When Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” hit theaters in 2012, fans of the “Alien” franchise were eager to witness the potential origin of everyone’s favorite Xenomorphs. Unfortunately, many left the theater confused, scratching their heads at what they’d just seen. Face huggers and Aliens were nowhere to be seen throughout the entire film, replaced by weird hybrids and explanations that made limited amounts of sense. If it was set entirely apart from the “Alien” mythos, "Prometheus" might have worked, but that wasn’t the case, and the complete departure from everything that defined “Alien” resulted in substantial criticism.
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Regardless, director Ridley Scott refused to have his dreams of expanding the “Alien” universe diminished. To that end, the filmmaker has pressed ahead with his new trilogy. With “Alien: Covenant” right around the corner, it appears the final film in the new trilogy will apparently end where “Alien” kicks off.
Hearing audience’s problems with “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott went about to then purposefully modify the tone of “Alien: Covenant” to reflect the horror and feel people loved in the original. This tone/style as it were, actually serves a purpose in the story itself, going from the outdoors-y feel of “Prometheus” to the biomechanical and claustrophobic feel of “Alien.”
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According to special effects supervisor Neil Corbould “He did listen to the criticism people…wanted more aliens [in “Prometheus”]. The other thing as well is that certain studios want to make a certain movie, and sometimes your hands are tied for horror. If you’re making it for a PG-13 or 15, your hands are tied to give proper horrors. But when the gloves are off and it’s 18 or R-rated, then you can make the movie exactly what you want — with more aliens. He listened to the audience, that they want more Aliens — they’re gonna get a lot more aliens. More than they probably anticipated.”
With more Aliens, and yes, that’s plural, that means more violence, and so the amount of blood and gore is going to go up a notch. Producer Mark Huffam joked about the gallons of fake blood they used, with the end result totaling a staggering one thousand liters.
“Alien: Covenant” will serve not only as a narrative bridge between “Alien” and “Prometheus,” Huffam added. “I think the title is very much saying, yes, you are going to go back to the root of how the 'Alien' franchise started, and I think it’s much like the other thing. It’s bringing the best of “Prometheus,” and the best of “Alien,” and combining them to hopefully get something even better.” And yes, it sounds like “Alien: Covenant” will finally address the age-old question: who created the Aliens?
Set ten years after “Prometheus,” “Alien: Covenant” revolves around a group of space-faring explorers/terraformers who catch wind of a distress call. In turn, they are led to what looks like a beautiful planet with everything they need to create a new home. Obviously, things don’t work as planned. The planet turns against them, and death lurks in every shadow; the body count starts adding up before too long.
Opening May 19, “Alien: Covenant” is Directed by Ridley Scott and stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby.