Ridley Scott Announces ‘Alien: Covenant’ Plot, Unveils Logo

Before 2012's Alien: Prometheus was even released in theaters, director and producer Ridley Scott was already thinking ahead to its sequel. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Scott made those intentions clear at WonderCon 2012, stating that, "If we're lucky, there'll be a second part. It [Prometheus] does leave you with some nice open questions."

Now, after multiple delays and name changes, a sequel has officially been announced. What was initially titled Alien: Paradise Lost (via Digital Spy) is now called Alien: Covenant and is currently set for theatrical release sometime in 2017 (Digital Spy says May 30, but October 6 seems to be the more commonly-listed date). Scott announced the sequel's official name change on Friday at the AFI Film Festival, maintaining that it had no impact on the film's plot.

We also have an official logo for the film (above) and an official synopsis. It 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" (via ComingSoon.net).

ComingSoon.net also reports that filming is set to begin in February 2016 in Australia and that Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are the only returning cast members announced/known thus far. But Scott did tell Empire during his interview back in September that this new film will have some kind of connection with Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver's iconic character, so perhaps we can hold out hope for her return as well. Or maybe even just a cameo??

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