Scott on Covenant 2, Possible Title (Alien: Awakening?) and Shaw's Role

[echobbase79]

He's made some decidedly underwhelming films but I wouldn't go so far as to call them "stinkers" though. 

A "stinker" to me would be something like AVP: Requiem. Something that's totally un-watchable.

Fair point, but Robin Hood was pretty sleep-inducing.

Also there's probably a reason 1942: Conquest of Paradise is literally impossible to get on home video.

I never saw it, but wasn't Exodus: Gods and Kings meant to be pretty terrible?

Sir Ridley Scott still is in HIS PRIME.

Maybe NOT in ALIEN films but yes in other films.

THE MARTIAN(3D)(2015) was the biggest success of his life and he still has close relationships with THE BIGGEST movie stars in this world: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Natalie Portman, etc....

Prior to The Martian I'm not sure he'd made a truly great film since Kingdom of Heaven, and even then the theatrical version was a mess.

I recently picked this up for $1 at my local flea market. So it moves at a snail's pace, huh?

[Protozoid]

The Duellists, Alien, Blade Runner, Someone to Watch Over Me, Thelma & Louise, White Squall, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangster, Body of Lies, Prometheus, The Counselor, The Martian...

...anybody who thinks that Scott is hit or miss hasn't counted his hits. I actually think that 1492: Conquest of Paradise has some of Scott's finest moments in it. It still might be the most beautifully photographed movie I've ever seen, and the Paradise themes are super relevant to Covenant. I didn't care for Robin Hood. Legend is a hot mess but it does have interesting things about it. Hannibal had some tasty moments. A Good Year is alright but not my cup of tea. Exodus was mixed but I would be very interested to see the full-length version with the missing 90 minutes. The Counselor might be the most controversial one: considered his worst, I would argue that it's his best. It has a growing cult around it, including Guillermo del Toro, who has interesting things to say about it.

In my estimation, Scott has made some of the greatest films ever made, and most of his films are above average. His worst films (Legend? Black Rain? Hannibal? Robin Hood?) are still average. I would also argue that he's getting better, since his best movie (imo, The Counselor) and his biggest hit (The Martian) were both in the last four years.

The real problem is that people like to have knee-jerk reactions to movies, and Scott's movies take a few viewings before the knee-jerk reflect wears off and you can see what he's doing. Take Blade Runner. I think Kingdom of Heaven, Prometheus, and The Counselor are particularly likely to get the Blade Runner treatment later on. It's already happening with all three. Ever since the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven, that movie has enjoyed a pretty good revival. Prometheus has a huge following of its own. The Counselor has a smaller, but very loyal cult, and I think in the end it will be considered Scott's best film. It's like a more adult Blade Runner with the comic book elements removed.

[GrimmVision]

Life and Covenant are nearly 2 months apart. I doubt there's gonna be much, if any, thunder stolen.

[D. Compton Ambrose]

I smell a retcon in a future Alien film.

[XenoHunter99]

Life and Covenant are nearly 2 months apart. I doubt there's gonna be much, if any, thunder stolen.

How much appetite do you think there is for movies that can be summed up as "rapacious space monster eats people?" Probably one is enough for a whole year. Two is pushing the limit.

[SiL]

Life will suffer then, not Covenant.

[Pvt. Himmel]

Life will suffer then, not Covenant.

Very true, and if anybody assumes different... Then they aren't playing with a full set of bocce balls.

[XenoHunter99]

Life will suffer then, not Covenant.

Very true, and if anybody assumes different... Then they aren't playing with a full set of bocce balls.

What is the basis for your assessment?

[SiL]

Covenant has brand recognition and a fanbase.

[XenoHunter99]

Covenant has brand recognition and a fanbase.

That's not exactly an ironclad guarantee of box office success. Alien is no Star Wars. It's not even Transformers, in terms of box office numbers or fan appeal.

[Scorpio]

There's never a guarantee for success, even Star Wars could flop but it's unlikely.  Every Alien film has made back its money at the box office, but whether you judge it a success or not is debatable.

[XenoHunter99]

There's never a guarantee for success, even Star Wars could flop but it's unlikely.  Every Alien film has made back its money at the box office, but whether you judge it a success or not is debatable.

To me, a lot of the Alien movies have been disappointing. But the same can be said of Star Wars, Transformers, and so on. In context of this discussion, I think the Life movie could steal some of Covenant's thunder because themes are similar, Life cast may be more attractive to casual theater audience, and all the promos make the movie look fresher, more interesting, more worth a look. Lots of expensive-looking CG, too. This does not mean it will outperform Covenant. It only means Life does a lot of what Covenant promises to do, and maybe does some of it better. So far, Life is 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's early. 8 critic reviews, no fan reviews. As with everything, we must wait to see how it actually unfolds.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

Covenant has brand recognition and a fanbase.

That's not exactly an ironclad guarantee of box office success. Alien is no Star Wars. It's not even Transformers, in terms of box office numbers or fan appeal.

Keep in mind that Covenant's production budget is more than twice that of Life. That means that the marketing budget will also be considerably bigger. So that is already almost a guaranteed box office win for Covenant vs Life, nevermind it's existing brand recognition.

However, Life may still end up being more successful if it does District 9 type numbers, since it will be a lot easier to recoup it's small budget. So Covenant could make more money but still lose out to Life if you know what I mean.

[BishopShouldGo]

Covenant has brand recognition and a fanbase.

That's not exactly an ironclad guarantee of box office success. Alien is no Star Wars. It's not even Transformers, in terms of box office numbers or fan appeal.

he didn't say it was a guarantee of box office success.

[juxtapose]

. .alien movies are scary. .or they meant to be at some level. .i never found them to be particularly scary. .just shocking. .but theirs that R rating that will never get them to perform as high as animated movies or star f**king wars. .omg i though the force awakens was the most over hyped shit i ever seen on the big screen. .i think i enjoyed avpr more. .those are family movies. .my kid wants to watch it. .but he cant go alone so i have to go with and take his sister with and take their friends with and becomes this whole family afair. .i am not even married. .i do not have kids. .but i know, i have plenty of friends and family that do. .thats why r rated movies will never perform that high at the box office. .