When The Martian was released back in September, Ridley Scott unloaded a wealth of information about his plans for the Alien franchise. Chief among the mic drops was the revelation that Prometheus 2's new title was Alien: Paradise Lost, but it would seem that is no longer the case.
While speaking about how he came to direct The Martian at the AFI Film Festival, Scott unveiled that the Prometheus sequel should now be referred to as Alien: Covenant. "I was going to be doing what will be called ‘Alien: Covenant,’ which starts shooting next February" said the director. "And we were struggling then with the screenplay there and then there was a phone call, somebody saying, ‘Listen, we’ve got this thing which is completely written called ‘Martian,’ and I said, ‘Huh.’ And I sped read it in an hour and by mid-afternoon, I talked to Fox and said, ‘I need to talk to ‘Drew [Goddard]…"
With the benefit of hindsight, Scott would probably agree that it was a good thing he prioritised The Martian over the Prometheus sequel, as the faithful and funny adaptation has yielded excellent reviews across the board. The reception Prometheus got back in 2012 was decidedly more mixed, but with the prolific director promising answers this time round anticipation (and speculation) is already building. Just don't get too attached to the title...
Directed by Scott, and starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, Alien: Covenant (or whatever it winds up being called) is slated for release in cinemas on May 30 2017.
