Alien: Covenant will re-introduce the Facehugger, Chestburster and Alien, says Ridley Scott!

AWESOME! Just gets better and better!  

I can see why Alien 5 was put on the back burner.....We are going to see the beast soon enough!

It seems Alien: Covenant will take place on the complete other end of the spectrum in terms of sequel time frames. There's bound to be many confusing plot elements which will be explained by essentially 3 more prequels. But I'm okay with that.

So the beast isn't cooked after all! Seems that the studio has has put the reins on Ridley and is guiding him along to somethat that's more marketable to them through rewrites by Logan. This is a divergence to Ridley's intended direction and getting back to the old facehuggers and chestbursters. This should please all the disappointed fanboys out there, and provide a less risky direction financially. But Ridley seems to be okay with all this... He was bold and ambitious with his original ideas for Prometheus and the sequels. Now it's back to the old tried and true formula, with a much smaller subplot with the Shaw character to preserve the connection to Prometheus. I can see why it would all make sense to a studio executive. But I'm thinking that Ridley's original "beast is cooked", direction coupled with the right script writer, would have been the better route.  

I might be wrong,but it sounds like Ridley painted himself into a corner with the first Prometheus film. Prometheus initially was going to be an ALIEN film...then it wasn't...then it was...then it was sort of going to be in that franchise according to what we were hearing while he wrote the story. I think the studio is realing him in a bit and that might be a good thing.Ridley didn't write the first ALIEN film, Dan O'Bannon did. 

I liked Prometheus,but what took me out of the film a little was how highly teched out the astronauts were. I was expecting Nostromo technology(maybe back engineered a bit) except cleaner and newer.

Sorry to me it sounds like Alien: Lets get back to the box office.

First, deviation from Prometheus name. Now this. Will be no surprise if whole grand idea about telling story of Engineers will get squashed by studios. Which quite more epic, than just story about alien organism. 

Well it's unsurprising the xeno's are returning.....it would be very difficult to have 3 movies where everyone knows the punchline.

Will the Queen Xeno make a showing? What about the King? Does Ridley even recognize 'Aliens'?

Ooooo I don't know about this...Do I still think it will be an awesome movie? Yes! I just really hope that Sir Ridley does not ditch the Shaw, engineers/jockeys/creation storyline totally in this movie. Although I like Chris' point that this movie is taking place on the opposite end of the timeline specturm. Gosh I don't know! Haha I am a little bit sad, excited, trepid, and confused! For now I think I will just focus on the positive aspects of my emotions here and hope that Shaw's subplot gets just enough screentime, while the main storyline of how Xeno's (or why I guess... Why not both?) were created still kind of maintains that Prometheus feel. I was really liking the idea of the Prometheus ideals, questions, and what not taking their course throughout a few movies before coming back to the Alien/Xeno questions/whatever.

Still like I said, Chris has a good point that we are just not going to see the timeline in the order or way we originally figured (straight from our own imaginations or from comments by the people involved with the films) so I am still dying for October 2017 ALREADY.

I also want the Shaw and Engineers storyline to continue...but..... I don't think he can stray from the xeno story. I mean..that's what this is all about....right?

What if the Star Wars Prequels were about Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul(maybe they are/were brothers?)and he didn't have Obi Wan or Anakin Skywalker in the films(maybe the last 20 minutes of Episode 3)!? Would the fans be happy? 3 movies about Qui-Gon/Darth Maul and just fleeting hints about the Skywalker family? Do we really want 4 Alien movies like that? Just a hint of the Xeno? Then the 4th movie 'Alien:Genesis'.... the Xeno pops out of a cake in the last 10 minutes!?

Yeah @MonsterZero you're right! It makes sense that is it going back to the Alien! I just got caught up in the Prometheus stuff! I do think this could be a veeeeeery cool series of movies that intertwine Shaw/David and the how they go about explaining the Alien's creation! Haha I really want to see where it goes with Shaw too and after like 3 years of speculation about the movie, where it is going in the future, Ridley's comments, and the stars' comments it all threw me out of the Alien mindset. Haha I get more excited/optimistic about the upcoming movie and the rest of the sequels/prequels each second now! Darn I came back to comment about something but forgot when I was typing this thing...ahhhh I'll try again later haha

Oh maybe this is it: I was thinking a little while ago that even though this now seems like the way the franchise is going to go, I am going to try to not be too sure about anything until production is well underway or trailers come out and what not. Prometheus was supposed to be an Alien movie pretty much, but shifted to what we got and then for years we have been getting info from Ridley Scott that has all pointed to the more Promtheus stuff in the next like 3 or 4 sequels. I don't have a problem with any of that, but for now I am going to try and keep myself from getting too attahced to either side of the spectrum (whether this is more Alien or Prometheus.) I don't think its a problem though! I think I will love Alien: Covenant either way!

Yeah, I'm all in on Alien:Covenant. I'm probably going to like it no matter what. Spaceships, spacemonsters....cool effects.....what's not to like!

Wonder if the xeno's are going to be CG or people in suits? It'll be Yoda(CG versus puppet) all over again!

I wonder if we'll see Xenomorphs fight the Engineers?

@KingKaijuGojira 

I assume the Engineers get destroyed by the very beast they created...There is no mention of the Engineers in the last 4 Alien movies. So I think the Engineers and LV223 have to be taken care of....just leaving the 'eggs' to be discovered by the Nostromo.

Need BigDave to comment.

this is my opinion and view from a busieness and common sense perspective.

Whos the big guy sitting in the chair that resembles a engineer...hes dead with a hole on the chest on alien.

where did all those eggs in alien came from.

basics...we know we need a queen for the eggs....we know humans can give birth to a queen.

However...this needs to be explained...if you think about it the normal alien that puts the seed of the queen on humans..e.g ripley in alien 3. needs a queen beforehand to create him.

So i strongly feel that..we will see david trying to play god and we have many hints on prometheus that points to that lets not be naive..they have everything planned since the beggining some changes but the idea is there people dont play with those million and million budgets for something that isnt set already..most is hype and markting related leaks with a purpose to catch feedback and etc etc...

we will see the creature that the engineers created on their homeworld and that destroyed them wich i guess its some sort of queen but not the queen we are used to see...it will be big ferocious and will look like a queen but not entirely..ultramorph might be one of the "new" species.

Hence why i think he wants to explain the whole process to give a hint about the alien 1 and how those eggs were  born...also we have to asume that whatever came out from the dead engineer in alien 1 was differnt then a normal xeno aswell.

Im sure the deacon will be one strong role on the whole movie...and im sure the adult deacon is something that would put a queen strugling....do these 2 different type of xenos coexist? would they like each other? or would they clash aswell?

We will defently see a adult deacon or whatever that creature turns itself into.

we will defently see some kind of xeno that reproduce the eggs like a queen but is different and maybe more vicious and powerfull

We will see  engineers creating that being and being destroyed aswell as why they made them and for what.

We will see david playing god and maybe having a intersting part in bringing the adult deacon to the movie plot somehow..or maybe that new crew will be the ones that find it and well...

we will have a dead crew...

engineers i guess we might see them aswell again not only by the glance of the planet being destroyed and etc...but they must play a big role either as enemy allies or just enemys. one thing is certain we will know why they hate us or why they created us to them destroy us..are we test subjects...were we a failed lab test or just vessels...or none of it.

one thing im sure we wont see the normal xenos...maybe after this movie we might...but in this movie i think 2 powerfull beasts will be presented and they might clash...

dont think we will see the king xeno....im sure we will see a new more powerfull queen that makes all of this happen..witouth queen we dont have xenos...Queen must be the first being created to generate the egg and on and on

The deacon tho is intersting...its a new species that came from a "human generated facehugger" + engineer ...could he lay eggs too? can he reproduce its own species awell? or he will be just a lone viscious wolf that turns into something huge...i expect it to be far more viscious then a normal queen...but i expect whatever they made in the engineers planet is also a much more powerfull queen then the normal one we see.

Interesting News.... and boy what a mess.... yes the whole thing as far as the Xeno and Connections is a bit of a mess, it a jigsaw of pieces with some missing.... there is a lot of clues that do not add up, they may need a lot of insight and answers to see if they all fit....

What do i mean.. well next i will answer why the change of direction has happened.... to a degree... but for now lets look at the Clues..... and you will see there are connections, but timeframe is the problem.. but my next post will answer this.... all i am saying is dont expect to see a Xenomorph invested movie or that the events of after Prometheus lead to the Xenomorph... it can not...  well there is a few ways it can but i dont think this route will be taken unless a complete U-turn and Alien Re-boot is done....  or Time Travel!

1) The Derelict ship is a Alien Races Bio-Weapon Cargo Ship, crashed on LV 426 (Crash Landed), it seemed to have been there a long long time.  The ships Pilot Long dead, with a Hole in his Chest, Acid Burn on the Floor next to his chair that leads down to a Chamber that Holds Alien (Xenomorph) Eggs....

One member of the crew of the Nostromo falls victim to one of the Organisms in these Eggs and suffers a similar Chest Hole from the resulting Alien.  Thus we can assume the same Fate had taken care of the Pilot.

2) Prometheus came along and showed us a similar Ship, whos purpose was also to cary a Cargo that could be used as a Bio-Weapon, and hints that these Ships where docked at a Outpost on a near by LV-223 Moon.  The Space Jockey revealed to be a Giant Humanoid Race had been using this place to create and experiment on some Biology that in some way is connected to our Xenomorph's However some 2000 years or so ago something had occuried some kind of accident or outbreak, that had all but wiped out these Engineers.

The Juggernaught/Derelict are revealed to have similar purpose and that is to carry a Biological Weapon intended for some purpose of Destruction.... or Transendence.

3) Clues on LV-233 that connect to what the Derelict had on LV-426 was via a Mural of some kind of Xeno related Organism, that had a Sacrificial Pose.... this Mural also had two Face Hugers, and Two Bald Humanoids being used as Hosts... these Face Hugers where different to the Alien one... but they was based off the other two unused Alien concept Face Hugers....  Easter Egg?  Or signs of them experimenting on various kinds of related Organism based on the same Biological Bacteria?

The Frescos showed a Engineer, and some Organism related to the Xeno, a very vague image, one that was hard to decipher. Was it Creator and Creation... was it Creation made from the creator (Transendence/Evolution) or was it something sent to Punish the Engineers?  Regardless this Organism was related to the Xeno, we also see a Xeno Egg, again even more vaguely and being held by Xenomorph Hands.. or the creature in the Fresco as it had the same kind of hands.....These Frescos and the Mural would have predated the 2000 year ago Outbreak and thus could have been Thousands or Tens of Thousands of years old.

But there must be a connection....

4) The LV-223 Complex shows us the Biological Bacterial Goo they had been storing and loading onto their War Ships had a connection to the Xeno Genetically we see this via a series of events where Life comes into contact with the Biological Substance/Weapon... (other concepts and scenes held more of a DNA Link) we see lifeforms created that have Xeno DNA.  Again the Experiments they was conducting and the Murals and Frescos are all connected to the Xenomorph DNA but we are not given enough clues....

5) The Juggernaught had 3 Cryo Pods that had Chest Busted Engineers, its hard to add up how this connects to the outbreak as the outbreak seemed to be somekind of infection with the Black Goo.  Was these 3 dead Engineers simply a case of re-using the Prop that was worked on for Spaights more Alien-y movie...  Or is it connected to the events that either led to the outbreak... or the experiments or after both.

These 5 Clues and connections are things i hope they factor in and explore.... now on to more Clues.

6) Ridley has commented that the Space Jockey event had occuried within a few hundred years of the Outbreak that killed off all those Engineers on LV-223...  so thats a 1800-2200 years ago time frame give or take 100 years.

7) Ridley had stated that the Space Jockey had left some place with his Cargo going towards some undisclosed destination however he did not get far as he had became infected with his Cargo and his and that he then knowing this he set down to the nearest Baron Place to Quarantine his Cargo and set off a SOS beacon to inform his Brothers that the Cargo is Compremised.

Ridley added to this, that the Cargo had Evolved and got to him and thats what happened there... (this comment does now give us a spin on things and its one that makes a explanation more difficult).

These 7 clues are what connected Alien to Prometheus.....  Below are futher new Clues...

8) The Xenomorph Weapon was created as a means of Protection against something, but Ridleys other comments have it as a Weapon of Destruction and thus its creation was to counter what the Engineers or maybe their Creators saw as a threat... was that Mankind? or the Engineers?

9) They seem to now be trying to show us how this Organism was created and for what purpose, by whom and why and Ridleys comments do seem to add up to that the Engineers may have created this Bio-Weapon... but on another hand it may not have been the Engineers... We are going to see how this is created, which at first we was going to see the Seeds to how it began but we would not see the Xeno until the 3rd or maybe 4th movie.

This looks to have changed..... Clues seem to be that we are going to be going to the place of the Engineers where they came from and it is here that Ridley hints we shall see the foundations of the Biology that gave rise to the Xenomorph.... this is now revised to being maybe shown where the Xenomorph is created and for what purpose and by whom....... and all hints are this is on the Planet that David either takes Shaw, or that he ends up on...

This Clue shows us a few things...

10) The Xenomorph was maybe not created on LV-223 (unless we are shown flashback scenes from LV-223 before the Organism ends up on the Planet of the Engineers). As the Engineers are shown to have not been from LV-223 but a place we would call Paradise... and if this movie is to show us how and where and when the Xeno was created and Ridley mentions the place of the Engineers then maybe it rules out LV-223 as its Origin?

This could fit in with Derelict was it heading from Paradise to go to LV-223? But Ridley hinted it never got far into its journey and we have to ASSUME Paradise is far away... well the place that everying goes down.. But could this place be LV-426?  Ridley did invisage at the time of makinga prequel that Paradise was actually LV-426

Or was the Derelict heading from LV-223 to go to Paradise.... but if this is the case and it had Xeno Eggs onboard then how does the Xeno get created from Paradise? Unless something related to it was created on Paradise and sent to LV-223 and then re-weaponised or experimented on and then sent off from LV-223 but only got as far as LV-426

These 10 clues are the main ones that can connect the Xeno to the LV-223 Outpost and Black Goo and Engineers.

But the movie was set to follow David, and his cargo that he was carrying with him (he is bringing Hell with him) and what becomes of a God or Machine when it is infected with the Biological Black Goo... this implies that we are going to be shown that David is off to Paradise and he has intentions of using this Bio-Weapon to unleash Hell.

Futher movie details then teased the Engineers was not Gods, and that David would meet God or Gods, but they would be more like the Devil.... and even so, it hinted to David maybe unleashing the Goo upon Paradise and causing Hell and Destruction.

Since the change to Covenant the synopsis seems to indicate that David does end up on some Planet/Moon and this place is not Paradise, but its a disaster.... and that a new group of Human Travelers are off to find what they thought would be Paradise (a world ripe for colonisation) but what they find is only David a SYNTHETIC in a World that is Dark and a Place that has seen Devastation.

Where are the Engineers? Is David now Synthetic Too, has David already unleashed Hell before the Covenant Colony Ship arrives... but how does this tie into the creation of the Xeno... and how can this be at the hands of the Engineers... if the World has Xenos.... why is David safe from Harm?  Or does David create Xenos using Engineer Technology upon the Human Travelers, or has he already created them from the Engineers?

What about the timeframe as its only 28 years from the end of Prometheus to Alien.

Originally Ridley was going a route to distance itself from the Xenomorph and instead show us something new but similar to the Xenomorph a fresher take on the Original and no doubt hinted at David playing a role within this...

But with the new change of direction...  are we going to see clues 1-10 used or will they be ignoring a lot of those and RE-BOOTING it all?  who knows.

There seems to have been a bit of a U-Turn again and some kind of re-write or adding of stuff to Prometheus Trilogy that was planned....  The movie had been pushed to us over the years as a movie that would follow David and Shaw as they are off to find the Planet of the Engineers which was not LV-223 but a place we Humans refer to as Paradise.....  Shaw wants her answers... why did these Engineers create us to then want to destroy us, why and for what purpose what did we do what made them change their minds....  Knowing her Faith had been Questions by finding these Engineers played a part in our creation but they inturn were not Godlike and Creation was nothing Miraculous, but rather a Experiment and Evolution that was carried out by these Humanoid Engineers who in turn were Mortal to a degree after All..... Shaw still wants to know.. WHO created them.

David may have other intentions he is free now, and once Shaw puts him back together he is free to call the shots and Shaw is at his Whim.... David is bringing Hell with him, he is intriged about creation and no doubt he would also want to meet this so called Engineers and their creators..... but to what end?

We was led down the path that Paradise would be more like Hell, that these beings they find are not Benevolent, and that they are more like Fallen Angels, than Gods... even maybe the Devl is what Shaw finds instead of any God... they did not wish to meet God in the first movie, but they will in the second.  We can only assume that David has his own plans for these Beings and maybe he wants to determine the true end and power of the Biological Cargo that he is carrying... after all Ridley pondered... what if this stuff infects God? or a Machine?

Then it was all quiet, then we had the No more Gods and Dragons, and that there is only so much you can do with the Beast, its cooked.... which means maybe they want to explore bigger things than to connect to the Xeno and Ridley said the next movie would move FUTHER away from the Xeno and Alien than Prometheus....

Then we get news that Ridley wishes to introduce a new Monster, a different take on the Original Monster, a Fresher Form.  While still showing us that David and Shaw would be off to meet the Engineers for answers but what they would find would maybe not be as they hopped.

It was around this time that we started to get news on Blomkamps Alien 5, a movie set after Aliens, a movie that would bet set directly before Alien 3 and that would have Ripley and Hicks, in what appeared to be set not to far after the events of Alien..... concept work shows us a captured Derelict/Jugernaught... some nice ideas as far as Alternative Xenomorphs (inc all stages), either different kinds or results of experiments on Xeno DNA.. We see concept work Ripley with Bombs as though she aims to blow something up to put a end to any experiments the company is doing on the Xenomorph or Engineer Tech? .... Then we see concept work of Ripley in a similar suit to the Space Jockey and one that matched some early Engineer Suit concept work that was never used in Prometheus.... We see a Queen unleashed on a Company Outpost, with very Oriental Theme.  We see ideas of the Company somehow remote controlling Xenos!  We see a shot of what appears to be a Humanoid mutating and changing, as if infected with something and a horrified and shocked Ripley looks on.. a scene that is similar to the unused Egg Morph from Alien.... We see other concept works of Humanoids with blank or plain features like Mannequins.

These concepts got a lot of people pumped, so much that general fans was more interested in this ALIEN 5 than another Prometheus Movie....  Ridley had confirmed that some elements of Blomkamps Alien movie had trodden on the toes and bummed things as far as his plans for similar things in regards to where he wants to take Prometheus from Part 2 to Explanation to Alien.....  Maybe this is to do with Engineer Tech, what is left of Engineer Tech/Derelict after the events of Alien and Prometheus... maybe what the Goo can do?

some very good ideas.... so much so that Ridley had sat down with Blomkamp to change elements that would maybe give away stuff he wanted to answer his own way in Prometheus 2... and onwards... Fox was really intererested and gave Alien 5 the Green Light.....  Ridley would be Producer to overlook and have a input on the movie..

Then we had Blomkamp say things going nicely with Alien 5 project and he looks forwards to working with Ridley and that a Draft is now to be done based on ideas that Blomkamp had, while taking out those ideas that interfered with ideas Ridley had as far as Engineers Tech, what is left to salvage and Xeno DNA.

Blomkamps Alien 5 is indefineatly put on Hold and Blomkamp confirms its on Hold.....

Then we had Ridley talk more about Prometheus 2, and again more linking it to Paradise Lost, saying its based of the ideas that the Poem has....   Ridley confirming this would be his next project after release of the Martian.

Ridley confirms Prometheus 2 Paradise Lost, and that they are following what happens to Shaw and David and that they cant leave the movie and not follow where they go again... which he says they will be off to find the Engineers but what they find is a disaster...... he then makes comments about God Connections... how you have one group who are attractive get all the girls go to all the discos... while another is not as attractive and its boring and stays at home... and this is where they want to go because he always felt these Engineers are like Fallen Angels and the Fallen Angels have the most Fun within the Paradise Lost Poem.

It all went quiet again, before Ridley started to bring into it Paradise Lost, and confirmed the movie is now Paradise Lost and then Alien:Paradise Lost and he goes futher to sugest if the Engineers are he forerunners of creation, then how is it that Worlds Exist that can support the creation of life... is all of this pure coinsidence or is there some Force or Power behind all this... sugesting that Science now is not sure if the Big Bang was a Accident... and if so.. where is the BIG GUY in all this..

And that they are making a new set of 2 maybe 3 movies that will be comming in the back end of Alien, that would explain the events leading to Alien, as far as the Xenomorph, who would create such Evil Biology and Why,  and that the movie will start to show us hints to this, and by the time they finish a 3rd movie and maybe a 4th we shall get the Answers as far as Xeno and Space Jockey.

We are given shooting dates of January 2016-February 2016 and release date of May 2017

While Ridley also confirms that he has links to Ripley in this next movie... but he wont say how.. and that Blomamps Alien movie would then come out after and that his movie is very connected to Ripley.

Ridley added that the plans for the next few movies is to eventually answer how that Alien got inside the Space Jockey and why and we shall get those answers.

Then we get to Alien:Covenant name change... and distancing from previous clues to where he was taking the movie.... now sugesting that the movie will in part feature David and Shaw going off to Paradise but they are not alone as a new group of Explorers are in bound.... new Human Travelers.

Which he later adds they end up on this world that David is on, they hopped to find Uncharted Paradise a place ideal to Colonise, but what they find is a lone survivor of the Doomed Prometheus Mission  the SYTHETIC David.

Ridley adds to this that this group of Travelers end up on a Dark World, a place that has seen disaster.

They then mentioned they have brought in John Logan to re-work the movies Draft, and a new release date of October 2017 and rumoured shooting date of April 2016. 

We then have Micheal Biehn drop a Bombshell, he claims that Alien 5 has been put on hold to make way for Alien: Covenant, and that Alien Covenant will be set THOUSANDS of years before Aliens and Alien 5, they would be set in similar yet different worlds and thats how it was explained to him.   Alien 5 was scheduled to be about Newt and that she would be the one who would be handed the lead role down from Ripley in the Future of the Franchise. Also that Alien 5 was now set 20 odd years after the events of Aliens.. which seems to sugest some changes since Blomkamps concept works and ideas.

The latest news seems to show that they are now going the route that the next movie would show us the Xenomorph Origins and who made it and why, and that we shall see all 3 stages of the Xenomorph.

And so you see we have a lot of changes how can this be?

I was informed in March by a source who had said they had information about parts of the next movie, that seemed a bit odd at the time, but as months passed more and more added up to what was said... right before BOOM!  Alien: Covenant and you will see that even comments made prior to that i,e Alien:Paradise Lost do not seem to add up to Alien Covenant?  Now more comments that seem to be painting a more Alien Prequel seem to be connected to Alien Covenant but where we shall see the Origins of the Xenomorph...

They only go as far as going to the Planet of the Engineers... where we see a Evolving Ceature that they (Engineers) had made. This does not imply they find any Engineers only something they had created is left behind, something that maybe wiped out the Engineers?   But then here is the thing, when they say THEY, i think they could mean the New Travelers and not David and Shaw?  This could mean this Evolving creature could come at the hands of David... and how it comes from the Engineers is merely by the hands of their Biological Warefare (Black Goo) but who really knows...

I think with the sudden U-Turn, and Logan being brought in... i feel here is what has happened....

Ridley had ideas about Prometheus Part 2 to 3 that would explore our Engineers, and those questions Shaw wanted and that would explore why and also who maybe created the Engineers and maybe even a bigger bold theme above all that.....  in somepart he would be showing us the Engineers Bio-Tech and the Goo, and give us more clues to the potential it has and clues towards connections on LV-223 and the Xeno on LV-426 but maybe in a way that would not show us fully Xenos... that a Alien 5 could give the Fans the Xeno Fix... but Ridley would want to give some clues to it and LV-223/426

But with Blomkamps ideas for Alien 5.. some of his ideas would contradict ideas Ridley had for his Prequel Franchise....  and so maybe Ridley would want to answer some lose ends as far as the Xeno and what state is Engineer Tech/Ships or Experiments and Bio Weapons are in at the time of Alien and after Aliens.

Fox may have liked some of Blomkamps ideas... and Fox knew Interest was good for Alien 5 and more so than Ridleys Prometheus Paradise Lost.....

Fox seem to want to cash in on the interest of Alien 5.....  but this were does this leave Prometheus?  If Alien 5 is out first... would it give to many answers that would mean Fans would have no need to watch Prometheus 2... or wait to 3 for answers?

Hype and anticipation is high for Blomkamps Alien, Fans in general care less of these Engineers and why they created Mankind and was seen as Gods, and wanted to destroy and what else do this Engineers or there creators do in the Galaxy....

Fans want to see the Xeno... they want to know, where does it come from, why and how... maybe ok how does the Engineers and Mankind figure in all of this...,

Ridley and FOX had a dilema.....

Anticipation for another Alien movie is high, anticipation  for a movie going off to follow David and Shaw wanting to again Meet God for answers, was not so interesting... eventually yes we would get answers to the Xeno... but would fans want to wait for what?

Paradise Lost, and then a 3rd or 4th Film before we find out  WHEN, WHERE, HOW and WHY as far as the Xeno and maybe also the Space Jockey Story... When, why and how...

If we have to wait years to get those answers, and Alien 5 cant go and do its thing and explore its ideas, before those 2-3 other Prometheus movies come out... unless they end up having to cut and change a lot of nice ideas for Alien 5,  whats the Alternative? 

Prometheus 2, 3, 4 = Answers then Alien 5? The Anticipation  and chance to Cash in on Alien 5 would be maybe done with by then, especially if Prometheus 2, 3 do not wet fans appetite for Xenos. And what about Ripley?

Sigourney is going to be a lot older by the time they have to make 2-3 Prometheus movies first..... then how do they explain that she could be what? 40 years older than at the end of Aliens?

Logically conclusion is to re-write some of Prometheus ideas.... to factor in Clues to the Xeno, sooner rather than latter... to come in from the back end....

A 2nd movie, that would cover some more clues to Alien and the Xeno (nevermind deeper full on clues and answers) as well as a Alien name change pre-fix will maybe get those who wanted a Alien movie to maybe now consider a sequel to Prometheus... they can then answer some more clues to the Alien...  this then leaves Alien 5 to come out next and have freedome to explore and connect the Xeno and Engineers in what ever way...

Then with TWO movies making the most of the Anticipation, as whats more to be Anticipated than Alien 5? a Alien prequel that would start to show or show the connection between Engineers and Space Jockey and the Xenomorph...

This allows Fox and Ridley to then go and make another Prometheus sequel where they can explore more Engineer and Creation themes,  and still get the Prometheus fans to follow these, while also maybe gaining some more fans who are willing to now follow more about these Engineers who created the Xeno etc.... than they was interested at the end of Prometheus... for the Alien fans or casual fans who are not inclined to follow Prometheus 3... they have a Alien 6 to look forwards to.

So that FOLKS! is how i think things have gone down and it makes Perfect sense if you ask me.

Now it seems Alien:Covenant is 75% Alien sequel and 25% Prometheus sequel.  I don't mind that much but this is going to be mightily confusing for casual viewers, and even for me as a fan of both movies.  I think Fox has something to do with it, pushing Scott to put the Alien universe more up front in Covenant.  But then I wonder what Alien 5 still has to say if Covenant hijacks most of what Alien is about.

This is all very confusing! BigDave explained it rather well I think, but I ended up being lost by the end of the posts...I will come back to those either later or another day. From what I understand from him and the situation in general is that Alien 5 was gaining some steam and fans (including me and people of these forums) were really beginning to chomp at the bits of an Alien movie more in the vein of the first two movies. The excitement was beginning to bubble over the Prometheus sequels. While Fox has seemingly been in prettty heavy support of doing something new and exploring the threads that Prometheus initiated, I tihnk they can only stray so far from the money.

It does also makes sense to establish the Alien DNA into these movies early on, storywise. MonsterZero made that clear to me here. There isn't much value in making three or four more films that sort of hint at Alien and stuff and then have a chestburster pop out with ten minutes left in the last one.

Now Alien 5 is a bit odd! Since Fox greenlit the project it has been kind of a mystery how the movie will go. It is set between Aliens and Alien 3. There has not been anything official that has this movie just erasing numbers 3 and 4, but that seems problematic (even though I don't want them to be, like, erased) timeline wise. Throw in the age factor of Weaver and Beihn (hopefully I spelled his name correctly) and this movie is already somewhat of a mess. Side note: Someone posting above this somewhere said that Alien 5 was supposed to pass the torch from Ripley to Newt as the lead of the franchise. That could be interesting, but we would need an official retcon of Alien three and Ressurection to see something like that to move forward truly. They seem to have it mostly worked out in those aspects (considering there was a draft turned in before the movie went on hold), but I can't help but wonder about these issues. These thoughts have me thinking that Fox (and Ridley) figured that they can capitalize on the Alien hype by mixing in the Alien DNA earlier on in this Prometheus/Alien saga while still creating at least a respectable story and on screen product. 

I won't even get into how everything should tie together with the questions in Prometheus and the Alien qestions and what not. 

So Alien: Covenant seems to have gone through the most recent re-write/ touch-up to appease Alien fans, move the story of Promtheus and the Space Jockey from Alien along more I guess efficiently (for a lack of better words), as well as make some serious cash. Alien 5, to me, seems dead in the water. I like the idea of another Alien movie, but I do not think that this will ever com eout. I may be pleasently surprised, but it just doesn't seem like it will get off the ground anymore. 

Also, have there been any reports

that the planet that the 

Covenant expedition finds isn't Paradise? I know that Scott said that the planet Shaw is looking for isn't going to be a literal 

Paradise, but I am seeing a lot of speculation that the planet they find in the upcoming movie is not Paradise. Why not? Also I think that the that a lot of us have taken Shaw not being in the synopsis a little too harshly. Well some (including me at first) have figured that she will only be a supporting cast memebr and that her story won't be told in more detail until the next sequel or something, but I do not think that is the case anymore. I think Shaw will be a huge part of the story. I don't know in what fashion yet, but I do not think she will be such a minor character in this movie

Sorry about the odd spacing. I have trouble typing on scified sometimes, something weird happens with my cursor/the text box