While directorRidley Scottrevisited his belovedAlienfranchise in 2012’sPrometheus, the film didn’t have as many connections to the original thriller than many fans wanted. Last year, the filmmaker make the blockbuster announcement that his sequel toPrometheuswill be entitledAlien: Covenant, which has been confirmed to start anew trilogythat will eventually lead up to the originalAlien. With production set to begin in two months, the filmmaker confirmed during a backstage interview at theGolden Globes, courtesy ofScreen Slam, that he’s aiming for a “hard R” rating withAlien: Covenant, which he hopes is even scarier than the original.
“I’m going to do a hard R. It’s going to be pretty tough. I always remember walking down the edge in Saint Louis when we were previewing [Alien]. I couldn’t sit through the film one more time. I walked down the edge into the kitchen scene whenJohn Hurtstarted to bring up his breakfast. That moment, I realized how pretty scary the film was. The reaction of people was… I felt a sense of responsibility that I had gone too far because it was extreme. I’m going to try and do that again this year, but much worse.”
The “hard R” rating shouldn’t be surprising, since all of theAlienmovies were R exceptAlien Vs. Predator. The story centers on the crew of the colony ship Covenant, who are bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. They discover what they think is an uncharted paradise, but it actually turns out to be a dark, dangerous world. And the sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomedPrometheus expedition. Aside fromKatherine Waterston, no other new casting additions have been announced at this time.Noomi Rapaceis also set to reprise her role as Elizabeth Shaw fromPrometheus, but she will have a much smaller role this time around.
Ridley Scottis directing from a script byJack Paglen,Michael GreenandJohn Logan. It has also been confirmed by the director thatAlien: Covenantwill feature some sort of connection toSigourney Weaver’s iconic Ellen Ripley character from the originalAlien. Some have speculated that we may even see Ripley conceived on the Covenant ship, and thatKatherine Waterston’s character may actually be Ripley’s mother.
The filmmaker also recently confirmed that classic creatures such as theface-huggerand chest-burster aliens, along with “the big boy,” the original Xenomorph. With production set to begin soon, we should be getting more details about casting soon, so stay tuned for more on this highly-anticipated project. Until then, take a look at the filmmaker’s interview from theGolden Globesbelow.
