Ridley Scott reveals the title of the next Alien film after Alien: Covenant!

So Awakening will be a prequel prequel sequel? 

Yeah, apparently... Haha

Awakening...Hmm. Maybe this means we will basically get the answer to the Xenomorph creation? Or maybe it will be Shaw and David arriving on Paradise and awakening something(s) that have been left undisturbed for so long....Man, what a time to be alive. Haha 3-5 more Alien films from Ridley Scott coming. 

But this also immediately calls into question, the supposed prequel book that is coming out in...September I think. I assumed that it would be the Shaw story we thought was going to be covered in what turned into Covenant, but maybe the prequel novel will literally be a prequel to Covenant and then Awakening will be the Shaw and David story. 

Oh man, this is a lot to take in right now 

Wow, so are the dog tags all we're going to see of Shaw apart from flashbacks?

Does David drop her off to do her thing on the homeworld, then shoots off to do his thing in AC!?

Red Herrings everywhere!

Also, this was an early on theory her eon the scified forums. Sir Ridley may opt to have the sequels of Prometheus produced out of order timeline wise. I don't know why at this point, but we were right! 

Also, I can't find the interview! I found an article of Collider that is basically the same information as posted here, but the link to the article leads to and, "Error 404 page not found," page. Haha, so maybe he did give away too much? It's funny that Katherine had to stop him hahaha

Ah. I see where Ridley is going with this. He sees the fan base going crazy over what happens after Prometheus, and now hes going to capitalize on the fan base going crazy over what happens before covenant.  I guarantee their will be questions  unanswered in covenant, and we will be dropped into a world where we only glimpse the tail end of a convoluted plot involving Shaw and David.  We will be given no answers, and will be left wondering were the eggs came from, what happened to Shaw, and so on....

Awakening will go into detail about these events, and show us what happened in the TEN years we miss between Prometheus and covenant.  And there will be such theories to show you!!!!

Ridley will drag the suspense and question on as long as he can, crafting a great ride for the fans (hopefully) and giving us movies to look forward to for years to come.  And choice books in between, I hope.

Ah. I see where Ridley is going with this. He sees the fan base going crazy over what happens after Prometheus, and now hes going to capitalize on the fan base going crazy over what happens before covenant.  I guarantee their will be questions  unanswered in covenant, and we will be dropped into a world where we only glimpse the tail end of a convoluted plot involving Shaw and David.  We will be given no answers, and will be left wondering were the eggs came from, what happened to Shaw, and so on....

Awakening will go into detail about these events, and show us what happened in the TEN years we miss between Prometheus and covenant.  And there will be such theories to show you!!!!

Ridley will drag the suspense and question on as long as he can, crafting a great ride for the fans (hopefully) and giving us movies to look forward to for years to come.  And choice books in between, I hope.

This is getting pretty confused. So Awakening will be a proper sequel to Prometheus and prequel to Covenant and go into the events of Alien? Or are there more sequels to Covenant leading upto Alien? Logically would be Prometheus, Covenant, Awakening and Alien... You tell me man, I only work here...

Chris, I have one request of Sir Ripley.......PLEASE HURRY!!!!!

If i m not wrog timeline would be: Prometheus ---> Alien: Awakening ---> Alien: Covenant

Period of time between each one is about 10 years until Nostromo if i not wrong, but i m not very sure.

I was born in the 90s, never thought I'd have a chance to witness Ridley Scott making prequels/sequels/whatever for the franchise! Feeling kinda privileged here :D

@Necronoom, It will indeed be Prometheus, Awakening, Covenant timeline wise, but he is planning at least one more movie that leads into Alien. I believe there will be up to 5 films made in this franchise. 

So, Awakening will go back, and then I think the rest of the film that may be made will pick up after Covenant in the timeline. 

So, was this a plan all alongish? Or did the studio get scared and try to just make another Alien movie, then realize that the interest in the Shaw's and David's journey is too great to just brush over?

@ cuponater - I think you have it about right in your last paragraph

Lets go back 5 years and see what the Bonnie and Clyde of space have done

However if done well it could turn out to be epic

Yes! That's what I'm talking about!! It's gonna need at least a couple more to tie this story up! I get the feeling that he will finally get back to telling a Sci-fi story the way it was intending to be from Alien 1979. Yes this is good news.

After all five movies play out before the original Alien, there will be a critical time of five minutes before the event of the original Alien.  There will be three movies made to describe the events unfolding in the last four minutes.  Then there will be three extra movies to describe the last 59 seconds.  And finally, three more movies to describe the last minute before we get to Alien.  We won't discuss the story line possibilities in the nano second realm.  Or will we?

One of the prequel/ sequels could be David and Shaw nipping back to LV223 to check on Billy no mates deacon or perhaps to revive Holloway?

I guess it will give fans what they want, more engineers. The covenant planet may just be an engineer colony, with david and shaw having a stop off before covenant.

the amount of ideas on here are a great source for the films

After all this plays out, Fox will continue with their Alien prequels, bringing us back to the year 1979, way before Wayland Yutani and Ripley were even conceived.  The story begins with a writer named Dan O'Bannon as he appears out of a misty environment to speak with a director named Ridl...HEY!

@Galaxy Dave

You should work for Fox hahaha

Awakening sounds more like a title for a movie leading into the original ALIEN. Like the first true Xenomorphs are being born. Maybe he put Awakening between Prometheus and Covenant to throw people off? Either way, I'm excited. I love the title. Of course, when ever I hear Awakening, I think of Evangelion. But I'm still intrigued as to what kind of Awakening this will be.

This is insanity.  Yes I want more, but what a mess.  It feels like Fox and Ridley Scott are giving us wedgies.  Not the most comfortable feeling in the world.  

Or is it?

Hoping for some Deacons in the next one 

Now then... Let's think about this carefully. Where does that leave us with Alan Dean Foster's "Alien Covenant 2" book to be released in August? I was led to believe it covers the time period from Prometheus to Alien Covenant, the same as Awakening, yes, no?

If that's the case, has "Awakening" already been filmed? Or is Scotty just toying with us?

Personally, I want to get on-track with the story ASAP without all this jumping around nonsense - I need resolution before I snuff it.

I suppose FOX wanted a surefire product, an old school A L I E N movie, rather than a sequel to Prometheus.

Ridley probably agreed to do it this way. Give them a movie for the fanboys(Alien:Covenant)and then finish the Prometheus story?

Win! WIN!

So Awakening will be a prequel prequel sequel?'

lol :) Who cares though, as long as the quality's there?  Keep churning em out, good Sir.

WTF, if i was a normal person i would  criticize the fact that this is a prequel to a sequel of a prequel, so...2x prequel and 2x sequel, but I'M NOT NORMAL, I'M A ALIEN FAN, AND THIS MOVIES ARE GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!

Love it! As long as Fox stays the course.......ridley's age is only limitation

It would be better to watch awakening before covenant but its not.Hope its good!

It makes sense to do it out of order like this:  as soon as we learn about Dr. Shaw's fate, they can take a step back and show us more of her story.  I think Fox realized that if they do Blomkamp's film right now, it messes up the order too much. We also might end up seeing a version of ALIEN 5 that is closer to Joss Whedon's old ALIEN: Revelation script.

Talk about an awful way to release movies.

Let's go 3 movies back skip the middle one and then go back and tell that story.

This idea just screams that A:C will be full of holes because we're missing the middle section of this Alien prequel trilogy.

Blompkamp might be a fan of Alien, as we all are, but that won't make a good film.  His track record isn't spotty, it's mostly garbage.  District 9 was great, then he took a bow and exited the stage.  His bad films had great budgets, but that doesn't make them great.  I would say to shareholders to invest in other movies before considering Blompkamp.  I'm sure he's a nice guy, but most of his movies stink.  There needs to be serious, carefully thought out, high quality treatments to the Alien universe.  Please keep Blompkamp away.  Heed my warning people.  There is a higher calling.  Ridley is your best bet for now.

Durp004 - There may be a very complicated reason behind it.

If they'd followed the original plan, we'd have to wait even longer to see the Xenomorph.  Fox was really trying to give us the best of both worlds in Covenant.  It's all part of David's journey, so there are several ideas carried forward from Prometheus; however, it may be necessary to enter the story at this point (from Walter's perspective) to look back at what David and Dr. Shaw have been up to since Prometheus.  

Walter represents Prometheus' brother Epimetheus and has a way of looking at things in hindsight.  Being able to tap into David's memories is what allows Walter to experience David & Dr. Shaw's "adventures" firsthand.  It wouldn't be a series of flashbacks about Dr. Shaw -- it's almost as if Walter is reliving the parts of the story we missed.  After he merges his mind with David at the end of Covenant, he would say "We are Walter" and begin reawakening those memories.  It becomes necessary for Walter to search his memory and fill in the holes in the timeline for us, to answer some of the big questions, such as where we come from & where we're going.

Galaxy Dave - Covenant is partially about how compromises can be reached between multiple parties.  

A few of Blomkamp's concepts/ideas can still work if he's willing to compromise with Fox and the other filmmakers. 

Fox wanted the ALIEN to appear in this film;  Ridley agreed to give the company and many of the fans what they want in exchange for what he wants.  Ridley's able to tell his story about evolution from this angle, so he's willing to sacrifice some of what he wanted to do.  Blomkamp is less willing to negotiate with others to try to find a middle ground...

This is fantastic news! Love that he's already on to the next, and that KW is in the know. RS knows where his bread is buttered!

Thanks Chris, that is one sloppy piece of writing which then fizz's around the internet all as hard fact. Ridders is asked one direct question and answers it clearly. There is one more movie before we back into literally and logically A L I E N.

That movie script is already written and ready to go and interesting Katherine stops him, from what I believe, would have been a huge spoiler about the ending of Covenant and indeed the pathway into the follow up. I said this a year ago but John Logan began writing Spectre as a twofer with a cliff hanger and resolution into the second movie but Daniel wanted a resolution I suspect his screen play for Covenant sets up the sequel. 

Then they appear, from the way its written, to ask the same question again about order. He then does not mention films, but titles, and I suspect Awakening is the title of the Alan Dean Foster novel which covers the events after Prometheus and before Covenant and released in late September. These two remarks would be consistent making a film of ADF novel next year makes no sense. The other three films he alludes to is probably a blue sky view of the future and giving Fox its Star Wars.

Hidden in this interview are two interesting snippets :-

1. Something many of us have agreed on for along time, Doctor Shaw is a plot device and unlike Hicks a logical one which drives the story and is more than just expedient.

2) The philosophical antagonism between David (the outcast Roy Batty) and Walter (loved and cherished and on the inside like Deckard) - though both Androids. I love the reference to Apartheid, David's rebellion and sense of injustice will harden in Covenant and lead to retribution and probably in the follow up redemption.

For a long time I could not see the vision of the follow up now its there. The Covenant has to make a harrowing escape (so it does) but it is only a reprieve and whilst Daniels holds on to her dream of terraforming and colonising they will be interrupted by A I which leads down to  a desolate rock a broken Juggernaut and a warning beacon from an Engineer. How much the hierarchy is involved or alluded to (Ridley - its quite a complex story) will be fascinating.        

What is encouraging is that Covenant has been shot not with just a big idea basis book but with a very clear idea of where the story goes next. 

Wayne Haag said Ridley steals ideas from everywhere and he did want to make a Star Wars type Franchise off this.. as he has mentioned Star Wars a number of Times...

So maybe this is where the AWAKENS comes from lol.... wonder when we get to REVENGE OF THE SYNTHETIC

LOL

On a Serious note... when we had news of Alien Covenant and how it seemed to be a Plot that was different to what was being set up in his interviews over the years prior and indeed the kind of movie the Source i had eluded to.

I did back when AC was announced mention that i wandered if the Change of Plan was due to ALIEN 5 it appeared that Alien 5 was getting more hype and interest as we get a sequel to Aliens that Retcons Hicks and Newts Fate and brings back Ripley and Aliens and Queens.

Compared to the Negative comments about Prometheus, maybe fans in general did not want to see a movie that STEPS further away from Alien and follows Shaws Quest for Answers and to go and find out more about the Engineers, who created them and why was we created with then latter clues to how the Xeno or Black Goo connects.

Fox want to set up a Franchise Prequels and they want to make $$$$ i said back when AC was announced that i wander if they felt they needed to go back and change their plans and give the FANS the Alien Clues a bit more and give them a more Xeno based movie...  then after this, maybe it can get more INTEREST in the new Movies and then set up as a more loose Plot information on the Engineers.

So when Fanboys have their Answers or enough to please them and see a new Alien movie thats more Alieny... maybe they would then be more interesting to then ask....

So what rule did the Engineers play?

Or where are they and also what became of Shaw that lead to the horrors in AC.

I felt this was logically would could have been going on, and it seems this is the case.

Then shortly after Ridley commented about AC as being a new Trilogy and they are coming in from the Back Door/Rear.

Which made me take that comment as i have mentioned a lot of times in relation to the Franchise, that is AC actually like doing a Prequel Franchise in Reverse?   So a AC sequel in some part could be set in the past..... 

But then we had the announcement of the ADF Prequel which would cover some part of the events prior to Alien Covenant

I will also now pick up on your comment Michelle... indeed who knows maybe the Awakens is in reference to the ADF book and maybe its a slip of the tongue by Ridley Scott and that he actually planned 3 movies and this Book to fill in other gaps.

So its in effect 4 Parts to the Saga he wishes to tell.

I do however also agree with you that they cant surely set up a ending in AC to then not follow on what happens with the Covenant Colonist that Survive and Daniels etc.

But Waterston did hint with the David is new Ripley comment that the Franchise is about David, and so maybe we wont find out what happens to the Covenant in the next movie?

Who knows... I do think if they are planning to use David AKA Fassbender in a few movies, well he is a Synthetic and so unless he upgrades himself to be something a bit different, they would have to get this Trilogy done sooner rather than latter because.

1) Fassbender is a Synthetic and we have to assume Synthetics dont age, so if they shoot the next movie in 2018, then next after in 2020  its going to be noticeable that Fassbender is 8 or so years older.

2) Then we have Ridley Scotts Age... i would be sure he wants to play a KEY role in these movies and so he would surely want to get the next TWO Movies done over the next 3-5 years.

BigDave -  Their whole plan has "evolved" over time into what it is now.  Originally, they were only planning on doing two Alien prequels.  By the time they hired Lindelof to make Prometheus ambiguous, it had already become a trilogy (or a quadrilogy).

A movie which focuses primarily on the Colonial Marines has been discussed in the past.  If the Marines movie ever ends up happening, we can add another film to the series. 

The Paradise/Paradise Lost concepts can be said to form part of a separate story.  Paradise is so different from Covenant as to be considered its own film.  The path to Paradise begins in Hell, and Walter may have to retrace all of David's earlier footsteps to fully understand how he arrives at that point.

Ridley's new approach is to play "just the tip" with everyone. I really hope this doesn't become a convoluted mess. 

"The path to Paradise begins in Hell"

Indeed i wonder if this can be taken in context to Ridley mentioning a movie set after Prometheus and before Alien Covenant... where Paradise is Paradise.. but became Hell at some point and so maybe the Sequel could touch upon the Period before this place became some kind of Hell/Pandemonium?

Was there any mention of Shaw in the interview at all? The article is kinda misleading...

In any sense, bring your entire family and group of friends to see Covenant on the day of its release. I would LOVE numerous prequels / sequels and everything in between. 

Things are making sense now...I think the studio bigwigs pushed Ridley for a more alieny flick after the backlash from Prometheus but I'm glad we do go back to see the whole Shaw/Engineer story. I now have a sneaky suspicion that we won't see an answer to where the eggs came from in AC

This timeline is very cool concept. It's twisted and unexpected like the movies themselves. 

ChrisA -  I think it'll be left open enough for us to speculate on whether or not the so-called "Neomorph" is truly the new line of ALIEN, or if the classic Xenomorph line is the one that's "evolving" on the planet.

The eggs could have been created on this planet, or the eggs could actually be much older than the Neomorphs and Urns...

Evolution is more of a branching process than a completely linear progression from one line to the next. "Gods don't build in straight lines," and the parallel strands of DNA are indeed very "twisted."  Their whole plan for a story about parallel lines of Alien DNA began shaping up differently, making it even more complicated & harder to figure out where they're going.

We'll possibly get a few answers from some of the clues Covenant provides, but we likely won't get any definitive answers on where the eggs come from at this point.  The original intention was to provide more answers; however, Dr. Shaw's schedule didn't work out.  Dr. Shaw only plays a small role in Covenant, but she may be able to answer many of our lingering questions in Awakening.

So only if Alien: Covenant is successful, then we’ll get Alien: Awakening?

That’s one more movie than initially planned in this Alien prequel trilogy. What about when Scott told us back in 2015 at a press conference in Sydney, Australia, that Alien: Covenant was supposed to be the first in a new trilogy ? (and i quote)...

“It’s a very complex story. Its an evolution of what I first did with Prometheus 1. Prometheus 1 was borne out of my frustration that on Alien 1 in 1979 – I only did one as I don’t normally do sequels. I was amazed that in the 3 that followed that no-one asked the question ‘why the Alien, who made it and why?’ Very basic questions. So I came up with the notion of Prometheus 1, which starts to indicate who might have made it and where it came from.”

“So I’m now going to the next one, which is the next evolution directly connected with the first one, which was this Shaw, when he replaced Michael Fassbender in two pieces and we’ll kind of pick it up there and it will evolve. When that’s finished there’ll be another one and then another one which will gradually drive into the back entrance of the film in 1979. So in other words, why was this space jockey there and why did he have an Alien inside him? And those questions will be answered.”

The fandango reporter was equally confused as Scott and clearly should've reminded him of this. Now we are told that there will be 4 movies, who's to know when the time nears for 'Alien: Awakening' to be released Scott will then tell us he plans to make another one/two that tells the evolution of another storyline/set of unanswered questions. If that's the course he is charting, then perhaps what he told The Sydney Morning Herald could be true when he said he could do six movies. 'If you really want a franchise, I can keep cranking it for another six. I’m not going to close it down again. No way.' 

Anyway, Scott seems to be going with the flow here and toying with longtime fans... Whether or not he delivers something great that exceeds our wildest expectations is left to be seen.

"Was there any mention of Shaw in the interview at all? The article is kinda misleading..."

Ridley confirms she is in the Movie, but appears not in a large role but she was IMPORTANT to Davids Plans as far as what he ends up doing.

"Yes, in a way. Not fully, but in a way. She was integral to what David carried out later.”

This ^^^^ is what Ridley Exactly said

We can only assume that Shaw was required in some way for David to be able to had created the things he had done and his experiments.

As far as the Timeline goes...

When AC was announced i suspected that they had changed the Plans in light of how much Anticipation people had for Blomkamps Alien 5 as opposed to Shaw going off to yet again seek out why Mankind was created by the Engineers and why they wanted to destroy us

When he came out and said... "when that’s finished there’ll be another one and then another one which will gradually drive into the back entrance of the film in 1979."

I looked at this being them re-writing the ideas to answer the Xeno well give Fans more Alieny Movie and then Go backwards (to a degree back to Alien so thousands of years ago) and not directly Prometheus 2094 ==> Alien Covenant 2104 then to Alien in 2122

Ridleys comments a few weeks ago  "they want Aliens i will give them F---ing Aliens" seems to indeed show they had changed what ever there plans was to please Alien Fans.

Now Ridley Mentioned Awakening and it being set between Prometheus and Alien Covenant, then this is indeed a going the back wards route to Alien.

Between Prometheus and Alien Covenant there are a lot of Events... the Covenant Crew arrive at a Aftermath, so we have what happened between 2094 and 2104 but this is where the ADF book is covering the Prequel book released in August i dont see the point in working on another movie if this Book gives those Answers.... unless they had TWO movies made...

which i doubt.... and so there are a lot of other events from Prometheus that relate to what happened prior to the Covenant Mission.

This is regarding Paradise and what beings inhabited this place, and how they connect to LV-223 and the Engineers.

Paradise and LV-223 have to be connected... the Engineer said he came from Paradise, clearly the purpose is to find out WHY we was Created, by WHO and also then if the Engineers are not the Gods then WHO are and WHO Created them.

These kinds of Questions will have their Answers Burred in Ancient Past

The Source i had did give me information 2 years ago about the Prometheus 2 plans... which Alien Covenant seemed to be a different movie with some themes explored and more of a Aftermath Movie.

If Ridley is going the route he teased with Awakening and looking at the 2nd Trailer and the Set Reports... then it seems the Plans they was exploring for Prometheus 2 have not been abandoned but indeed would be followed in future movies.

For Now Alien Covenant seems a Aftermath movie to Get the ALIEN Fanboys back on track and interested in the whole Engineers as they clearly not so into Prometheus and maybe wanted to see Alien 5 instead.

Analyzing the situation with Alien Awakening I found a big hole and plenty blank space same as Prometheus, "a story that goes nowhere" in my opinion, only two characters, Shaw and David, I find poor and few material to build a good horror story, I do not know who is the scriptwriter, currently Hollywood is suffering a deep crisis with a very lack of ideas. The only chance I see would be a post-Nostromo story set before ALIENS (assuming the bug did not die) Ripley's Last Stand (1979)

I've done a small timeline sketch:

Prometheus 2012 -- [Alien Awakening] -- Covenant 2017 -- ALIEN (Nostromo) 1979 -- (?) -- ALIENS 1986

Please no more Shaw, I am not interested in what happened to her. If she will be in the movie a lot then I will boycott it. She is without a doubt the most annoying character ever in the Alien franchise. Having David in the movie is nice but hopefully there will be other interesting characters that we will follow.

Will Waterston be in Awakening?

I am not sure if they will be successful in making totally five sequels to Prometheus. Maybe some of them will suck because not all movies that Scott has done has been good (like Prometheus for example).

Hopefully we will not be given the whole answer to why the Xeno was made and how.

Goddamn Tropics in here: Do you mean that they shall bring back Holloway from the dead? No thanks, I didn’t like his character at all and I am glad that he is dead.

Babylonxeno: If the Engineers are somehow connected to the SJ and the Xeno then cool if not then why bother?

Speaking of something else, the egg image at the top of the page looks very creepy.

Ridley had a plan for these films all along. There may have been some compromise, but that's inevitable. I don't care what order they come in, I just want these films to be made, the sooner the better!

If I could be so bold, Sir Ridley please consider my little addition to the rule book....always have a ships cat on board! ;)

I know it will suck to hear this, but Fox and Ridley are making it up as they go along.  They're playing hop scotch.  Sometimes hopping forward, sometimes hopping backwards.  Point is, they're looking for good ideas and if an idea looks good and is discovered later as an after thought, they apply it to previous accounts in the story line, we get the messy pre-prequel squared, minus X, divided by subsequent iterations not previously conceived of, in a conceived world of that which is...conceived.  Or not.  Whew.  I hope you've got all that.

Whats interesting is the "alternate universe" ideas that have been slowly infiltrating into cinema storytelling.  "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer", "Star Trek (Kelvin, JJ Abrams universe), "Pride and Prejudice: Zombies", Marvel alternate universe with the undead superheroes and so on.  I imagine when the Alien prequels drudge along to a faint whimper and all its gas is spent with nowhere else to go, an alternate universe can be created to re-tell the whole again, but "better" or somehow different that would make a significant difference in the franchise.  But let me tell you, it won't.  Please understand that this Galaxydave who is writing this, is from the other parallel universe that is able to see what has happened in your future or the future similar to what you might have.  And what I've seen is anything that is filmed, will have creative compromises in the storyline for the love of bread, dough, Benjies.  Don't ever hold your breath.  Unless you're under water of course.  But try not to lose money if your house is under water... Wait..  I'm off track.  

Point is, we're entering messy territory here folks and I urge Fox and Ridley to tighten their draw stings with a stiff upper, yelling Tally Ho

AND BE DONE WITH IT FOR JOVE'S SAKE!!

"She is without a doubt the most annoying character ever in the Alien franchise"

I assume you mean the way her Character was, what are your views on Noomi Rappace as a Actress?

I think there is potential for her to change, the Events of Prometheus would have left a mark on her, and imagine the Shaw you dislike, discovers some sinister Agenda of the Engineer when she wants her answers or something sinister happens that completely causes her Character to have to completely Change...

As "its what i choose to believe" is proved to be completely wrong and Shaw has to face up to the FACTS about our rather Nefarious Creators and then also a even more wicked and Horrific Agenda to why they was created too.

She would have to change....  but then ultimately her Fate would then be sealed as far as Davids Agenda to create... which "one must first destroy" although maybe not Technically be killed in the Process.

I think there is scope for Shaw to realize her Faith is Flawed and the Real Truth will Shock her to the Core... and she gets to find out First Hand the real Reasons for Creation.

so there is every chance to Fix a Broken Character so to speak ;

@Lone

Good one, it s so ironic but I think xenomorphs likes humans, do not like cats, could be an infallible weapon. ):