TheAlienseries is one of the most famous sci-fi horror franchises in Hollywood’s history. It hasn’t always been that way, though. Upon the release of the first film in 1979, directed by Ridley Scott, the film received mixed reviews from both critics and general audiences. Despite this, the film’s basic pitch of being “Jawsin space” was strong enough to keep generating interest, eventually driving it to become a solid box office success. On a budget of just over $10 million,Aliengrossed over $184 million, making it one of the highest-grossing films of that year.
Alien: Covenant
In the 45 years since,Alienhas continued to grow into a full-fledged franchise. Its first sequel, 1986’sAliens, wasdirected by James Cameron, and it was followed byAlien 3in 1992 andAlien Resurrectionin 1997. Then, there were a couple of lackluster crossovers in the form of the twoAlien vs Predatorfilms. After that, however, Scott returned to the franchise for the first time since the first film.
Scott’s return produced two movies:Prometheus, a prequel exploring the deeper mythology of the franchise; andAlien: Covenant, a sequel toPrometheuswhich more closely aligns with the roots of theAlienseries. The latter is frequently written off and undervalued within the overall franchise, but it deserves to be considered among the bestAlienfilms. Here’s why:
The Lackluster Reaction from Fans and Critics
Alien: Covenanthit theaters in the summer of 2017, and despite the general excitement surrounding the trailers for the film, it failed to really connect with audiences and critics. While there were some glowing reviews for the film, the vast majority of them landed somewhere between middling and negative.
On the review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes, the film scored just a 65% approval based on 408 reviews. While that is still a fresh score, it just barely achieves that, with the average score being a 6.3/10. As for general audiences, the response to the film wasn’t quite as good. The audience score on the same site sits around a 55% based on over 50,000 ratings.
This less-than-stellar response to the film resulted in it becoming one of that summer’s box office failures. It failed to keep up with or match any of that summer’s major hits, likeWonder Woman,Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,Dunkirk,orWar for the Planet of the Apes. It even fell short of Tom Cruise’sThe Mummy, which is broadly considered to be a colossal failure on all accounts.Alien: Covenantopened with just $36 million in North America, where it ultimately went on to gross a total of $74 million. The international numbers didn’t save it either, as it only found $164 million overseas. With a global total of $238 million, the film fell far short of expectations. It was over $150 million less thanPrometheus, which had brought in over $400 million just five years prior.
In the immediate years following the release ofCovenant, public opinion on the film seemed to dip even lower. The film was frequently criticized for its lack of subtlety and the muddled and often hard-to-follow plot. This negative talk surrounding the film, when combined with its box office disappointments, killed any chance ofCovenantreceiving a sequel.
Even though the film directly sets up a sequel and Scott had planned a third movie to conclude his prequel trilogy that began withPrometheus, those ideas were completely abandoned, and theAlienseries was put on hiatus for several years.
Related:Alien: Why it May be Time For the Franchise to End
Merging Alien, Aliens, and Prometheus
Scott’s return to theAlienfranchise with 2012’sPrometheusproved to be quite divisive. This was primarily because the film barely featured or focused on the Xenomorph aliens at the center of the franchise. Instead, Scott broadened the scope of the franchise, exploring the origins of humanity and introducing a new humanoid species called “Engineers” into the franchise. Despite this divisiveness,Prometheuswas successful enough to warrant a sequel, with some clear and significant changes needing to be made.
Alien: Covenantdelivers on many of the promises established withinPrometheus. With Michael Fassbender reprising his role as the android David,Covenantdirectly builds on the mythology established inPrometheus. It also deepens the story surrounding David and the Engineers, while also bridging the gap between them and the iconic Xenomorphs at the center of the series. Through this avenue, Scott was able to strike a new balance that was absent inPrometheus, as he solidly and coherently expanded the lore of the franchise while also delivering plenty of the Xenomorph action and horror that fans had been missing.
Covenantalso succeeds in building off more than justPrometheus. The filmlooks at the franchise’s historyand learns from what worked best in the past. With its central story of an interstellar ship’s crew exploring a mysterious new planet,Covenantclearly echoes the story and structure of the originalAlienfrom 1979. It also is able to recreate much of the same tension and atmosphere that has made that film so iconic.
On top of that, it also learns from Cameron’s 1986 sequel,Aliens, as it increases the scope of the film and includes more than one high-stakes action sequence. By merging the approaches ofAlien,AliensandPrometheusinto one cinematic package,Alien: Covenantcemented its place as one of the most ambitious films in the franchise to date.
Related:Prometheus: Does the Alien Prequel Get Too Much Hate
Its Audience Could Grow with Time
With the recent release ofthe first trailer forAlien: Romulus, directed by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe, 2013’sEvil Dead), the conversation aroundAlien: Covenanthas risen once again. While Scott’s third expedition into theAlienfranchise he created may not have connected at the time, it is still available to stream digitally for fans to revisit and rediscover almost a decade later.
As viewers have had more time to let the film sink in, Scott’s vision for it is seemingly becoming clearer. The tide is turning to some degree, as much of the conversation surrounding the film now is much more positive than it was just a couple of years ago.
In that way,Alien: Covenantis once again mirroring the first film in the series, as its audience may not have been extensive or passionate when it was released, but it’s becoming increasingly visible with the years. If Álvarez’sRomulusis successful upon its release later this year, it will likely bring even more attention toCovenant, even though the two stories are likely to have little to do with one another. This is because of the general good will that is established when audiences see a movie they like, as they naturally want to see more, andCovenantwill be a clear option as it’s the most recent film in theAlienseries.
Now, we’re not saying thatCovenantwill ever reach the same level of acclaim as the firstAlienorAliens– nor are we certain that praise that high would even be deserved – butAlien: Covenantis far from the franchise low point it has often been painted as.
The film is certainly better than other entries in the franchise such asAlien: Resurrection,Prometheusor theAVPmovies. While it’s a shame that the immediate reaction to this film means that Scott will likely never return to the director’s chair for the series again, we still feel lucky to have witnessed his return to this iconic franchise with a film as ambitious as this.
