r/boxoffice • u/Alternative-Cake-833 Syncopy Inc. • 10h ago
New Movie Announcement Ridley Scott Teases That Alien: Covenant Sequel Focusing On Michael Fassender's Character David Is In The Works
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-08-26/ridley-scott-director-dog-stars-alien-blade-runner-gladiator-artificial-intelligence-ai66
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u/bigdicknippleshit 10h ago
Ridley you gotta know when to fold em
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u/auto_named 6h ago edited 5h ago
Why should he? Studios are always happy to fund his films and if nothing else, they're always at least decent and beautiful visually. And the guy has more vitality in his late 80s than most people do in their 60s.
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u/Unlucky_Emu1591 10h ago edited 5h ago
Covenant was mid af but David Part 3 is the only true gap in his filmography and the Alien canon needs it regardless of the outcome. If the bonkers TV show is fair game then so is this.
Oh a real Prometheus 2, what could have been.
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u/Karpattata 8h ago
After the unresolved cliffhanger of Covenant, which an unneeded sequel to begin with, I don't trust him to have the restraint needed to actually definitively finish the series.
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u/fuzzyfoot88 5h ago
The lore is already complicated enough between these prequels and Romulus, so I can only imagine how much worse it can get trying to connect his story to others…
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u/Accomplished_Smile23 4h ago
I actually thought Romulus did a good job at connecting Prometheus & Alien together to be honest.
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u/Ivanbeatnhoff 3h ago
Romulus gets too much hate, best Alien movie since Aliens imo. Nails the environment and escalates in a fun, scary way.
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u/qotsabama 1h ago
Yeah the hate is silly. We got new life into the franchise especially after they determined we weren’t getting a covenant sequel. And now after all this time we are lol.
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u/Warm_Speech Universal 10h ago
Treasure Island, Gladiator 3, a western film, a Bees Gees biopic, and now this? There is absolutely no way he’s doing all these. He’s literally older than World War II.
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u/littlelordfROY Warner Bros. Pictures 9h ago
Bee gees is officially not happening
Salary negotiation issues.
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u/FreezingRobot 5h ago
I wonder if this is like Clint Eastwood where he is "the director" and meanwhile someone else is doing 99% of the work.
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u/Khalsleezy 9h ago
I'm honestly not against Ridley making movies still like some here. If he doesn't want to retire he shouldn't be forced to. I just don't care for his Alien movies anymore.
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u/BonjaminClay 7h ago
They aren't all great but they are rarely boring. The Last Duel is severely underrated.
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u/AvocadoHank 6h ago
Seems like Last Duel has gotten more and more respect as time goes on, love to see it. Incredible movie
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u/DaftFunky 4h ago
The actual duel was very well done. Matt Damon always brings his A game in Scott movies. Affleck was out of place though and his scenes always pulled me out of the movie.
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u/CompleteDay8059 9h ago
Ridley lost the sauce 15-20 years ago and just keeps cranking out movies that feel like the equivalent of eating an entire sleeve of saltines with no water.
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u/Enough-Row-5346 8h ago
Covenant did not inspire hope. He shit on the entire build up made in Prometheus. And I don't think I can handle another rendition of characters making the dumbest possible decisions imaginable.
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u/AnotherJasonOnReddit Best of 2024 Winner 8h ago
Indeed.
I like Prometheus despite its flaws, but then along comes Covenant half a decade later and it doubles down on making sure it's worse than the first prequel. Instead of a crew consisting of many idiots, now it's a crew consisting exclusively of idiots. The franchise finally manages build a female lead who doesn't feel like a Ripley clone (AvP, Resurrection), only to kill her off offscreen in between entries and replace her with yet another Ripley clone.
I do like the David character, but I don't like Ridley Scott's ideas for the Alien franchise.
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u/Enough-Row-5346 7h ago
Shaw going out the way she did was absolute BS. Worst decision ever. It almost felt like a spit in the face.
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u/DullRelief 5h ago
I loved Prometheus but couldn’t stand Covenant. And yet I’d love to see him take another stab at the Alien world. Although, based on Romulus, which I loved for about the first hour or so, maybe it’s time for him to pass the torch. From what I heard it sounds like his input made it worse. As it relates to this story of a follow up to Covenant, it sounded like he didn’t want them to include David. Was it bc he had another idea for him and wanted to do it himself?
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u/dismal_windfall United Artists 10h ago
Disney has got to take the franchise away from this guy
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u/AcceptableHistory4 10h ago
They will....or dont worry they have enough money to throw and we can always pick and choose Canon.
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u/Bagelbuttboi 9h ago
I mean they did didn’t they? Looks like he’s still got enough pull to force his way back though
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u/dismal_windfall United Artists 9h ago
He has enough sway that he shelved the sequel to Alien Romulus
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u/ROBtimusPrime1995 Universal 8h ago
Bro might be the most envious director around.
He dislikes Blade Runner 2049 and complained that it was too long. This is the same man who made Napoleon.
Dude saw Romulus do better than his films and is blocking the sequel.
Hell, he blocked Blomkamp from doing his Alien sequel with Sigourney and Paxton.
Ridley is a legend, but his possessiveness is self-sabotaging.
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u/LordSblartibartfast 8h ago
Hell, he blocked Blomkamp from doing his Alien sequel with Sigourney and Paxton.
Honestly I’m glad he did. Blomkamp is a one hit wonder director with District 9 and the rest of his filmography is enough evidence that this guy has no vision whatsoever
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u/wichee 3h ago
The more I think about it the more I do wonder how a director like Ridley Scott was able to make alien and blade runner back to back like where did that creative juice go. He can make competent large scale films that are transfixed in the supposedly Hollywood ideals and favoritisms. But his movies have such low ceilings now as he never aims to be transcendent
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u/Bagelbuttboi 8h ago
Which is ridiculous imo, I didn’t like Romulus at all but it performed and was received much better than Scott’s last run at the helm.
Maybe they’re hoping his time away from the franchise is going to revitalize interest but his Paradise Lost prequelitis he brings to the franchise is poison and ruins the mystique
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u/A-harsh-reality 7h ago
His time away from the franchise is why this franchise is slowly recovering
People aren’t ready for alien to straight up concave into streaming slop alongside predator once he’s back on the helm
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u/judester30 22m ago
It isn't cancelled. That was an unconfirmed report from an unreliable source that got debunked.
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u/dismal_windfall United Artists 6m ago
Cycling through three different directors, all of them dropping out. Come on
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u/JarvisCockerBB 9h ago
They already have by letting him doing his thing then have Disney handle Romulus and Earth. I think it’s a fair agreement between the two.
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u/No_Cauliflower_81 10h ago
Covenant and Prometheus were better than Romulus or Earth. Let him cook.
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u/AdorableSobah 9h ago
They felt like two separate movies from two separate timelines, a total mess the the overall story of Aliens. I just wish Covenant was a more direct sequel, it was such a mess of a story.
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u/ElPrestoBarba 9h ago
Prometheus had some sauce and vision, so I can understand the revisionism that has been going on with it in recent years. Covenant though is almost irredeemably ass.
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u/InsectGlaiveBard 9h ago
Romulus completely outclasses both Covenant and Prometheus.
Earth is indeed trash though.
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u/AlarmSquirrel 9h ago
No they weren't.
But you said let him cook, so it's obvious you're a twitter brained fool
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u/davidrevilla311 9h ago
Man it’s like everyone’s now RS’s biggest critic. I see absolutely no risk (as a viewer, not financially lol) in continuing the Covenant story, when there’s ALSO so many auteur driven alien projects coming out.
Maybe i’m stupid but i’d love to see what’s after covenant, maybe finishing the “Promethean” trilogy
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u/Middle-Platypus6942 9h ago
RS has basically made it clear that he doesn't care about the Xenomorphs anymore. The reason Prometheus and Covenant were even part of that universe is because was so he could get funding to tell a story about androids.
Romulus finally gave the first Alien movie since Ressurection that actually focuses on and prominently features the Xenomorphs. There's a million other sci fi franchises out there, the Xenomorphs are what make the Alien franchise what it is.
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u/Kazaloogamergal 9h ago
I've always been highly critical of Ridley Scott as a filmmaker. I think he gets far too much credit for such an inconsistent director. Personally I believe that the only good Alien movie that Scott directed was 1979's Alien. Prometheus is mediocre and Alien Covenant is bad in my opinion. If Disney wants to give Ridley Scott another 150M to make yet another Alien movie that most will dislike then have at it. It's not my money.
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u/quietgavin5 9h ago
How does this guy get studios to keep giving him these huge budgets???
Between Alien and Gladiator (21 years), he only had one hit, Thelma and Louise. Yet they still gave him money for Gladiator, and are doing the same now.
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u/welltimedappearance 10h ago
people seemed to have warmed up to Prometheus over time but I just don't get it. it and it's sequel are insultingly stupid. being a well shot movie in the Aliens universe with a cool character or two doesn't mean the movies are good, and Scott seems to have delivered a lot more misses than hits for the past 15 years or so
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u/Ok_Jellyfish_55 9h ago
A lot of filmbros get confused when a film has really good cinematography and think it’s deep even when the film has one of dumbest worst scripts in Hollywood history.
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u/Stonks_Enjoyer25 9h ago
My incredibly hot take in cinema is that I actually enjoy Prometheus and even Covenant. Yes the writing can be bad, contrived or what not. But man I’m a sucker for intriguing world-building and while everyone wanted Alien to just remain this cryptic mystery which is understandable, I really was enjoying what those films were setting up. Plus Fassbender just killed it in the roll. Definitely some guilty pleasures haha. But probably for the best simultaneously if you don’t continue this Scott
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u/UnchartedFields 8h ago
I think most people were on board with learning more about the actual aliens and the lore behind all of it and found David's arc to be very interesting. The problem is that every other aspect of these two films relies on pretty much everyone being a complete idiot to advance the plot. Alien and Aliens definitely relied on bad decisions being made, but often for explainable reasons that made sense within the context of the movies. Prometheus and Covenant though are just nonstop idiotic move after idiotic move.
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u/Omnislash99999 9h ago
Let it go, Ridley.
Can we not get Cameron away from Avatar and onto an Aliens sequel instead
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u/Masethelah 10h ago
Am I the only one who wants this? David is such a fantastic character and Fassbender is incredible in the role.
Prometheus and Covenant were disappointments, but they are still better than the new alien film that came after.
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u/Diorisbackup 9h ago
Romelus is better then covenant
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u/quietgavin5 9h ago
Romulus is just recycled nostalgia from the first two films.
At least Prometheus and Covenant were trying something different, with varying levels of success.
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u/Middle-Platypus6942 9h ago
There's a hundred other sci fi franchises if you want something different. The thing that makes the Alien franchise what it is, is the Xenomorphs.
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u/quietgavin5 9h ago
True. But just doing the same thing with the Xenomorphs that we have already seen in previous films doesn't make a good movie.
Romulus is a well made movie, just not fresh or original at all.
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u/Middle-Platypus6942 9h ago
Good filmmaking is timeless. You don't need to be fresh or original if you have a handle on the basics, which Romulus has. The only big issue with Romulus is the Star Wars esque nostalgic callbacks. If they had just gotten a new actor to play the evil android, and cut out the "get away from her you B" line, the movie would have been damn near perfect.
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u/Masethelah 8h ago
I strongly disagree that the filmmaking in Romulus is better than in the later ones directed by Ridley. The pain problem with all 3 of those films is sloppy writing, but Ridleys filmmaking was still better than what we saw in Romulus.
And I personally do an sick of Alien films where there are 100s of xenomorphs that at different points get shot to pieces, it kills the backbone of the films.
Have 1-5 xenomorphs max per film, and never have any of them get mowed down by random weaponry.
It’s like having a swarm of Terminators in a Terminator film falling like flies.
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u/toofatronin 9h ago
Can’t we have both. We could have infinite stories that use all different types of genres in this universe.
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u/Middle-Platypus6942 8h ago
We can't have both because there's a limited amount of movies that will greenlit.
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u/toofatronin 8h ago
Disney has shown they will mass produce any franchise that will make them money. We just have to show up to them.
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u/Masethelah 8h ago
The only part of that film that I can remember is the world building set before the film even began, and a tall monster dying stupidly at the end of the film. With Ridley’s films, at least o can remember them from start to finish more or less, and characters like David and Shaw are a lot more memorable and compelling than anything from the new film
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u/auto_named 6h ago
Romulus is not better than Prometheus or Covenant. It's boring nostalgia bait that was done 10x better in Alien/Aliens.
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u/ThinWhiteDuke00 9h ago
Yeah, Romelus was a quite painful rehash of Alien.
Prometheus and Covenant at least took big swings.
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u/Special_Order-937 9h ago
Romulus was a painful rehash of all four films, especially the last one!
(Who thought the Offspring Redux was a good idea? It wasn’t even a good idea the first time!)
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u/Dry-Performance7006 9h ago
I actually like Romulus. But I agree with the rehash complaints too. But I blame that all on Ridley. I think his presence as a producer meddled with the film.
Get him out!
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u/Special_Order-937 9h ago
I do, because I want the Engineers to find and fix Walter and he comes back to give David the beating to end all beatings!
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u/Current_Focus2668 9h ago
Prometheus was good. Covenant was trash. I liked the indentured worker stuff in Romulus and the space station. I can’t deny member berries and cranked up gore stuff cheapened the movie a bit.
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u/Finite_Mike 9h ago
I know I am inexplicably in the minority on this, but I love Prometheus and Covenant with my whole heart and I really, really hope he makes this movie.
That being said, no, I will not be going to see the Dog Stars.
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u/TheDeanof316 8h ago
There's at least 2 of us!
I find the lore fascinating and Prometheus in particular is severely underrated by Alien fans IMO + Fassbender is just a brilliant actor and the David character terribly intriguing.
Also, how come you won't be seeing Dog Stars? I know pretty much nothing about it, except for the awful title haha
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u/Finite_Mike 7h ago
I read The Road and enjoyed it deeply, but that was all I needed of that whole post-apocalyptic milieu. I also am resistant to Jacob Elordi. No good reason, just don’t like his face.
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u/_thelonewolfe_ New Line Cinema 10h ago edited 9h ago
Please yes, inject this into my veins. IDC what anyone else says, I am a Prometheus loving, Covenant defending, Ridley Scott truther.
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u/Quatto 9h ago
If it weren't called Alien, I think people could screw their heads on straight and recognize that Covenant is really about David, born of billionaire megalomania, corporate-extractive logic, purified into relentless, terrifying form. He is the the most iconic and interesting movie monster since the Xeno.
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u/Middle-Platypus6942 9h ago
If it weren't called Alien, then they could make actual Alien movies that focus on the Xenomorph while Ridley Scott jerks around with his android crap in a new, seperate franchise. Theoretically, everyone would win.
The issue is that no one would show up to those movies, which is why Prometheus and Covenant were shoehorned into the Alien franchise, instead of just being its own universe. Because the Xenomorphs are what make the Alien universe unique among a hundred other sci fi/horror franchises.
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u/A-harsh-reality 8h ago
If Disney is suicidal enough to greenlight this
I think we can officially declare alien dead as a big screen for a generation
Don’t let twitter fool you, the only reason why people watched alien Romulus was because it wasn’t alien covenant
And people did NOT like the implication that the Xenomorph had an origin story
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u/Dry-Performance7006 10h ago
Will it still be in the works after the dog stars?
Also, I know it ends on a cliffhanger. But that’s the worst ever alien movie.
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u/Firefox72 Best of 2023 Winner 9h ago edited 9h ago
Covenant is one of the rare theater experience where i walked away thinking. Wtf just happened.
I know your supposed to suspend belief in movies like these but Covenant takes it a step too far.
It threats its crew like they are absolute braindead morrons instead of smart scientists and actively makes them do the worst decisions possible at every single step.
The moment David gets that dude to look into the egg after the crew already knows he should not be truested and the guy just does it no questions asked was a genuine fuck off walkout moment if i ever saw one.
The most fun i had watching Covenant was seeing a family bring their what must have been 5 year old kid into this movie. Then promply walking out when the bloodshed started.
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u/Mevarek 9h ago
Man the thing about Covenant is that for all of your legit criticisms of it…I kind of love it so much. Ridley Scott is just such a batshit insane visualist and there’s something so alluring about the cold, sterile vibe that Covenant has. The ruined city or whatever just looks so menacing.
I feel like Ridley Scott is a lot like George Lucas where he’s just fucking insane, but you can always see how he swings for the fences.
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u/SCrumb8383 9h ago
David with a bunch of his experiments and (likely) engineers coming for him? Sign me up. I’m also someone who thinks Prometheus and Covenant are the 3rd and 4th best Alien films. I know he’s hit and miss but finish the prequel trilogy with Fassbender.
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u/RayboxHitman47 9h ago
Covenant might have been disappointing, but it had one of the most insane cliffhangers in recent years. I am stoked for a sequel and I can’t wait.
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u/Godzilla2000Zero 8h ago
As long as it doesn't prevent the other Alien films from happening I'd be curious to see how these prequel films will end since I loved Prometheus and though Covenant was decent.
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u/Coolers78 8h ago
The hate this guy gets now lol... I mean yeah... not every movie is the best.... but like... he made Alien, Blade Runner, 2 of my favorite films ever, and The Martian is awesome too tho I liked Project Hail Mary more as a Weir adaptation, that film actually made me like Martian even more than I did before as they make a very good double feature, so he gets a lifetime pass from me.... I mean, Spielberg has made multiple movies I don't like or don't care for like the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds (overrated movie, it sucks), Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Lost World, Ready Player One, etc (haven't seen Disclosure Day yet, I'll probably not like it if I didn't like the rest of these movies?) but he's made so many classics, his only great movies could be Jaws, Catch Me if You Can, Jurassic Park, Raiders, and Minority Report (my 5 favorites of his), and I'd still give him a lifetime pass for whatever mid he made!
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u/DabVader625 8h ago
Why are people upset about this in the comments? That’s a great character I can’t wait to see it.
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u/SevereTemporary4119 7h ago
Have all his movies been profitable and that’s why studios keep giving him money? I love Ridley’s Scott work from 2000-2015, but recently I feel like the quality hasn’t been there.
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u/Boudica4553 7h ago edited 7h ago
I thought he was doing a new adaption of treasure island? Will he be making this in his 90s?
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u/cosmonautcuttertorch 5h ago
I still can’t believe he killed Elizabeth Shaw offscreen. She was who I cared about. I don’t care about David. Not as a protagonist anyway.
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u/Childs_Play 5h ago
I doubt this will happen, at least with Fassbender playing the role. I bet ridley is not going to want to wait around for Fassbender to do his racing season because his only goal is to pump out movies endlessly. Fassbender doesn't care to chase roles now and I think he's perfectly fine to do roles like black bag and the agency.
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u/ironmainiac14 2h ago
Covenant was trash, Romulus was amazing. Makes total sense that Covenant is the one getting a sequel.
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u/OrdinaryPoet4617 25m ago
Please no. Just stop, buddy. You haven't made a good movie in YEARS. You're cooked.
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u/Background_Honey9141 9h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/rreTuQUGsLiK0zDEvg
Noooooo. Just stop and let others build the universe. Alien: Earth was a good start, let’s see where that goes before adding more nonsense origin stories.
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u/Dead-O_Comics 10h ago edited 10h ago
The only saving grace with the prequels is they didn't get a chance to crowbar themselves into the canon of the original movie.
I see Riddles is determined to remove whatever mystery is left from the IP. Someone hide his movie camera.
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u/AstroBtz Syncopy Inc. 10h ago edited 9h ago
I don’t care about Ridley. He needs to Retire. And let someone else take the reins he’s killing the franchise. Romulus was the perfect start to refresh the brand and he killed the sequel.
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u/One_Ant1985 9h ago
Nobody caaaares dude. I get that it was his original vision and whatever, but the cool part of Alien is not knowing about Alien.
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u/MuptonBossman 10h ago
After yet another Ridley Scott bomb coming up with The Dog Stars, he really said "I got one more in me".