The Alien saga is set to continue Ripley’s intergalactic ordeal. 

It may be true that in space no one can hear you scream. However, from planet Hollywood, there has been an announcement that has been picked up loud and clear. As well as a new poster released for Alien: Covenant – the date featured on the ominous artwork tells us to “RUN” on 19^th May 2017. Originally slated for a release on 4^th August (in the US, anyway), the poster brings glad tidings indeed.

Alien: Covenant will reprise Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, and Guy Pearce. So far, the premise of film provided by 20^th Century Fox on IMDb reads:

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discover what they think is an uncharted paradise, but it is actually a dark, dangerous world, whose sole inhabitant is the synthetic David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

From this, we don’t know how much of a starring role Rapace can possibly have if David is the “sole inhabitant”. Both Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) and Peter Weyland (Pearce) are rumoured to appear in flashback sequences as David moves the storyline forward. Newcomers to the franchise aboard the Covenant are: Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Carmen Ejogo (Selma), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous), Danny McBride (Pineapple Express), Demián Bichir (The Hateful Eight), Callie Hernandez (Blair Witch), and Amy Seimetz (Upstream Colour).

In addition to Ridley Scott’s exciting new sequel is Neill Blomkamp’s “untitled Alien project in development”. Sigourney loves it. Michael Biehn is supposed to be coming back as an Alien acid-stained Hicks and a slightly older Newt is in the cards. I have my fingers crossed for Juno Temple to be cast as Newt 2.0. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Carrie Henn and I want to see her in everything, quite frankly. Anyway, preliminary concept art has been all over the web for a while (posted on Twitter by Blomkamp himself) and has whipped up fans of the sci-fi horror series into a salivating frenzy. Oh, how happy we were when those rumours of Sigourney’s involvement were quickly confirmed! Plus, Blomkamp already has a rapport with Sigourney from working together on Chappie.

The film title dubbed Alien 5, has been kept under wraps but Blomkamp considers it to be “quite bold” and met the approval of producer Ridley Scott. Questions of whether the story would be a reboot, re-imagining or follow-up to Alien Resurrection were deliberated; however, these speculations were promptly quashed: “I’m not trying to undo Alien3 or Alien Resurrection… My favourites are the first two movies. I want to make a film that’s connected to Alien and Aliens. That’s my goal.”

Let’s take a look back at the Alien legacy and the different chapters that have terrorised audiences from a host of visionary, international directors.

Alien (1979)

Dir. Ridley Scott

“I think it’s safe to assume it isn’t a zombie.”

The first (and considered to be the best of the series) introduced the parasitical alien life form, based on H.R. Giger’s designs, in a series of abstract ways to terrify audiences before its climactic stand-off with lone survivor Lt. Ellen Ripley. Originally conceived as a male protagonist, the character of Ripley elevated Weaver into one of the most cited action heroines in Hollywood history.

Scott’s signature grandiose establishing shots draw us into the far reaches of space before the horror breaks out onboard the claustrophobic corridors of the darkly lit spaceship. Adding to the close-ups of the alien’s dripping jaws, Jerry Goldsmith’s penetrating music matched the frightening visuals with a score reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho. Veronica Cartwright’s realistic cries of distress, the malfunctioning android Ash simulating rape with a rolled up magazine and Weaver’s unexpected low-cut underwear also stand out in the thrilling fight for survival.

The popularity of Alien and its homage to classic science fiction ‘creature features’ can also be seen in Mel Brooks’ spoof Spaceballs, in which John Hurt reprises his role as the first victim Kane in that infamous last supper chest-bursting scene.

Aliens (1986)

Dir. James Cameron

“That’s it, man. Game over, man! Game over! What the f**k are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?”

57 years later after blowing it through the “Goddamn airlock”, Ripley is manipulated into returning to the planet LV-426 to battle, not one, but an infestation of alien creatures.

The change of tone to Scott’s first outing is considerably different. This time, Cameron opts for a military action blockbuster with a focus on weaponry, soldier horseplay, adrenaline-fueled sequences and quotable one-liners, including “Get away from her, you bitch”, “Punch it, Bishop” and “Stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen” to name a few.

Despite the testosterone-pumped, pro-America salute to filmmaking for which Cameron is renowned, at the heart of the sequel’s narrative is a tender, bittersweet mother-daughter relationship which is contrasted by the hostility of the alien Queen. The maternal bond which apparently swayed Weaver to agree to be in the film is even stronger when watching the special edition director’s cut. Weaver notably received an Oscar-nomination for Best Actress in the Academy’s first ever recognition for a sci-fi horror movie role.

Alien3 (1992)

Dir. David Fincher

“You’ve been in my life so long I can’t remember anything else.”

Fincher’s dark and sombre journey to the penal colony on Fiorina “Fury” 161 takes us back to acid-for-blood basics. The torrential onslaught of insect-like soldier morphs is scrapped for the single alien concept; hiding in the darkness and erratically running around ceilings to keep audiences on edge.

A new breed of ‘dog alien’ (or ‘Bambi burster’) is unleashed upon a group of discarded convicts who are approximately 95% British and have a penchant for profanity. Sigourney Weaver also dramatically altered her appearance when she shaves her head a third of the way into the movie’s running time. The greedy Weyland-Yutani Corporation obsessed with ending human life so that they can be the first to own an alien for their bio-weapons division is echoed from the previous films.

The alternative direction that Alien3 went in, when compared to Alien and Aliens jarred audiences due to the unexpected story arc. Fincher received backlash from fans and Cameron himself for annihilating Ripley’s newfound motherhood. The haunting, yet positive ending to Aliens was disregarded during a montage sequence during the opening credits. Fincher is also known to have battled with Fox studios when executives dictated over editorial and production decisions. An ‘Assembly Cut’ was put together in 2003 but Fincher was not involved due to his negative filmmaking experience. In fact, he wanted his director credit to be removed from the project. Such a shame, as I considered Alien3 to be my favourite for a long time because it scared and scarred me more than Alien did.

Alien: Resurrection (1997)

Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

“I’m the monster’s mother.”

French director Jeunet injected his animated surrealism from Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children with ambitious, fluid camera movements not otherwise seen in the previous Alien movies. One of my all-time favourite films is Amélie and it is bizarre (even in a Jeunet context) to know that he followed Resurrection with the Parisian love story. Along with famed fantasy creator Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer and The Avengers) having penned the screenplay, the writer admits the fourth instalment was executed with enthusiasm but lacked a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to put it mildly.

Alien Resurrection flash-forwards 200 years into the future and, after seven botched attempts, Ripley 8 has been cloned from her molten remains after jumping in the furnace when her alien baby hatched at the climax of Alien3. Scientific jargon explains away her existence but it is her evolution into becoming a human-alien DNA hybrid that brings a new angle to the legacy.

A witty Ron Perlman and android Winona Ryder steal the show as mercenaries delivering human cargo to the USM Auriga; a medical research vessel conducting experiments to harness the power of the alien breed. As a result, Ripley 8 is approximately 50% of the very thing human Ripley sought to destroy.

Was it just me or did the way Brad Dourif pronounce ‘Fury’ 161 sound like “‘Fury 16 on ice”? It’s like Samuel L. Jackson saying “Two million” in Jurassic Park. I swear he’s saying there are “Two main” lines of code.

AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Dir. Paul W. S. Anderson

AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Dir. The Brothers Strause

Next came the 20^th Century Fox alien crossover which can also be considered to be part of this evolutionary exploration of the Alien story. You can’t deny they’re fun, stand-alone watches. However, they don’t really fit anywhere along the Alien timeline. The entertaining blend of blood-soaked action pit the two alpha alien species against each other in an ultimate fight to the death, with humans hunted as game. These spin-offs also turned the Predator into an unexpected antihero for us to cheer on and win. We may cheer but, either way, mankind lose.

Prometheus (2012)

Dir. Ridley Scott

“Big things have small beginnings.”

Ridley Scott’s comeback to the extra-terrestrial saga is classified as somewhere between a prequel (providing a backstory to the discovery of the ship harvesting thousands of alien eggs below the gargantuan “Stargazer” featured in Alien) and a stand-alone film from the franchise. Just not stood as far back as the AVP‘s. Prometheus poses the philosophical question: who are we and how did we get here?

The abundance of SFX and an international cast including Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba and Charlize Theron, delivers an eagerly anticipated return to the Alien universe that many fans have been contemplating over the years. The end set up a sequel for Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) to continue her journey to locate the origins of the mysteriously motivated ‘Engineers’, so we may eventually find out where the gigantic humanoids came from and which ship is the ship that we see in Alien. Sadly, Charlize Theron’s attempt to escape from a vertically falling spaceship means she will never know. This really annoyed me because I love Charlize and I only want what is best for her.

I came this close to meeting the amazing Sigourney at FanExpo Canada 2016 in Toronto. However, she cancelled so I could not get my photo opportunity with her and stand beside the greatness that is she. I’ve always said this and always will: if I could be any character from a film to experience for a short period and not be maimed or disfigured, but live to fight another day – it would be as Ellen Ripley in Alien and Aliens. Obviously not Alien 3. I couldn’t live my whole life dodging, ducking, and diving from alien attacks so this fantasy hypothetical situation would only be temporary.

Also, if I could be a woman – it would be Sigourney Weaver herself. She is God. God is a woman and it is not Alanis Morissette as depicted in Dogma.

No offence, Alanis. You are awesome too.