Ridley Scott says hard R rating for Alien: Covenant. In a backstage interview following the Golden Globes where Ridley Scott’s recent science fiction The Martian came away with 2 awards, Ridley Scott commented that he would be aiming for a Hard R rating for the Prometheus sequel, Alien: Covenant. Matt Damon won “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy” and The Martian took home “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy”.
When a reporter commented on fans being interested in the horror aspect of the Alien series, Ridley Scott responded “that’s why I’m doing it. I’m going to do pretty Hard R.” He further elaborates that he wants to do a scene with the same sort of impact that Alien’s original chestburst scene had but something “much worse.”
Ridley Scott Says Hard R Rating for Alien: Covenant
He also mentions that two weeks ago saw he “all of the south island of New Zealand in two days.” There’s a strong possability that this was whilst scouting for locations for Alien: Covenant. You can watch the whole interview, courtesy of ScreenSlam, below (Alien: Covenant is brought up around the 2 minute mark):
Prometheus received an R classification in the USA, most notably due to the scene in which Noomi Rapace’s Shaw removes the Trilobite from within herself. When it was first released, the chestburst scene in Alien was notorious for causing people to vomit or leave the screens. It will be nice to see Alien: Covenant return to the screen with a scene of that kind of intensity. Thanks to Daz85 for the news.
Glad someone got the reference.
You mean a xeno in a suit? That's obviously what a xeno-penguin would be..
A xeno-penguin... now that would have been something.
The end of it is pretty damn stupid. Shaw just rips the cord out of herself? Oh, yeah, that won't cause massive internal bleeding and kill you, and the notion of just stapling a wound like that shut and being able to do... Anything at all, is just silly.
Whatever they have in store, I just hope that the script is solid.
the CGI design.
Btw, penguins entered the aliens universe in the first AVP film...
And of course, it will not top the tension of Kane's chestburster scene. Scott reminds me more and more of Peter Molyneux. Stop telling things you can't accomplish.
Also didn't anyone for a moment think that we're all miss-interpreting Ridely's definition of Hard R... he could mean that it'll be a Hard Romance!
It is indeed! Many outdoor scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings was filmed there.
If I were looking for "monumental rock" and "monumental forests" that would be my first stop.
Oh I went to that Fjord. Amazing place!
Seems like Scott is going for a Paradise paradise that I'm guessing was poisoned by a dark Gigeresque biology.
News Hub New Zealand has also picked-up on this possibility:
http://www.newshub.co.nz/entertainment/could-ridley-scott-bring-alien-to-nz-2016020415#axzz3zAIpJIo1
Fjordland National park on the South Island:
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.c.photoshelter.com%2Fimg-get2%2FI0000U4z0kYbKmUk%2Ffit%3D1000x750%2FMilfordS-2904.jpg&hash=e7d93e868c9b8fa34792d28f0ea1811bcfbea59b
Indeed. Effective horror requires certain scenes to unfold slowly without cheap jump scares thrown in merely for the sake of it.
I remember in the blue ray of Prometheus Sir Ridley talked about playing a joke on Kate Dickie when she's checking out the body of Milburn, i.e., she's not told that the snake thing will jump out. I bet on a cold filming day when she's worrying about nailing her lines, being in the presence of a director megastar then this snake thing suddenly jumps out she got a real shock. It makes me think why didn't Sir Ridley inject this sort of fun playfulness into Prometheus itself: the way a cat terrorises a mouse. Maybe he should take that creativity with him into how to scare us and forget about some gore scene that might look better in a b movie.
A good example would be the scene in The Fly where Seth Brundle is working with the computer to figure out what has happened, and it is revealed that his DNA was recombined with The Fly. The horror/dread of that scene carries on throughout the scenes that follow. Something like that would probably be deemed "too intense" for the PG-13 audience.
Basically, it neuters horror. Modern, general audience, horror is basically limited to jump scares, and quick shock moments.
I can't understand the conditions for that, unless we are talking about some horror-elements and not a horror film IE something like GREMLINS or TEMPLE OF DOOM. But dread and intensity are hallmarks of good horror.
I doubt it would be something Saw-style. Like you, I've always found his films to content scenes that are quite intense with some manner of gore. It's that kind of thing I'm hoping to see repeated here.
As whiterabbit points out, R also means more than just claret.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he did include egg-morphing. Sometimes, he'll refer to some 'amazing, unexpected' thing which turns out to be something us fans already know all about. Do you recall that interview where he 'spoiled' the opening of Blade Runner 2? The spinner lands at an isolated farm house, the blade runner goes inside, sits down, waits for the farmer to come home? The farmer comes home, the blade runner shoots him, and pulls the farmer's jaw out? The jaw is made of steel and has an identification number stamped on it?
That was the original opening for Blade Runner.
Something that is timelessly scary is the unknown. Not knowing what happened to people is scary. Giving a hint, or showing traces of what happened is even scarier. Giving conflicting hints/traces about what happened is the scariest of them all. Also, gorging in dissonant sounds and audio, imposing suspense and haunting uncertainty will take you to places that scares you on a really disturbing level. Alien has all the potential. The movie makers just have to take a few steps back and treat and portray the Alien in a new way. We know about the chestbursting, headbiting and facehuggers already; just like the rest of you've said, that stuff really doesn't have to show up in the film - suggesting that it happened has a much bigger effect because it lets us imagining what happened, and imagining to be chestbursted, head-bitten or facehugged will always be more horrifying due to our own imagination. I really hope that the delve into new concepts and elaborate more on the Alien, making it alien and unpredictable again. Scott better show us some Egg-Morphing and he better not drop the ball on that one since it's such a horrifying concept.
What made Alien great in my eyes was edge of your seat moments, unexpected events, and a xenomorph that was shaped and colored to blend in and camoflage itself with the ship interior. Masquerading as tubes and pipes, hiding amongst pulley chains etc...
It would be interesting to see the alien chestburst in a different unexpected way. Like say if it no longer bursts from the chest but somehow explodes from a human hosts hand, using the fingers to crawl away while it evolves. While that is a bit going into The Thing territory, something like that i would think would warrant having some gore if it furthers the plot and adds the element of surprise.
M Night Shyamalans Signs, although gimmicky and hitchcockian, had more edge of your seat moments than all of prometheus in my view. And accomplished with minimal gore.
Of course, it's all going to rely on having a solid foundation and script behind it.
For those that didn't watch my video, the shorthand version is I believe there's no need to try to "one-up" ALIEN, make it gory-er, more chaotic, whatever Scott is claiming. Make a film that compliments the movie from a prequel position.
Bottom line is you will never make a movie better than ALIEN in that universe. ALIENS is a close runner-up but nothing stands quite like ALIEN.
Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You
By Dan Riskin
I agree; wasps paralyze tarantulas but don't numb them, so they feel every bit of the larva eating away at them. Carnivorous plants are also incredibly creepy; imagine being slowly digested by something like this:
The intent back then was that the Alien was dying. It was lethargic because it was nearing the end of its life.
I completely agree. I used to turn away from the screen when the hugger made its move or when the chestburster was born. Not anymore. The last time a screen in a film had any effect like that on me was in the remake of Evil Dead.
I'd really rather it just be a good film (well I'd rather it weren't made at all but apparently things can't be left alone) than concentrate on being a shocking film.
^ I wrote that before reading the article. "Prometheus received an R classification in the USA, most notably due to the scene in which Noomi Rapace's Shaw removes the Trilobite from within herself."
Ah. Well here in the UK it's rated 15. And the most disturbing scene to me is the acid-snake/worm scene.
I don't think todays audience is more sensitive, Its the opposite. people to day are very desensitised from the internet and games, Things that were considered pornographic or violent 40 years ago is kiddy stuff today, Its only because they want more people to see the movie so lowering the rating makes it more accessible.
Well, irl insects are way way worse than anything the xenomorph does..
...what bothered me about the movie Alien, I can't just forgive is that Ripley finds the Alien, has time to put on space suit n play around with her lap top to blow it out of the ship...it just laid down on its ass until Ripley gave it the boot..wtf is that about?
Because Engineers are revealed in the very first scene...so stupid..that's like showing the grown Xenomorph in the first scene of Alien..
And the reason Lambert's death is so effective isn't just that we only see before the murder and then a very vague shot of the aftermath... It's because (on the whole, I know some people think she's annoying) we cared about her. She was unsettled from the moment they landed, and it just winds up and get's worse and worse right until it reaches an absolute fever-pitch with her death. That poor woman.
I could give two shits about Fifield. His first scene paints him as a mercenary dick. The next scene we see him in he's getting freaked out over a dead body, then he's the one getting lost even though he's got a freaking map, then he's getting high... I just... Uah-what!?
Yes exactly. Not at all scary, but really intense and beautifully executed. Prometheus is not a horror film, definitely sci-fi/adventure.
One of the best times of the movie with the opening, the storm, the visit of the pyramid, and the whole sequence of the juggernaut.
Maybe the script is disappointing but visually it's genius movie, and is spectacularly out of this world.
But in Prometheus, it was knowable and hence not scary. And it won't be scary in Alien Covenant either if Ridley is going for the same thing again.
I'm trying to think back, and I think the only scary thing in Prometheus was that moment when Fifield and the other dude were hanging out in the pyramid and there was the ping. The knowledge that there was something alive in there with them, and knowing that it was most likely NOT the same old Alien made it frightening.
Only if Ridley makes the new thing unknowable, and truly Alien he may succeed, but even if it is amazingly well done and gross, that will not accomplish anything if it is a repeat of past horrors.