Fox has a big year coming up, with Logan (out this week), War for the Planet of the Apes (out July), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (October) and Murder on the Orient Express (November) still to come, but one film they seem particularly confident with is Alien: Covenant. Ridley Scott's second return to the franchise that made him, the film was originally set for release in August (a time for risky box office prospects), but was bumped up to a prime May spot.
We got our first look at the film on Christmas Day with a creepy trailer that teased the plot - the classic "space crew lands on a planet and accidentally discovers something horrific" - and promised audiences a return to the R-rated franchise roots. Then, just last week, Fox released a five-minute prologue that introduced the new set of xenomorph victims. That short film was just the start of a bigger marketing push, it now appears, as a new poster is unveiled ahead of a second trailer.
Fox have just revealed a suitably minimalist teaser poster for the film, simply showing a closed alien egg and proclaims "Hide". Check it out in all its glory below.
It's a very effective poster, one that establishes the film's welcoming approach to the wider franchise iconography and Ridley Scott's desire to go into full-on horror. Of course, it's rather evocative of the classic teaser poster for the original film, which featured a cracked egg floating and the iconic tagline "in space no one can hear you scream". It also serves as a suitable partner to the xeno-teasing poster released November, which used a similar design structure to show a fully-grown alien.
The announcement also brings with it confirmation on the Alien: Covenant Twitter that the second trailer, which was already rumored to be coming this week, will arrive tomorrow (Wednesday). This puts it as very likely to play along with Logan in cinemas when it's released on Friday. There are reportedly two versions - a red and green band - so expect some serious gore to come in the former.
The marketing for Covenant so far has been much closer in tone to the original Alien rather than Scott's other foray into the universe, Prometheus. The new release is really a bridge between the two films, with Michael Fassbender's David model android appearing (twice) and an explanation of the fate of Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw expected, but the style is very much rooted in the used-future aesthetic of the original space-trucker story. Given the mixed reaction to the first prequel, that's probably for the best; the new poster definitely gets the right sort of excitement going.
Source: Fox