Alien: Covenant ($230M)

Seemingly out of nowhere, Ridley Scott has revealed the somewhat unexpected title of his sequel to 2012’s Prometheus. Speaking to the website HeyUGuys while promoting his upcoming film The Martian, Scott said the Prometheus follow-up now is called Alien: Paradise Lost.

The title alone is practically a spoiler, suggesting the film is more directly connected to the Alien universe than was its predecessor. “Prometheus 2 is not really what it’s going to be,” Scott said. “It’s going to be Alien: Paradise Lost.” He explained in the interview that the film will be more a prequel to 1979’s Alien, examining the “why and how the beast was invented.” Further, the title’s allusion to the poem by John Milton is intentional, with Scott saying that there will be “really a similarity” between it and the film.

It will be some time before Scott gets to work on Alien: Paradise Lost, but Scott’s far more optimistic tale involving space travel, The Martian starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain, hits theaters October 2.

Ridley Scott Reveals Major Paradise Lost Details On 'Ripley', 'Xenomorphs', And More

Yesterday, Sir Ridley Scott revealed that his Prometheus sequel is going to be titled Alien: Paradise Lost, and he's now shed even more light on what we should expect from the movie. Asked to go into further detail by Empire Online about the reason for the name change, The Martian helmer explained: "Years ago, I kept mulling over what Alien 2 could be. I was fiddling around with some ideas. I was always fascinated with why this thing [the xenomorph] would be made, by whom, and for what purpose? The planet it was on – and I was looking at the dark side of the moon – would be called Paradise. Paradise is a very ominous word..." It's clear then that this movie is going to have some very close ties to Alien, something which Prometheus was sorely lacking. However, the name change hasn't caused too many changes. "In a way it is Prometheus 2. It’s exactly the same story. But it was always in the works to be called that [Alien: Paradise Lost]. Is Prometheus actually taking us off course from where I’m going, which is actually backing into the first Alien... I’ve even got connections with Ripley [in this], but I’m not telling you what."

The fact that it will feature ties to Ripley is obviously very exciting news for Alien fans, but those same fans have no doubt spent the past 24 hours fretting about Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5. After all, surely they're not going to release that movie just a couple of years after a prequel to the first instalment in the franchise? Won't that just confuse moviegoers? Whatever the answer may be, it's definitely still happening! "I’m producing it," Scott confirmed. "The design is for it to go out next, after this. This will go out first. It’s more associated with Ripley, it’s a completely different angle, it’s more of a sequel. I’m coming in from the back end." Oh, and here's where things get really exciting; the filmmaker has changed his stance on bringing back the Xenomorph! "I think I have to go again. We will see who made it, and why. That’s what’s interesting." Finally, he addressed the possibility that we'll be spending the entirety of Alien: Paradise Lost seeing Michael Fassbender play little more than a disembodied head! "It’s going to be better than that," he laughed. "It’s a very nice big idea I’ve got. It’s really great. You’re going to have to wait..."

Rusty Cunt wrote:Love Ridley.

... And I'm in the minority that enjoyed Prometheus.

Sir Ridley Scott certainly hasn't shied away from revealing new details about Alien: Paradise Lost during the press tour for The Martian, and in a new interview with Yahoo Movies, he shed more light on what we should expect from the recently retitled Prometheus sequel which is set to build towards the events of the original Alien. "It continues after the last one, where Elizabeth Shaw [Noomi Rapace] says, 'I wanna go where they came from,'" the filmmaker explains. "And you’ve got Michael Fassbender in two parts, so she’ll slowly put him back together. They will go to the world of the Engineer." Asked to clarify if that means the duo will be arriving on the planet belonging to the Engingeers, he confirmed: "That’s where they’re going to go. They will find out who would design such an awful bio-mechanoid creature, like a massive piece of bacteria."

‘Prometheus’ Sequel Gets Release Date and Synopsis

When Neill Blomkamp talked his way into directing an Alien sequel via social media earlier this year, that apparently lit a fire under Scott’s behind to finally get moving on Prometheus 2. He began talking more seriously about making the film, setting an early 2016 production start-date and referring to it as Alien: Paradise Lost. That title fell by the wayside recently (likely due to copyright issues over the “Paradise Lost” subtitle), but now 20th Century Fox has confirmed the film’s new title Alien: Covenant and set an October 6, 2017 release date for the picture.

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.

So, uh, where’s Noomi Rapace? Prometheus ended with Rapace and Michael Fassbender‘s Elizabeth and David as the sole survivors of the Prometheus, with Scott saying the sequel would find the two on a road trip of sorts to find the home world of the Engineers. Rapace’s name is nowhere to be found, however, and the synopsis cites David as the “sole inhabitant” of the planet. It would appear that the actress is not returning for the follow-up after all, which is a bit of a bummer—one of the Alien franchise’s strengths was its female-driven heroics. Here’s hoping the Covenant crew offers an opportunity to introduce a new female hero.

Katherine Waterston In Talks to Star

Katherine Waterston, who co-starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, is set to star in Alien: Covenant, the Ridley Scott-directed sequel to his Prometheus. In what will be the biggest role of her career to date, Waterston has been cast as the lead, Daniels.

Scott, of course, had put the 20th Century Fox project on hold to do The Martian, which is in the thick of the awards-season race. Covenant is his next pic. Specific plot details are being closely guarded, but it is believed to follow the crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet, who discover what they believe is an uncharted paradise. But in fact it’s a dark, dangerous world whose the only inhabitant is David (Michael Fassbender), the “synthetic” and survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

Covenant is believed to be the first in a conceived trilogy of new films that will link the events of Prometheus with the Scott-directed 1979 classic Alien.

ForeverBlu wrote:So umm, Noomi isn't returning?

UltimateMarvel wrote:I don't remember much about Prometheus. What's the point of these prequels?

The development of Prometheus 2 has followed a very curious track. Before the first film even hit theaters, director Ridley Scott was already busy revealing what would happen in the subsequent sequel, speaking to the origin story of the Engineers. That initial idea, Scott said, would find Noomi Rapace’s Shaw and the disembodied head of Michael Fassbender’s David embarking on a road trip of sorts to find out where the Engineers came from and discovering even more horrors once they arrived at their home planet. However, now that the film has become a reality and carries a new title—Alien: Covenant—it appears the story has evolved and shifted pretty significantly away from that initial idea.

While early reports noted that Rapace would have a “small role” in Alien: Covenant, Scott has now confirmed to Baz Bamigboye (via The Playlist) that the actress won’t be returning at all, adding that they’re still in the process of casting the main roles. Who are these new characters? Well Alien: Covenant picks up 10 years after the events of Prometheus, with a new crew stumbling upon the remains of the Prometheus ship and the planet’s sole inhabitant, Fassbender’s David.

Will this new group venture to the Engineers’ homeworld? Will the film simply play out as a horror sequel, with a new cast of characters bumbling around the same setting as the first movie? It’s unclear at the moment, but we do know that Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice) is in talks to star as one of the new crew members, so it’ll be curious to see the cast of characters that Scott assembles for the follow-up.

It is a bit of a shame that Rapace won’t be returning, though, as this likely means Alien: Covenant is less of a direct sequel than we were expecting. It would’ve been great to see the story of Shaw and David continue in the follow-up, but it appears Scott is taking the franchise in a new direction—one he intends to circle back around to the first Alien after two more Prometheus sequels.

Production is expected to begin later this year in Australia ahead of Alien: Covenant’s October 6, 2017 release date.

“The Hateful Eight” star Demian Bichir is coming onboard Fox’s “Alien: Covenant,” Ridley Scott’s sequel to “Prometheus.”

He joins Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride. Bichir received an Oscar nomination for best actor for 2011’s “A Better Life.”

Principal photography for “Alien: Covenant” will be shot in Australia’s New South Wales. The film will hit theaters on Oct. 6, 2017.

detective392 wrote:Finally saw Alien and I really enjoyed it. A lot more than I thought I would. Some parts were funny like how she kept going back for the damn cat even though she was being chased by a vicious alien. Looking forward to seeing Aliens and than a re-watch of Prometheus to see if anything pops out after having seen Alien.

ForeverBlu wrote:There goes the Ripley tank top.

WyldeMan wrote:

ForeverBlu wrote:There goes the Ripley tank top.

Unlike Weaver I find Waterson attractive, so this look works for me.

ForeverBlu wrote:Looks like she has a better hair cut that Noomi Rampace in Prometheus.

WyldeMan wrote:

ForeverBlu wrote:Looks like she has a better hair cut that Noomi Rampace in Prometheus.

I just hope Ridley doesn't kill her off at the end because he's afraid people might like someone other than Ripley.

ForeverBlu wrote:Still wondering why Noomi didn't return?

ForeverBlu wrote:Maybe she's filming 
a flashback or Shaw's death scene?

Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant,” was pushed up several months, moving from Aug. 4 to May 19, 2017

ForeverBlu wrote:Got ole girl looking like Ellen Ripley.