Production is well underway onRidley Scott’s follow up toPrometheusand properAlienprequel,Alien: Covenant. Given the way thatScottlikes to work, and the nature of the movie, we know very little about specific details regarding the plot and characters in this sci-fi thriller. We do know thatDanny McBrideis in it, and he just revealed who he is playing.
McBrideis currently out promoting his new HBO showVice Principals, and in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, he finally gave some details aboutAlien: Covenant. In the interview,McBriderevealed that he is playing the pilot of of the Covenant spacecraft. Here is what he had to say.
“I’m the pilot of the spaceship Covenant, which is a colonization ship, searching for a planet where we might start life anew. I run the ship.”
McBrideis typically known as a comedic actor, so his casting in the movie was a bit surprising for many at first, but him being the pilot makes a decent amount of sense. He will probably get a chance to be a bit snarky, and play to his strengths in that kind of role. Not only didMcBridediscuss his role specifically, but he also revealed that there are a lot of practical effects being used forAlien: Covenant.
“I didn’t know if it would be all green screen, but most of the stuff is practical effects: when you’re running from an alien it’s really a dude in an alien suit coming after you! The sets are incredible and you’re in them: We go through some inclement weather at one point on the spaceship and this whole gigantic set is on a gimbal, shaking up and down. You don’t have to use your imagination.”
The concept of using a lot practical effects forAlien: Covenantis very reminiscent of whatScottdid originally onAlien, and should come as very welcome news for fans of the franchise. The painstaking attention to detail and physicality used on theXenomorphsand the sets in the originalAlienmovies are what helps make them still hold up so well even today.Prometheusonly loosely tied itself to theAlienfranchise, and didn’t use a ton of practical effects, with most of the creatures being heavily CGI. Especially the kind of, sort of Xenomorph creature that is revealed at the end of that movie.
Prometheuswas relatively well received and made good enough money, but was a bit of a disappointment considering the heavy expectations that were placed upon it, given that it wasRidley Scott’s return to theAlien franchise.Scottis looking to makeCovenanta much more direct prequel, and reportedly has more movies planned in the series. Because most of the crew didn’t make it out ofPrometheusalive, the only returning characters for this next entry will beMichael Fassbenderas David andNoomi Rapaceas Elizabeth. The only unfortunate part ofScott’s plans for some fans is that it has putNeill Blomkamp’sAlienssequel on hold, at least for now.Alien: Covenantis set for release on July 05, 2025.
