It would seem that Ridley Scott is in fact not losing his marbles. After it was reported yesterday that the veteran director used a new title to refer to his long awaited Prometheus sequel, some thought that maybe Scott had maybe got it confused with another project he was working on. After all, it was just the other day that Prometheus 2 was dubbed Alien: Paradise Lost, and now Scott had apparently changed it to Alien: Covenant. So what gives?
Well, it would seem that the director has simply changed his mind as 20th Century Fox has officially revealed that the upcoming Prometheus sequel will in fact be called Alien: Covenant. What’s more, they’ve unveiled the film’s first synopsis which actually already explains where the title comes from, though it does bring up a mystery of its own.
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS — and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
Okay, so much like how Prometheus was the name of the space ship in the first film, the second is also following suit. Of course, Prometheus also brought more thematic meaning to the narrative through the myth of Prometheus (he stole fire from the gods to advance humanity), so maybe Covenant will do the same.
That’s not the big mystery I was talking about earlier though. No, look at that synopsis and you’ll notice one glaring oversight: There’s absolutely no mention of Noomi Rapace’s Shaw. Last time we saw her, she and Michael Fassbender’s David had just survived being attacked by an Engineer and were about to take his space ship back to the Engineer’s homeworld. Seeing as how David was nothing more than a disembodied head at this point, it’s kind of hard to understand how he got anywhere on his own and what happened to Shaw in the meantime?
Scott did previously mention that we would be meeting a new group of travelers in this movie, which certainly lines up with this synopsis. It has also been reported by Deadline that Scott was eyeing Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation breakout star Rebecca Ferguson for a “major female role” so could she be one of these new travelers? Perhaps their leader? These are all unknowns at this moment.
One major unknown that has always hung over the entire Alien franchise is exactly what the Xenomorphs are and why they were created. It’s become pretty obvious that they were not natural-born (acid blood, anyone?) and were supposed to be some kind of bioweapon, but who made them and to what purpose? Well, according to what Scott told IGN, that’s exactly what the Prometheus sequels are going to answer.
“Prometheus 2 will start getting shot in February and I’ve already begun now so I know what the script is. Then there will be another one after that and then maybe we’ll back into Alien 1, as to why? Who would make such a dreadful thing?”
And the reason for Scott trying to get back to this whole Alien universe is seemingly his regret at not directing the original sequels himself and letting the story slip out of his control.
“I’m trying to keep this for myself. I let the other one [Alien] get away from me – I shouldn’t have… I’m trying to re-resurrect the beast and let if off the hook for a while because I’m coming back into the back-end of Alien 1. I’m gradually getting to Alien 1.”
As long as he can also get back to the quality of filmmaking from Alien 1, you won’t hear me complaining. Any more scientists trying to pet hostile alien-snake things though…
Alien: Covenant is now officially scheduled for release on October 6, 2017, a date it shares with Warner Bros.’ The Jungle Book: Origins.
Last Updated: November 17, 2015
Kromas untamed
November 17, 2015 at 15:25
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt after The Martian.