Movies
Did Fox Pull the Plug On ‘Alien: Awakening’?
Speculating often comes with an egg in the face, but it’s hard to not take this one seriously considering how poorly Alien: Covenant performed at the box office.
Before Covenant hit theaters, Ridley Scott revealed that he planned to quickly go into production on the tentatively titled Alien: Awakening, the third film in the revitalized franchise. In fact, just three weeks ago Scott swore (in an interview with EW) that he’s still making the next film.
Contrary to what Scott’s claiming, HumanMedia, a member of the Blu-Ray.com forums who claims to have worked on Alien: Covenant, the sequel was originally scheduled to begin pre-production in September 2017, but was shelved after the tepid box office response to Alien: Covenant. (Thanks to AvP Galaxy for the tip.)
“The sequel to Covenant was originally due to start preproduction this month in Sydney,” the tipster explained. “After the box office results filming was cancelled, and a warehouse storage unit full of stuff was auctioned off a few months ago. So the original plan of pumping out another quickly has definitely changed with no immediate plans for anything.”
This is a terribly bad sign if true, and is only exasperated by the recent Disney purchase of Fox that would put the Alien franchise in new hands. However, there is some hope being that Scott still envisions big things for the franchise and knows how to make a movie on a budget. I’ve talked about this in the past, but Scott is the master at tightening the screws on his films and bringing them in on budget (or less). If Fox were to request an even tighter budget on the Covenant followup, Scott is the one director who could pull it off. I’ve suggested in past articles that Scott may need to go back to the drawing board and the film being shut down could signal just that. It’s not necessarily the death of Alien, but the future doesn’t look as certain as it did the day before Covenant‘s release.
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Zazie Beetz must fight her way through a New York City high-rise serving as a temple to Satan in They Will Kill You, and it’s officially set to make its global streaming debut next week.
They Will Kill You begins streaming exclusively on HBO Max on Friday, June 12. The film will debut on HBO linear on June 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Beetz leads the cast as Asia, who must survive the night at the Virgil, a demonic cult’s mysterious and twisted death-trap of a lair, before becoming their next offering. Patricia Arquette, Myha’La, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, and Heather Graham also star.
Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) directs from a script he co-wrote with Alex Litvak (Predators).
IT filmmaker Andy Muschietti produces alongside Barbara Muschietti and Dan Kagan. Executive producers include Sokolov, Litvak, Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder, and Carl Hampe.
The raucous action horror comedy delivers on blood-splattery fun, but was overshadowed by high profile sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. It’s worth a watch for the talented cast, who commit to Sokolov’s zany action horror beats, include a rogue eyeball.
I wrote in my SXSW review, “Sokolov’s striking composition, dedication to carnage-fueled stunts and fight choreography, and an all-too-game cast anchored by a dedicated and fierce Zazie Beetz prevent this slight but energetic crowd-pleaser from careening off the rails.” And, “it’s so brazen and unabashed in its pursuit of cinematic thrills and splatstick chills that it succeeds in its aim, which is to deliver a riotously great time at the theater.”
More of a physical media fan? On June 30, 2026, They Will Kill You will be available to own on 4K UHD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD from online and physical retailers.
New Line Cinema/Nocturna’s “They Will Kill You,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
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