‘Alien: Covenant’ Images And Spoilers Reveal Ridley Scott’s Connection To ‘Prometheus’

Alien: Covenant may be the most anticipated horror/sci-fi film currently in production, especially so since, along with director Ridley Scott, so many other creative talents associated with the original Alien film are returning with this project. Along with the expected speculation surrounding Alien: Covenant, Scott and others have revealed details here and there that puts an accurate, if ever changing, picture together of what the finished film, which Scott has said is a sequel to both Alien and Prometheus, will look like as a whole.

Leaked Set Photos Let Fans Take A Look At Alien: Covenant, Literally

Production for Alien: Covenant has just relocated to Fiordland National Park in New Zealand, where it’s assumed a fairly big chunk of the film will be shot. The site, which sits at the base of Mitre Peak, an iconic mountain in the area, is currently being used to construct a large structure that seems to be a part of the spaceship that will be used in the film.

Local media is expectedly buzzing with news that Ridley Scott has brought Alien: Covenant to their area for filming, though very little is known about what the film’s production in their area might entail.

“Details of exactly what is being filmed, how many people are involved and how long filming will take are shrouded in mystery, but it has been confirmed scenes for Alien: Covenant are at present being shot in the Te Anau-Milford Sound area,” reported the Otago Daily Times.

A company spokesman for a local trucking outfit reported that the Alien production team rented 13 trucks to be used for wardrobe, make-up, camera storage, and offices, adding that the vehicles and trailers had been rented for several weeks. The unnamed spokesman also said that the area was uniquely suited to the filming needs for Alien: Covenant.

A Detailed Peek Into Ridley Scott’s Alien Universe

There’s much speculation about the actual plan for the Prometheus films as they relate to the Alien films and vice versa. In the beginning, Ridley Scott, himself, had stated that the plan was to end the Prometheus saga with the crashing of the spaceship to be found in the 1979 Alien film. The first kink in that plot is that Neill Blomkamp’s Alien sequel, which was to be due out in 2017, has been put on the back burner, apparently to be replaced by Scott’s own Alien: Covenant. The new plan is to expand the entire Alien/Prometheus franchise, which will depend greatly on how well Alien: Covenant does at the box office.

“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,” reads the official synopsis for Alien: Covenant.

The uncharted paradise mentioned in the above synopsis is actually the former home of the Engineers, but, as the Covenant crew soon discovers, something happened to destroy the entire surface of the planet. It’s hinted that some creation, produced by the Engineers, was responsible for the destruction of their paradisiacal home.

The crew of the Covenant has mostly been filled. Heading up the cast will be Michael Fassbender as the Prometheus android, David. Also on hand will be Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Jobs, The Babysitters) leading the crew, which includes Demian Bichir (Hateful Eight), Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down), Alex England (Gods of Egypt), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous), Amy Seimetz (A Horrible Way to Die, The Killing), Jussie Smollett (Empire), Carmen Ejogo (Selma), and Callie Hernandez (Machete Kills).

Finally, there’s the monster. That great beast that forces Ridley Scott’s space crew to come together in spite of their differences and do what they can to save their lives. Scott seems to suggest that this creature won’t be the same xenomorph alien we’re familiar with from the previous Alien installments, but something bigger and fiercer.

“They’re going to go to the planet where the Engineers came from, and come across the evolving creature that they had made,” says the Alien: Covenant director. “Why did they make it? Why would they make such a terrifying beast? It felt bio-mechanoid, it felt like a weapon. And so the movie will explain that, and reintroduce the Alien back into it.”

Alien: Covenant is scheduled for an August 4, 2017, theatrical release.

[Image by 20th Century Fox]