A Sci-Fi thriller with a female lead just landed at the box office in North America - Annihilation. A fair comparison to the "Alien" series considering the genre, themes, and tone.
Annihilation opened with $11 million in North America. It seems to be a financial disappointment. We will see how it fares over the weeks and internationally - but on a reported production budget of $40 million, it will have difficulty making a profit.
Considering this, we should really re-examine Alien: Covenant's Box Office and perhaps, the studio heads will take a sharper look. Covenant has outperformed films with similar genres/tones (Annihilation isn't the only example - look at 2017's Life). So, the "Alien" name obviously still means something. It just doesn't resonate today as much as Superhero movies or Star Wars films.
The key will be a lower budgeted film. If Alien: Covenant was crafted with a $40 million production budget, that North American opening weekend of about $36 million looks a lot better.
So, I think Scott can definitely make another movie and it can be financially successful. The trick will be the budget. It depends on the money people, but the "Alien" series can definitely still have some bite - especially if you look at the Sci-Fi/Thriller/Horror mash-ups of late.
