The sequel to the science-fiction film “Prometheus” shown in 2012 is now officially titled as “Alien: Covenant” and it shall be hitting theaters on August 4, 2017.
Its working title was previously pegged as “Prometheus 2” but it was retitled to “Alien: Covenant” as a way of paying homage to the successful film franchise that bore the prequel trilogy, notes the Cheat Sheet.
“Alien: Covenant” is to be the second movie of the prequel trilogy but it shall already make the connection to the very successful “Alien” film franchise which Director Ridley Scott also started back in 1979 with Sigourney Weaver in the lead role.
The official synopsis of the movie describes it as the return of Ridley Scott to the universe he created in “Alien.”
Why the Engineers created the Xenomorphs
The synopsis states that the crew of the colony ship Covenant was bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy and they discover what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world whose sole inhabitant is the synthetic David, played by Michael Fassbender.
David happens to be the lone survivor of the doomed expedition of Prometheus, the first colony ship.
Accordingly, David and the crew of Covenant will journey to the home planet of the Engineers to find out about the creation of humanity and why the Engineers made those acid-spitting Xenomorphs.
Ridley Scott, in a previous interview, said that the crew has got to go back and find those Engineers and see what they were thinking. He explained further that if the Engineers are the forerunners of the race, and therefore were creators of life forms in places that were possible for biology to function, they have to find out what was the reason for their creation and why, details the Digital Spy.
Only two remain
By the end of the first movie, most of the cast had bitten the dust in spectacular fashion including Charlize Theron who met the giant space donut. But two stars made it through to the end, namely Michael Fassbender’s David and Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw.
There have been previous reports saying that Dr. Elizabeth Shaw would not be returning in “Alien: Covenant.” However, even though Ridley Scott seemingly confirmed the actress would not be in the sequel, she was spotted on the Australian set of the movie and has since been added to the IMDb listing.
Fassbender is reprising his role as David but will also play another android with a whole body of his own called Walter.
Katherine Waterston is on board as the new star of “Alien: Covenant.” Her character has been named as Daniels and it’s likely that she would be a member of the crew of the Covenant though not much else has been revealed. The first shadowy picture of the actress teased on Twitter shows her in what looks like the corridor of a wrecked ship dressed in a singlet.
Also joining Waterston as new cast members are Billy Crudup as well as Danny McBride and Demián Bichir.
Filming for “Alien: Covenant” began in April 2016 and the shoot is taking place in Australia and New Zealand, even though space cowboy Danny McBride announced in July that filming for the movie had wrapped.
In a recent interview, Michael Fassbender said that “Alien: Covenant” is way scarier than the first film.
The movie is now in post-production and promotion shall be expected to heat up by the start of next year in time for its release on global theaters in August.
Originally, its release date was slated on October 6, 2017, but it was pushed up by a good two months and it might have something to do with box-office strategy.