Alien: Covenant

In 2012, before the release of “Prometheus”, Ridley Scott discussed the prospects of a sequel and new trilogy, as “Prometheus” had left many questions unanswered. He said a sequel would follow Noomi Rapace’s Shaw, the protagonist of Prometheus, to her next destination, “because if it is paradise, paradise cannot be what you think it is. Paradise has a connotation of being extremely sinister and ominous.” After all, by the end of “Prometheus”, Scott was left with Michael Fassbender and Rapace, the two hottest European stars at that time, so a follow-up with them in the leads seemed obvious and anticipated. However, “Prometheus” co-writer Damon Lindelof cast doubt on his own participation at that time, saying, “if Scott wants me to be involved in something, that would be hard to say no to. At the same time, I do feel like the movie might benefit from a fresh voice or a fresh take or a fresh thought.”

Screenwriter John Logan worked on the script extensively, after Jack Paglen worked on it in June 2013, and then Dante Harper in 2024. For Logan, the main concept was to adopt a dual plot line for the film that would combine the horror elements of “Alien” with the philosophical elements of “Prometheus”. As he said in an interview with The Wrap in 2017, “With Alien: Covenant, I just really wanted to write something that had the feel of the original Alien, because seeing that movie was one of the great events of my youth. It was so overpowering in terms of what it communicated to me and its implications, that when I started talking to Ridley about what became Alien: Covenant, I said, ‘You know, that was a hell of a scary movie.’ I wanted to write a horror movie because the Grand Guignol elements of Alien are so profound. We tried to recapture that with Alien: Covenant, while also trying to pay homage to the deeper implications of Prometheus. In terms of tone, pace, and how we chose to play this particular symphony, we wanted to create a really frightening movie.”

In the final version of the screenplay, Elisabeth Shaw was no longer the lead – she was lying dead in a temple, killed after they lost control of their ship – leaving David as the sole survivor and connection point between two films. Ridley Scott confirmed to Empire Magazine in 2016, that Rapace would not reprise her role of Elizabeth Shaw. However, in June, it was announced that Rapace would shoot a week’s worth of scenes (though no new footage of hers appeared in the final film). Instead, she appeared in a short promotional prologue to Covenant that was set in the period between the two movies titled “The Crossing”. In the film itself, only her voice is heard from the planet early in the film and her image and voice appear later.

“Alien: Covenant” was released on May 19 in the United States, grossing $74.3 million in the States and $240.9 million overseas. The film was a box office disappointment compared to “Prometheus”, which had grossed a worldwide total of $403.4 million. Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave the film three stars out of five, stating that Alien: Covenant is “a greatest-hits compilation of the other Alien films’ freaky moments. The paradox is that though you are intended to recognize these touches, you won’t really be impressed unless you happen to be seeing them for the first time”.