No brave new world
The singular visionary of cinema, Ridley Scott, returns to the immersive universe he created in his 1979 masterpiece Alien. In May, his new motion picture Alien: Covenant will open in theaters. Aboard: Audi.
Peter Sommer (copy) & 20th Century Fox (photo)Ridley Scott is the brains behind four of the most successful cinema classics of all time— Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Hannibal. He has for more than 40 years been regarded as one of the most visionary science fiction auteurs.
Ridley Scott’s latest film, Alien: Covenant is slated for release in May. Suitably equipped with Audi intelligent technologies, the 2,000-strong crew of the colony ship Covenant is underway to conduct further study of planet Origae-6 with a view to founding a new colony. A cosmic incident forces the Covenant to land on a nearby planet instead. When an expedition from the Covenant lands on the mysterious planet, it initially appears to be a paradise. Cloud-topped mountains, trees and corn fields are reminiscent of Planet Earth. Except that there is no sign of life—no animals, only a deathly silence. During their reconnaissance, the landing crew soon discover the wreck of a crashed spaceship and the blood-thirsty extraterrestrial life forms known as xenomorphs. What’s more, there’s a new breed of alien—the neomorph. It’s not long before the explorers are caught up in a fight for their lives as they desperately endeavor to return to the Covenant mothership .
Ridley Scott’s sixth offering in the Alien movie series represents a return to his creative roots. Alien: Covenant is set ten years after Prometheus and some time before the original Alien movie. As in his previous films, Scott once again places a strong, female heroine—this time the scientist Daniels, played by American actress Katherine Waterston—at the heart of his story. Additional cast members include James Franco, Michael Fassbender, Demian Bichir and Billy Crudup. The original Alien movie, released in 1979, marked the start of the Ridley Scott’s ascent to master of sci-fi cinema. In Alien: Covenant, Scott once again ramps the genre up to a totally new level. Producer Mark Huffam recalls how Scott first described his vision for Alien: Covenant, “He told me we were going to need a lot of fake blood because this is going to be a film that bathes audiences in a cold sweat.” Much like scriptwriter John Logan who wrote Gladiator, Huffam, who was also responsible for producing Oscar-winner The Martian, is one of Scott’s longstanding collaborators. Alien: Covenant is scheduled to be released on May 19, 2017, by 20th Century Fox.
The crew of the Covenant, including Michael Fassbender (left) as synthetic android Walter, is about to conduct further study of the extraterrestrial life forms known as xenomorphs and a new type of alien called neomorphs. In all this, director Ridley Scott (right) has absolutely no desire to board a real spaceship.