'Alien: Covenant' 2 News, Release Date: Ridley Scott to Develop Sequel, To Focus on Artificial Intelligence
Despite the lackluster box office performance of "Alien: Covenant," filmmaker Ridley Scott still plans on developing a sequel to the first film. According to him, the franchise will continue, albeit in a different direction.
Earlier this week, the director gave an update on the "Alien" franchise while busy re-filming some scenes for "All the Money in the World." Asked if the franchise will continue after "Alien: Covenant," the 80-year-old filmmaker said, "We are going to make another, we are. I think what we have to do is gradually drift away from the alien stuff. People say, 'You need more alien, you need more face pulling, need more chest bursting,' so I put a lot of that in 'Covenant' and it fitted nicely. But I think if you go again you need to start finding another solution that's more interesting.
Titled "Alien: Awakening," the "Alien: Covenant" sequel will reportedly move away from the mythology of the Xenomorph, which has long been tackled by the "Alien" franchise. Even "Alien: Covenant," which heavily leaned on this angle in its marketing, earned just about $240 million worldwide. Scott revealed that the upcoming sequel would focus less on the alien stuff and more on artificial intelligence (AI).
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As Scott looks to emphasize AI in his next film, Michael Fassbender, who played David in both "Prometheus" and "Alien: Covenant," might become an even bigger part of the "Alien" franchise moving forward. Speaking about his intention to emphasize AI in the sequel, Scott said that as AI becomes more dangerous, the subject becomes even more interesting for viewers. "Fassbender was an AI. Ian Holm was an AI. Roy Batty was an AI, and so was Rachel," he said.
Scott has yet to reveal when he will start developing the "Alien: Covenant" sequel. Meanwhile, the original film is now available on 4K, Blu-Ray, and DVD.
