demián Bichir…
Budget: 
$97M

Alien Covenant is the sequel to 2012’s Prometheus and prequel to 1979’s Alien, and was directed by Ridley Scott. The script was written by Jack Paglen and later rewritten by Michael Green and John Logan. In September 2015, Ridley Scott announced that the title of Prometheus 2 was Alien: Paradise Lost but in November 2015, Fox announced the title as Alien Covenant. In February 2015, Fox had changed the release date to August 4, 2017. In November 2016, the studio changed the release date again to May 19, 2017.

 Alien CovenantAlien: Covenant Cast

Michael Fassbender … David / Walter
Billy Crudip … Oram
Demián Bichir … Lope
Katherine Waterston … Daniels
Danny McBride … Tennessee
Carmen Ejogo … Karine
Jussie Smollett … Ricks
Amy Seimetz … Faris
Callie Hernandez … Upworth
Alexander England … Ankor
Benjamin Rigby … Ledward
Nathaniel Dean … Hallett
Uli Latukefu … Cole
Tess Haubrich … Rosenthal
Guy Pearce … Peter Weyland
Noomi Rapace … Elizabeth Shaw
James Franco … Branson

Storyline

The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape.

Pre-Production

There were rumblings for a few years after Prometheus was released that Ridley Scott was going to make Prometheus 2. Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace had made comments here and there they were going to return to do it. It was rumoured that 20th Century Fox were finding it difficult coming up with a story to continue with Noomi Rapace’s Shaw character. Writer Jack Paglen penned the sequel and by March 2014, it was reported that writer Michael Green (Green Lantern) had been brought aboard to re-write his original draft for Prometheus 2. John Logan was then brought on to rewrite the script again.

The story of Alien: Covenant was said to see Shaw and David go to the Engineer’s homeworld and find out why and how they created the xenomorphs. The story was said to connections to Ripley and Giger’s original xenomorph would return. In November 2015, Fox released the plot synopsis for the Prometheus sequel, now titled Alien Covenant. Covenant is the name of a colony ship that comes across a planet that contains David as its only inhabitant. The events in Alien Covenant take place 10 years after what happened in Prometheus. Michael Fassbender will be playing two androids – David on the planet and Walter who is part of the Covenant crew. The original title was confirmed to be Alien: Paradise Lost which was a reference to the Engineer’s planet – Paradise. A few months later, 20th Century Fox announced the film’s title as Alien: Covenant.

 Alien Covenant

Casting

In February 2013, Noomi Rapace stated they she’d like to return for a sequel if they find the right story. In November 2014, Ridley Scott confirmed that Noomi Rapace would be returning briefly. In December 2015 it was announced that Katherine Waterston had been cast as a lead character named Daniels. In February 2016, it was reported that Danny McBride is in talks for a role in Alien Covenant. It was also reported that Demian Bichir would be joining the cast as the head of ship security.

Deadline reported that Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smolett and Callie Hernandez had been cast. By the end of February, Australian actors Alex England and Benjamin Rigby had also been cast. It was also reported that Bill Crudup was in negotiations to play a role. Guy Pearce also returns as Peter Weyland from Prometheus in a flashback sequence. In December 2016, we exclusively reported that James Franco will have a minor role in Alien Covenant.

 

Alien Covenant Production

Alien: Covenant filmed in Sydney, Australia and Milford Sound in New Zealand in late March 2016/early April 2016. It was revealed that Michael Fassbender would be filming for 16 weeks.

“Shooting will be a mix of location and studio shoots with location requiting “monumental forest and monumental rock and the rest will be in the studio with fairly formidable CGI. The Martian was made for the most part 94 pecent in a Budapest studio. With green screen I now can’t tell what was studio and what was shot in Wadi Rum.” Ridley Scott

At the end of March, the first on location pictures in South New Zealand were released online, showing set construction at the foot of Mitre Peak. In May 2016, the first official behind-the-scenes picture was released showing Katherine Waterston as Daniels sitting in a ship. After nearly three months of shooting, Alien Covenant officially wrapped in July 2016.

 Alien Covenant

The Creatures: Neomorphs

Alien Covenant will not feature any of the creatures we saw in Prometheus. Instead, we’ll get new versions of the Xenomorphs we know and love but the old classic Xenomorph will still appear too. In October 2016, AvPGalaxy posted an exclusive report regarding the new creatures – the Neomorphs that will feature in Alien Covenant. These Aliens are the result of the local ecosystem being mutated by the black liquid. Over time, pods started to grow on the trees and the ground, and release a spore when disturbed. The Neomorphs have a white colouration, with a pointed head and two dorsal spines. Upon birth, the Neomorphs move on all fours similar to the Bambi-burster from Alien 3.

 Alien Covenant

The Neomorph

A few days after our report, various images of the new creatures leaked out showing various forms of a Xenomorph, a Facehugger and Alien Eggs. These are supposed to be precursors to the classic Xenomorphs that appeared in the Alien series.

Post-Production

In February 2016, it was announced that Harry Gregson-Williams would be composing the score for Alien Covenant but in November 2016, he announced that due to scheduling conflicts, he wouldn’t be doing the score. In December 2016, it was announced Jed Kurzel (Assassin’s Creed) will be composing the score. The film’s run time is 123 minutes.

Alien Covenant Rating

Ridley Scott confirmed in January 2016 that Alien Covenant will be aiming for a ‘Hard R’ rating. Prometheus was also R-Rated though it was a very tame R Rating compared to other Alien movies. In April 2017, Alien Covenant was officially given a R rating and later rated a 15 in the UK.

Marketing

20th Century Fox released the first trailer for Alien Covenant on Christmas Day. In February 2017, Fox released Alien Covenant Prologue Last Supper which is a scene that won’t appear in the final movie. The final Alien Covenant trailer was released at the end of February. A few days later the red-band version was released with some minor differences. A viral video were released in March revolving around Walter, the new android from Weyland-Yutani. As part of Alien Day, cinemas were showing Prometheus and Alien as part of a double bill and at the end there was some exclusive footage from Alien Covenant.

The ‘backburster’ sequence was shown as well as a new prologue scene featuring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender showing what happened to them between Prometheus and Alien Covenant. A new clip was released in May 2017 – Tracking the Xenomorph which shows the characters trying to find the Xenomorph in the shafts as well My Face – the crew’s encounter with a Facehugger. Just before Alien Covenant’s release, HBO aired a Making Of feature giving us a look at the set design and special effects.

Box Office

Alien Covenant was released in a few countries a week earlier than in the U.S. and took $42 million in 34 countries overseas in its first weekend. A week later on May 19th, it opened in the United States with a weekend gross of $36 million, slightly below its $40 million projection. On the Friday, it opened with $15.3 million in 3716 theatres including $4.2 million from Thursday night previews with $36 million for the entire weekend. In comparison, Prometheus opened back in 2012 with $51 million in its opening weekend so we have a $15 million drop.

It also opened in a further 52 new countries making an additional $30.3 million overseas. In its second weekend domestically, its takings dropped by a massive 80% and only made $13 million while overseas, it earned another $10 million. The domestic total so far is $67,219,484 while overseas stands at $106,615,130. The total worldwide takings are $174 million.

 Alien Covenant

Katherine Waterston as Daniels

Reception

Alien Covenant has a 71% ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 285 reviews. Many of the reviews praised the cast, locations, sets, visual style and terror while some of the criticism was directed at the pacing of the final act when the Xenomorph we know and love appears. A few of the reviews also lament the use of CGI for the Neomorphs and Xenomorph as opposed to using good old-fashioned practical effects. Though the consensus is that Alien Covenant is a more enjoyable movie than Prometheus.

Media Releases

Alien Covenant is due to be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Ultra HD formats around August/September time. No official details have been given yet but an exclusive Steelbook set will be released as well as new Blu-Ray boxsets featuring all six Alien movies.

Merchandise

An Alien Covenant novelization written by veteran Alan Dean Foster was released in May 2017. Two behind-the-scenes books were released in June 2017 called “Alien Covenant Collector’s Edition” from Titan Books and “The Art and Making of Alien Covenant” from Simon Ward. In terms of action figures, NECA released the Neomorph and Xenomorph figures as well as an Accessory Pack in June 2017.

Alien Covenant Sequels

Ridley Scott has repeatedly said that he wanted to make at least two more Alien sequels. In March 2017, he said Alien Covenant 2 was already written and ready to go. In May 2017, Scott said the film was ready to shoot within 14 months. The film’s title may be “Alien: Awakening” as Scott made reference to the title in some reports though in other reports he referred to Blomkamp’s Alien project as Awakening too.

Alien Covenant Production Stills

Assault Assault
Stasis Tubes Stasis Tubes
Giger Tunnel Giger Tunnel
Daniels Daniels
Daniels Daniels
Daniels Daniels
Daniels Daniels
Daniels Daniels
Daniels Daniels
Daniels Daniels

Alien Covenant Concept Art

Landing (Valentin Petrov) Landing
Mountain (Valentin Petrov) Mountain
Juggernaut Crash (Valentin Petrov) Juggernaut Crash
Juggernaut Crash (Valentin Petrov) Juggernaut Crash
Juggernaut Crash (Valentin Petrov) Juggernaut Crash
Juggernaut Crash (Valentin Petrov) Juggernaut Crash
Juggernaut Crash (Valentin Petrov) Juggernaut Crash
Outfit Styles (Andrei Riabovitchev) Outfit Styles
Outfit Styles (Andrei Riabovitchev) Outfit Styles
Outfit Styles (Andrei Riabovitchev) Outfit Styles

Alien Covenant Magazine Articles

Empire (February 2017) Empire (February 2017)
Empire (April 2017) Empire (April 2017)
Cineplex (May 2017) Cineplex (May 2017)
Starburst (May 2017) Starburst (May 2017)
Total Film (May 2017) Total Film (May 2017)
Empire (June 2017) Empire (June 2017)
SFX (July 2017) SFX (July 2017)
Total Film (July 2017) Total Film (July 2017)

News Archive

What Happened to Dr. Elizabeth Shaw? ()
Ridley Scott Regrets Choosing to Direct Alien: Covenant Over Blade Runner: 2049 ()
Check Out This Extended Alien: Covenant Shower Scene! ()
Last Signs of Life – New Alien: Covenant Short Film! ()
Carlos Huante Talks Early Prometheus & Alien: Covenant Scripts ()

You can view the full news archive for Alien: Covenant here.

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Comments: 32
  1. “oh and what happened to the OTHER neomorph? the fuck did the thing go?” – They were both shot to death onscreen. Rosenthal gunned down one of the adolescent neomorphs during the field attack, causing the other one to go for her. That one then attacked and killed her later when it was fully grown, and Oram shot it.


  2. My review, as I post movie reviews to my buds on steam.

    ALIEN COVENANT: I liked it, but it was a mess indeed. To me and my friend it seemed to have been chopped to all hell. As in there is TONS of scenes they outright removed that will be added into a directors cut to bank on sales on bluray/digital. Literally entire segments of the story were just flat out MISSING from the film, as though they were removed purposefully.

    other than that, I liked it all except for “WHAT THE FUCK WERE THOSE TWO HAVING SEX FOR AFTER EVERTYHING THAT JUST HAPPENED AND WAS STILL GOING ON? The scene made no sense, as though it belonged earlier in the film before anyone was aware of a threat. The shower scene was just plain stupid and did not belong in the film at all. They should have killed those two characters off individually in seperate scenes.

    oh and what happened to the OTHER neomorph? the fuck did the thing go?

    summary, a total mess that will be most likely fixed to a degree with directors cut and a couple of stupid scenes that didnt belong and a lame climax. i will slap covenant with a coveted 6/10, better than prometheus, imo. that fassbender is one helluva captivating actor and there are some truly “profound” scenes involving him that paint a dark picture of the universe and the purpose of life….in general…..it hits you hard.

    also, “offscreen kills” i think there was literally like 5 of them. each of which have to be SHOWN in the directors cut. also, there were scenes where ridley’s “panning shots” literally seemed FAST FORWARDED by some FOX editor dude….to speed up the process. the whole film seemed like FOX fast forwarded the whole thing to cut it to exactly 2 hours. it was a HUGE FOX BLUEPRINT ALL OVER THE FILM. thats what i mean to say. Fox producers seem to be at fault here….mainly. and thats all i got. cheers guys.


  3. Just came back from seeing alien covenant this movie really got me pissed off there’s a lot to like in the movie but damm are these are some of the dumbest characters in the aliens film’s and that ending don’t get me started must give it another viewing 7 out of ten maybe 6


  4. Just came back from seeing alien covenant this movie really got me pissed off there’s a lot to like in the movie but damm are these are some of the dumbest characters in the aliens film’s and that ending don’t get me started must give it another viewing 7 out of ten maybe 6


  5. Is it just me or is the countdown not accurate. For me it says ‘1 month 0 week 1 day 9 hours …’
    Today is March 22nd and the release is on May 19. Am I missing something?


  6. I’m hoping the Xeno egg shown briefly in the AC trailer is in fact Dr. Shaw who has been morphed in a manner somewhat similar to Brett in the DC version of Alien. If so, her Face Hugger will most likely implant a queen Xeno.


  7. They should definitely bring Predator into it. There was a predator in the ship in the first movie, sneaking around when Janek went to get Milburn and Fifield. You can see its triangular laser sight if you watch closely, and hear it stalking in the background.

    Most people just dismiss it as a lens flare, but I think it was cool and I doubt it was accidental considering.


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