After the Prometheus follow-up Alien: Covenant was released in 2017, rumors regarding another
sequel began circulating online. Despite whispers of cancellation, there is still a glimmer
of hope for Ridley Scott's next outing in the universe he helped create four decades
ago.
In 2012, Prometheus was released to decent reviews and was a modest financial success,
accumulating $403 million worldwide. In the film, a team of scientists and archaeologists
venture off to a distant moon found in ancient star maps. The expedition, which aims to find
out more about the "Engineers" who came from the stars to create humanity, is met with
strange horrors that change the nature of their mission from discovery to survival.
"Cut it off! Cut it off! Cut it off, cut it off, cut it off!"
Five years later, Ridley Scott would return to direct Alien: Covenant, the sequel to Prometheus,
in which a ship of interstellar colonists makes a detour to a planet that they speculate
has a more hospitable environment than their original destination. Of course, this haven
is not what it appears, and the colonists find themselves in the realm of the ever-evolving
Xenomorphs.
While Prometheus did well both critically and financially, Alien: Covenant did not.
Mixed reviews illustrated Covenant's inability to pack as much of a punch as the previous
entry in the franchise. Likewise, the box office numbers didn't wow 20th Century Fox,
netting only $240 million worldwide. While the film wasn't without its supporters, it
wasn't the kind of success that leaves studios salivating for another sequel.
Following Covenant's release, further developments regarding the future of the franchise were
scarce, most likely because the film didn't perform nearly as well as Fox had hoped. According
to The Hollywood Reporter, Covenant's ticket sales dropped 71 percent during its second
weekend, and Fox reportedly stated that two further Alien sequels which had been on deck
would have to be, quote, "reassessed."
Rumors began to circulate online about the cancellation of the Covenant sequel shortly
after the movie hit theaters. A December 2017 report from the fansite AVP Galaxy cited a
user on the Blu-Ray.com forums who claims to have worked on Covenant and 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."
Though the validity of the statement hasn't been confirmed, there are indications that
the user's account has some truth to it, and that the film was either canceled or put on
hold.
"I think it's safe to say none of us are too keen on getting back into one of those pods."
Before the release of Alien: Covenant, Ridley Scott spoke with Fandango, saying:
"If this is successful, and then the next one, and there will definitely be three more."
This would mean a projected total of six prequel films before the events of the original Alien,
but only if Covenant was a success.
Fandango wasn't the only place Scott showed his excitement for the future of the Alien
series. In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, he enthused:
"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."
"That's where I'm going."
"Is that the plan?"
"Bloody right. They don't know yet, but that's what we're doing, Fox."
To drive the point home, he talked about having written the next installment, saying:
"You've got to assume to a certain extent success and from that you'd better be ready."
Of course, regardless of Scott's readiness, it was soon apparent that Covenant was not
going to be as successful as its predecessor, putting the future of the series into question.
Further complicating the matter: the Disney/Fox merger that was finalized in early 2019. Reliable
information regarding the status of a Covenant sequel has been sparse, but recent reports
imply Ridley Scott is still currently working on the project.
While it's pretty unlikely we'll ever get to see it, the Covenant sequel does have a
title: Alien: Awakening. It's set to begin where Covenant left off after David put the
survivors of the Origae-6 into cryosleep. After that, everything is pretty much speculative.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Scott and screenwriter John Logan developed the
Awakening script while Covenant was in production. Empire seemed to confirm this with an article
that shared supposed plot details. According to the magazine, the Engineers hunt down David
and his Xenomorph embryos as they all head to LV-426, the planet where the crew of the
Nostromo land and find the Xenomorph eggs at the beginning of the original Alien.
However, according to Scott's chat with Fandango, Awakening would bring the series full circle,
with the film taking place between Prometheus and Covenant. The director explained:
"There will be another one before we kind of literally and logically, clockwise, back
into the rear back head of [the original] Alien."
Whether that timeline represents a contradiction of Empire's plot summary or was a simple slip
of the tongue is hard to say.
A six-minute short film titled Advent, which was featured as extra content on the Alien:
Covenant Blu-ray, may hold some clues as to what we could look forward to if Awakening
ever happens. The film serves as an epilogue to the events of Covenant, and sees David
send a transmission to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, explaining his reasoning for
creating the Xenomorphs.
"I come to you with an olive branch. You may know me. You certainly know of my creator."
Basically, David wants to create a queen that will be able to breed new Xenomorphs, thus
allowing the species to continue without his intervention.
Awakening will still take place before the first Alien film and, like the other prequels
in the franchise, will likely further explain the lore surrounding the Xenomorphs and scientific
excursions that preceded those in Alien. Considering the information Advent provides about David's
motive, it isn't unlikely that Awakening will continue to showcase David's dark experiments.
At the end of the short, David ominously touches the tube that is housing Daniels while he
talks about his hopes of creating the Queen. The implication is that Daniels is likely
going to serve as some pawn in David's scheme, but exactly what role she will play remains
to be seen.
Based on what we know from the beginning of Alien, it appears as though Michael Fassbender's
David will have a hand in bringing the Xenomorphs to LV-426. Fortunately for Ridley Scott, Fassbender
has stated that he would be more than happy to continue with his role in future installments.
In May of 2019, Fassbender was asked if he would be open to reprising his android character
once more.
"Yeah, I love the character. It's a lot of fun. So yeah, I would definitely enjoy it."
He isn't the only actor who has expressed interest in returning to the Alien series.
Katherine Waterston is also eager to reprise her role as Daniels. In an interview with
The Playlist, Waterston said:
"I would be absolutely game to do more if they wanted to have me."
Considering that Daniels is the last character to interact with David in Covenant and the
short film Advent hints that she has a more significant role to play in his plan, it's
almost certain that Waterston would be called back to reprise her role if Awakening progresses
past the writing stage.
However, Waterston has expressed that she is relatively in the dark regarding the film's
status. According to the actress:
"I'm always usually the last person to know even what's going on in my own career. So,
[I'm] probably not the best person to ask. But I did get some sense of where they thought
they might like to take it when we were shooting Covenant, and it sounded really interesting."
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