Alien: Covenant is filming in New Zealand based on a Tweet by Special Visual Effects Supervisor, Neil Corbould. We reported in January that Sir Ridley Scott had commented on scouting for locations in New Zealand, possibly for Alien: Covenant.
At the end of February, Stuff.co.nz had reported on the possibility of Alien: Covenant being filmed in Fiordland but there was very little to go on: “There’s been a few whispers around Fiordland about some scenes being filmed in Milford Sound but at this stage people are keeping quiet.”
At the end of last week, Neil Corbould posted a Tweet simply stating: “On my way to Milford Sound!” Corbould is serving as the Special Visual Effects Supervisor for Alien: Covenant so it seems likely that he is heading to Milford Sound for the Prometheus sequel.
Neil Corbould has an impressive resume behind him and has worked with Ridley Scott on several films including The Martian, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down and Gladiator.
The plot synopsis for Alien: Covenant mentioned the colonists in the film believing they were heading to paradise. Based on the pictures I’ve seen of Milford Sound, it could certainly fit the role of paradise. Thanks to Stolen for the news!
In other Alien: Covenant related news, actor Demian Bichir posted the following image to his Instagram account. It shows him having a cast taken of his head.
Whilst he doesn’t specifically state it is for Alien: Covenant, we know he has been cast in the film and considering this being an Alien film, it might be likely that Bichir’s character meets an unpleasant end at the hands of an Alien (or android, Blade Runner style!)
I've just found some actually. News post incoming.
Another report:
http://www.chimayi.com/blog/has-the-new-prometheus-movie-landed-in-te-anau
http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/377992/sci-fi-blockbuster-scenes-being-filmed-fiordland
Lol! It's a sign from the engineers.
The COVENANT crew - They "like to minimize risk."
EDGE Auto rental has these Mobile PO's here in NYC. They are nice. They had a contest last month, and I was trying to win Production one for our locations on CORTEX (I was TRANSPO and LOCATIONS COORDINATOR on that) and this Assistant Camera person had a meltdown because they didn't have their own truck. It was very funny.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Edge+Auto+Rental+Mobile+Production+Office&biw=1276&bih=675&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwill-Sc9ejLAhVEnoMKHVyDCacQ_AUICSgE#imgrc=cvLIdxZVlJM5QM%3A
Well, I'll be... what are the odds of that! Nice spot Corporal.
It says that the truck has:
- Dual air-conditioning heat pumps
- Sink area with bar and fridge
- Wired for ethernet network
- 7 speed manual transmission
- Build in Jacuzzi
So kind of a luxury truck version of the Prometheus space ship.
To think, we're such a sad bunch of nerds that we're now having in-depth discussions about the vehicles being used by the production.
Good find. Name of those trucks are indeed a great coincidence
That too. Production vehicles are rented.
That truck was hired from Auckland-based rental company North Harbour Rentals. So not a recycled truck from the first Prometheus film.
It would be crazy to ship in a truck like that from the UK when you could just rent one locally for much cheaper.
They wouldn't hold onto a Mobile Production Office (PO) and NOT use it on other productions, just because PROMETHEUS was decaled on the side.
That's a very NICE Mobile PO though!
Some people are really playing with fire
Office Prometheus
in the Office no one can see you hanging out on the AVPGalaxy forum...
'Office Prometheus' search didn't give anything interesting.
Do we have any Kiwis on the board who could go check it out?
Or maybe using the name Prometheus instead of Alien is to discourage gawkers?
I more and more think that we ll see some underground facilities and some Matrix shit...
so all this nature will be shown briefly
I thought this movie had nothing to do with Prometheus anymore?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/78345810/Has-Alien-Covenant-landed-in-Fiordland
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2Fimages%2F1%2Fa%2Fn%2Fb%2Ft%2Fj%2Fimage.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1an80i.png%2F1459224351875.jpg&hash=dba5280355b7ce54d3dd7f8d6171d715531e77fc
So yeah, that job ad does indeed sound like Ridley Scott.
Apologises.
I'm not particularly versed in Blade Runner, I'm afraid. Do you have a link?
Not sure if you're aware of the controversial interview Ridley did with a British newspaper during Blade Runner's production which almost led to a total crew revolt as well as instigating the infamous T-shirt war?
Yes, Guv'nor!
Though isn't that the case with all jobs, to do what you're told to do?
Sounds like Ridley to me.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/77946760/Sir-Ridley-Scotts-Alien-film-set-for-Fiordland
Well it was obvious after Globes...
AVP and Scified are both top sources for all kinds of informations about Alien and other SF movies!
Good work guys!
That's spot on. And it gives some solid reasoning for why the Deacon became a mountain in the comics...
No need to apologize Stolen. I just jokingly stated that we here at AVPG had already picked up the possibility of a New Zealand, South Island shoot long before Stuff.co.nz, Scified and News Hub New Zealand. I think the Corporal even had it on the news page back in early January as part of a different article.
@Corporal Hicks Thanks for the article.
I think this is the perfect place to represent Paradise. And we just talk about the surface of the planet.
Because I have a theory about the engineers, I think they're troglodytes. This is one reason why there will be big mountains in Covenant. Like Prometheus everything that represents engineers are in caves.
I hope (and I think) the caves will be original, may be giger-esque and impressive. Obviously everything will be shot in the studio.
I hope so to... we need more Gigerscapes and beings ..
I can't say Prometheus ever put across a sense of terror. It was a gorgeous looking film though. That Orrey scene is still one of my favourite visual scenes from the series.
I'd love to see Covenant put across both. I really want to have the terror return.
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FKweECKN.jpg&hash=5e7a259599377715a05e1434b8460ae3228b93b9
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.allw.mn%2Fcontent%2Fbr%2Fst%2Flbi2l821556617edb4901956880460.jpg&hash=18eeeb2a87b41cf182137d749b0db24a68433f3b
Fair enough. I'm not familiar with it myself - but I'm not really well versed on my world and geography.
Only thing is, Milford Sound in Fjorland Park is a very touristy spot and visually very well known the world over. It's similar in popularity to the Grand Canyon, Yellow Stone Park, Wadi Rum, Ayers Rock in Australia, Serengeti, Maasai Mara etc.
So I suspect they'll do something similar to how they transformed the Wadi Rum in Jordan into LV-223 in Prometheus and into the Acidalia Planitia in The Martian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxg7rUJm8fQ
I believe you posted the Stuff.co.nz article. The tweet from Corbould is new and substantiates that article.
Those are some gorgeous places! I can't wait to see where they go with this. I still hope we get some truly Giger-esque locales as well. Thanks for the pictures!