Ridley Scott says there will definitely be four more Alien movies after Covenant

March 19, 2017 by Gary Collinson 9 Comments

Earlier this month, Ridley Scott revealed that he already has a script for another Alien movie to follow this year’s Alien: Covenant, and that we could get a further six movies in the franchise before he decides to call it a day.

Although that sounded like hyperbole from Scott, the filmmaker has now revealed to Fandango that he plans on pulling a James Cameron and will “definitely” make a further four movies after Covenant. It seems he may have also let slip one of the titles too:

“There will be another one before we kind of literally and logically, clockwise, back into the rear back head of [the original] Alien. It will go Prometheus, Awakening, Covenant… If this is successful, and then the next one, and then there will definitely be three more.”

So, it would appear that Alien: Awakening is a sequel to Prometheus, and a prequel to Covenant, which will then be followed by three further sequels, one of which could be a prequel to the original Alien, at which point the timelines will have caught up. Confusing things a little, Scott then apparently replied “no” when asked if the latter films would be sequels to Alien, so presumably they’ll have to be prequels to Prometheus?!

Quite how Scott plans to fit these in alongside the recently announced War Party and Don Winslow adaptation The Cartel is anyone’s guess…

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS — and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

Alien: Covenant is set for release on May 19th and is penned by Michael Green, Jack Paglen and John Logan. Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace return alongside new cast additions Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice), Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down), Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Billy Crudup (Watchmen), Jussie Smollett (Empire), Carmen Ejogo (Selma), Amy Seimetz (Upstream Color), Benjamin Rigby (That’s Not Me), Callie Hernandez (Machete Kills) and James Franco (Why Him?).

MikeDK

He does realize how old he is, right?
Lamia

I wanted to love Prometheus but despite brilliant moments and elements, it really did not hold together – and it could have done so perfectly well with the same basic story. I hope the latest one will be better, but, honestly, I’m not holding my breath.

It seems Ridley Scott and others have become over-absorbed in the mythology of the Alien universe to step back and ask, critically, does this work, and does it work well? Does this scene make sense on its own terms as a piece of drama, in the sense of, “Would this character really do this, or say this, in this situation?” We could do with more well-rounded characters and better dialogue too. David was the only really interesting and convincing character in Prometheus. In Alien and Aliens there were plenty of memorable and real characters, even minor ones.

I would be happy with those in involved taking the time to make just one more masterpiece in the franchise, rather than hurrying to create than a series of half-baked efforts in order to ‘complete’ it all in a story-arch sense.
- Gary@FlickeringMyth
  
  Prometheus looked so good from the trailers, but I struggle to make it all the way through without falling asleep. Hopefully Alien: Covenant will deliver, but I really can’t see how we need another four movies after that.
  - MikeDK
    
    I thought it was just me, but I keep falling asleep as well.
    Tried at least three times, and still unsure of whether I have actually seen the ending or not.
    
    And that is not supposed to happen when watching an Alien film.
    - Gary@FlickeringMyth
      
      I was disappointed with it at the cinema, but thought I’d give it a second go on Blu-ray. It must have taken me three or four nights to watch the full thing as I kept falling asleep.
- MikeDK
  
  ” In Alien and Aliens there were plenty of memorable and real characters, even minor ones.”
  
  Especially the minor ones!
  But good casting goes a long way.
  Not sure the characters of Bret and Parker in Alien, would have been so memorable without the casting of Harry Dean Stanton and Yaphet Kotto.
  And, of-course, there is no Hudson without Bill Paxton.
- Randall William Chettleburgh
  
  I loved prometheus if you dissect the literal biblical dates associated, etc. very interesting my only dispute was Dr. Shaw even assisting david in anything, he NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED ASAP..wish Walter could have done it BUT in covenant it doesn’t really show what happens to walter, whether he lives, dies etc. I REALLY hope Sir Scott who is both brilliant and somewhat (I hate to use the word but) condescending, will make an effort to finish this in an intelligent way…just my opinion
Pierre V. Wilson

Sir Ridley Scott is The Greatest of All Time!.
Randall William Chettleburgh

Sir Ridley came right out and said DAVID invented or made the ALIENS, eggs, inter alia…this doesn’t compute AT ALL…if Covenant takes place in 2104, and the original ALIEN takes place about 20 years of so after, how is it on LV-436 they find the space jockey ship LOADED with EGGS and the ship is fossilized? I suppose one explanation could be David’s horror/handiwork as he is almost sentient and whatnot but it still makes no sense. Walter seemed to be somewhat governed by 3 laws, whereas ASHE was not..I’m REALLY confused..any ideas…please say something nice..because this really threw me…like WTF? At first i felt like Ridley was flipping fans the bird, then I realized covenant used tons of intertextualization to the original alien film and prometheus….I ONLY accept ALIEN, ALIENS (barely), Prometheus and Covenant but I feel still empty, it’s incomplete…many questions some obvious some not. Aight? WORD YO.