Ridley Scott has kicked dirt in the face of Prometheus and is now heading full steam into a new Alien.
I found it slightly surprising, only I can’t quite gauge Scott’s angle on this. I mean, he’s a super A-list director and can do anything he wants. So why return to Alien? Why kick Neill Blomkamp and his Alien 5 to the curb? Why plan a new trilogy? He recently said he was inspired by the rebirth of Star Wars, so maybe it’s a money play?
Whatever the case may be, I very much want the director of the original film to be involved in the franchise, but only for the right reasons. I think we were all a little nervous with Blomkamp’s angle, mostly because it was feeling more and more like fan-service, meaning he was directing more a fan film for the fans of the franchise, instead of taking it somewhere fresh and new.
Now, all of a sudden, I’m wondering if Scott is doing the same?
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Hiding within an interview with TheWrap, Scott talks about the genesis of Alien: Covenant, which is the sequel to Prometheus (with a new crew), but also a prequel lead-up to his 1979 Alien.
When asked about his sequel to Prometheus, Scott quickly corrected the interviewer: “Yeah. Well, really it’s Alien,” explains Scott who reveals that the film will give birth to a new creature. “They’re going to go to the planet where the Engineers came from, and come across the evolving creature that they had made. Why did they make it? Why would they make such a terrifying beast? It felt bio-mechanoid, it felt like a weapon. And so the movie will explain that, and reintroduce the Alien back into it.”
“There was always this discussion: Is Alien, the character, the beast, played out or not?,” Scott continues before dropping this mega-bomb. “We’ll have them all: egg, face-hugger, chest-burster, then the big boy.”
Yes, Alien: Covenant will feature not only the Xenomorph, but also the iconic egg and face-hugger, to go along with a chest-burster.
When Scott made Prometheus, originally another planned trilogy, he was vocal about distinctly avoiding its connections to Alien. It was, in a sense, a “new” sci-fi trilogy from the maker of Alien. Now, all of a sudden, Scott had turned the lights off on Prometheus and is focusing on Alien. He’s reclaimed the franchise and will either bring it to glory, or run it into the ground.
If anything, Scott has always understood the power of H.R. Giger’s creation, and hopefully the next Alien, in theaters October 6th, 2017, will feel 100% authentic. The last thing I want is for it to become a fan-service novelty item filled with little nods to the original film.
