20th Century Fox debuted both the trailer and two scenes from Alien: Covenant at a recent press event in New York, as part of a concerted effort to get people buzzing about the upcoming Alien film ahead of the trailer's official release. The theatrical preview for director Ridley Scott's sci-fi/horror movie - a project that will help to bridge the gap between Scott's 2012 prequel/spinoff Prometheus and his original 1979 classic Alien - is expected to debut online soon, before being attached to fellow Fox release Assassin's Creed in theaters this month.
The Covenant footage shown at Fox's NY event supports its cast and crew's standing claims that the film is more of a proper sci-fi/horror/thriller genre mashup, on par with the original Alien than the more darkly-atmospheric Prometheus. Similarly, previously-leaked photos from the film's set (which have now been pulled offline) offered a sneak peek at the movie's new version of the Xenomorph - referred to as a "Neomorph" by Covenant costar Michael Fassbender - and the creature is even more overtly grotesque and sexualized than its predecessor. A younger version of said Neomorph can now be glimpsed in newly-leaked photos from the film's set, too.
Alien Covenant News has those leaked photos from the Covenant set - one of which shows what appears to be a "baby" version of the slimy, pale and otherwise misshapen creature known as the Neomorph. The set photos also offer a new look at at a "Space Jockey" or Engineer spaceship pilot chair - similar to the one in the official Covenant photo released for Scott's birthday - and the interior of the USCSS Covenant: the spaceship upon which the film's human explorers travel. A couple of the photos also provide a glimpse at the ancient temple steps surrounded by ashy bodies (reminiscent of the ruins of Pompeii) that were first revealed in photos from the Covenant set that leaked earlier this year.
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The main setting for Covenant is "a dark, dangerous world" (as the film's synopsis puts it) and the obvious assumption is that it's also the home planet of humanity's creators, the Engineers. Rumor is that the ecosystem of this world has been mutated by the black goo that was seen in Prometheus and created by the Engineers. This would account for why everything that's not either the android David (Fassbender) or a Neomorph on the planet (see again, those bodies on the temple steps), appears to be long-dead by the time the Covenant crew arrives.
Taken as a whole, these Covenant set photos only further support the notion that Scott is bringing the Alien franchise back to its horror roots with Covenant, both thematically-speaking and in terms of its production/creature design. The reactions to the footage shown at Fox's NY event suggest that Alien fans, in turn, will be more pleased with this Alien prequel than they were with Prometheus (as a whole) - and Fox's decision to bump the film up to a prime May release date next year indicates the studio is confident that it has a potential hit on its hands, too. We shouldn't have to wait long to find out more about the film either, what with the trailer being right around the corner.
NEXT: James Franco Reportedly Cast in Alien: Covenant
Source: Alien Covenant News