Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant is a 2017 science fiction horror film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and written by John Logan and Dante Harper from a story by Michael Green and Jack Paglen. A joint American and British production, it is a sequel to Prometheus (2012), the second entry in the Alien prequel series, and the sixth installment in the series but counting crossovers eighth film in the overall Alien franchise (three of which have been directed by Scott). It features returning star Michael Fassbender, with Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demián Bichir in supporting roles. It follows the crew of a colony ship that lands on an uncharted planet and makes a terrifying discovery.
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Directed by | Ridley Scott |
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Cinematography | Dariusz Wolski |
Edited by | Pietro Scalia |
Music by | Jed Kurzel |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
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Language | English |
Budget | $97–111 million |
Box office | $240.9 million |
In 2012, before the release of Prometheus, Scott discussed the prospects of a sequel and new trilogy, and this film was confirmed that August. Principal photography began on April 4, 2016, at Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, and wrapped on July 19, 2016. Effects houses Odd Studios and CreatureNFX provided the film's makeup and animatronic creature effects. Scott said the film's first cut was 2 hours and 23 minutes, which was edited down by over twenty minutes.
Alien: Covenant premiered in London on May 4, 2017. It was released by 20th Century Fox on May 12 in the United Kingdom, and on May 19 in the United States. It received mostly positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office; its worldwide gross was $240 million against a production budget of approximately $100 million, not including marketing costs.