Ever since Alien director Ridley Scott referred to his upcoming Prometheus sequel as “Alien: Paradise Lost,” we’ve been working under the assumption that this would be the film’s title. Not so, according to studio 20th Century Fox, which released the project’s official title and release date this week.
The sequel to 2012’s Prometheus — which was itself a prequel to Scott’s 1979 franchise-starter Alien — will now be titled Alien: Covenant, and is scheduled to arrive in theaters October 6, 2017.
The news was confirmed via the studio’s official Facebook page for the franchise as well as this Twitter post that also included our first look at the logo treatment for the film.
Ridley Scott returns to direct Alien: Covenant, the next installment in the #Alien franchise. In theaters 10/6/17. pic.twitter.com/GGp1axmfTs
— 20th Century Studios (@20thcentury) November 16, 2015
Along with the title, release date, and logo, the announcement also featured a synopsis for the film, which reads as follows:
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with ALIEN: COVENANT, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with PROMETHEUS — and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
The release date for Alien: Covenant now puts the film up against Warner Bros. Pictures, The Jungle Book: Origins film scheduled to arrive in theaters the same day.
Directed again by Scott with Prometheus stars Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender reprising their roles from the 2012 film, Alien: Covenant is based on a script penned by Jack Paglen (Transcendence) and Michael Green (Green Lantern).
