Back in 2012, heralded filmmakerRidley Scottfinally made his long-awaited return to theAlien franchisewithPrometheus, which received mixed reviews but still paved the way for this summer’sAlien: Covenant. It has already been confirmed thatAlien: Covenantwill start a new trilogy of sci-fi films, that will eventually connect toRidley Scott’s original classicAlien. But now it seems the director is thinking even bigger.Ridley Scottrevealed during a new interview that he is actually planning six more movies afterAlien: Covenant. Here’s what he had to say below.
“If you really want a franchise, I can keep cranking it for another six. I’m not going to close it down again. No way.”
The filmmaker revealed this during an on-set interview with theSyndey Morning Heraldwhile production was still under way. After directing the 1979 classicAlien, he handed the reins over toJames Cameronfor the iconic 1986 sequelAliens, withDavid Finchermaking his feature directorial debut with the much-maligned 1992 sequelAlien 3. From there, the franchise took another turn with 1997’sAlien Resurrection, 2004’sAlien vs. Predatorand 2007’sAliens vs. Predator: Requiem, beforePrometheusdebuted in 2012. After revealing he has no plans to let go of the franchise again,Ridley Scottalso teased that he’ll be ready to shoot the follow-up toAlien: Covenantnext year.
“You’ve got to assume to a certain extent success and from that you’d better be ready. You don’t want a two-year gap. So I’ll be ready to go again next year.”
Set 10 years afterPrometheus,Ridley Scottreturns to the universe he created inAlienwithAlien: Covenant, which follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, they discover 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.Alien: Covenantwill be the first installment of a new trilogy, which was spawned by the story ofPrometheus. Here’s what the director had to say about how he discovered throughPrometheusthat people still had an “appetite” for this franchise.
“What we did really well on Prometheus, considering that it was a ground zero idea that was starting all over again, was I discovered that people do have an appetite for the alien and what he means and his evolution, the egg, the facehugger, thechestbursteras we call them. People still want to see it. So I return to a little bit of that but not wholeheartedly; there’s a lot in here which is new as well. (The firstAlien) was fundamentally a film that was seven people locked in a tin can and who will survive and who won’t,” Scott says. “In a funny kind of way it was very much a genre movie if you like, a B movie done in an A way with a marvelous cast and a fantastic creature. We raised the bar there. Now we’ve gone further than that. We go fromPrometheusinto both worlds of the originalAlienand a little bit ofPrometheus.”
TheAlien: Covenantcast also includesAlien: Covenantalso starsKatherine Waterston, who has been rumored to play Ripley’s mother, although that has never been confirmed. The character certainly draws comparisons to Sigourney Weaver’s iconic space heroine.Danny McBride,Demián Bichir,Jussie Smollett,Amy Seimetz,Carmen EjogoandCallie Hernandezround out the supporting cast, along withJames Franco, who is playing a character named Branson, the captain of the Covenant ship, who is also married toKatherine Waterston’s Daniels.Ridley Scottis directing from a script byJack Paglen,Michael GreenandJohn Logan. With the May 19 release date getting closer and closer, hopefully we’ll get more footage and learn much : Covenantin the weeks and months ahead.
