Yesterday Fox revealed a new date for Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, announcing May 19th, 2017. The news came with no advance warning, much like how Kane’s chest exploded at the dinner table and shocked the crew of the Nostromo. But what many might not have originally noticed in their excitement over something fresh and new (myself included) is that the poster pays direct homage to Alien, Scott’s original 1979 horror masterpiece!
If you look closely, you can see that the Xenomorph head in the new poster has the exact same outline and shape as the alien egg in the original poster, as well as the same placement. Additionally, both use an all-black background so that the image in the center stands out all the more vividly. Lastly, both have something spilling out of the bottom. In the case of the Xenomorph, it’s the drool. With the egg, it’s a green noxious cloud that I imagine is meant to evoke the acid blood that would become known after the film’s release.
I also feel like it’s worth mentioning that they each use a short tagline that is meant to evoke terror. Since the original gave use the reveal of the Xenomorph, they something with a little oomph to entice audiences to get into seats, hence the “In space no one can hear you scream“. With Covenant, we already know what that creature is capable of, so all we need is a simple command to fear for our lives: “Run“.
You can compare both posters below to see for yourself!
In the film:
Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers 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.
Michael Fassbender is returning as Prometheus‘ android David, with Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Jobs, The Babysitters) leading a new crew that includes Demian Bichir and Danny McBride (“Eastbound and Down”), as well as Alex England (Gods of Egypt), Billy Crudup, Amy Seimetz (A Horrible Way to Die, “The Killing”), Jussie Smollett (“Empire”), Carmen Ejogo, and Callie Hernandez (Machete Kills).
