I feel very late with these comments, (I mean who needs the millionth post about their thoughts on Covenant?), but I really want Sir Ridley to finish off this series and give us one more go in the Alien'verse.
I will preface by saying that I did not like Prometheus and was initially mixed on Covenant, but have grown to appreciate it a lot more especially as it was featured in a youtube CinemaWins video last week, which basically noted how major plotholes perceived by the casual filmgoer were in fact explained within the film's narrative. How well one accepts those explanations may be the ultimate deciding factor on whether you enjoyed the film or not, but I won't go into that debate.
What I do want to mention is how much I enjoy the world and atmosphere in every single one of Ridley's alien films. There's an immense attention to detail and sensibility that you don't get in modern blockbusters. When I think of Ridley Scott's style or approach, I imagine him in the league of Martin Scorcese. Not in terms of film output, but in terms of encyclopedic knowledge of filmmaking and the visual medium. And this vast knowledge is what gives us that unique sensibility that we just don't get in cookie cutter modern blockbusters. Ridley Scott is the last of the Greats. He just went for something different and it wasn't everyone's cup of tea.
I think of Covenant as being in the same vein as an 80's Carpenter film. It didn't do very well because audiences weren't expecting it, didn't get it or don't care for it. And at the moment, it'll be known as the "Fassbender robot" movie. But in time, when the dust settles, tastes change and when looked at as a whole, everyone will appreciate what it does differently and presents differently in the Alien'verse.
Other than that, I don't think of budget as a limiting factor for any possible Covenant sequel. If anything, I'd be pleased to see Ridley challenged with a lower budget and be forced to be very precise with executing a script that would allow him to wrap up expressing all the themes and ideas he had started in Prometheus.
At the moment I'm really looking forward to his next - All the Money in the World - and hopefully we get the Covenant sequel within the next couple of years.
Ridley is a remarkable film maker, but his films tell too much story, it took awhile before Covenant kicked into gear, Perhaps a different writer and director is needed, only though where would you go ? you differently don't want The Brothers Strause , how fox approved that Avp 2 script is beyond everyone.
Perhaps Prometheus sabotaged its own momentum with its dumb founded illogical moments that caused most viewers to have negative remarks in the first place, maybe Covenant didn't stand a chance ? I would say if predator preforms under expectations too, fox will put these two franchise's away for a decent decade.
