The Peter Weyland Files

Weyland had planned  to terraform LV-426 since 2040ish.  When the Nostromo was a total loss, the company probably tried to destroy all evidence of their complicity in the doomed endeavor. So the terraform plans went forward because all references to the derelict had been done away with.

 I figure the reasons are more simple. Even nowadays industrial espionage is a big topic. So it will be in the future, even in the real world. With the XX and the derelict on the table it guess they extremely restricted the access to these infos.

Burke may have been the director of a WY/W section but considering his actions he wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the set, so to speak. Therefor he might not have had access to the files.

As for the colonists "Crew expendable" if anything were to happen.

 Well, maybe they didn't exactly know what is/was on LV-426 but they knew there is somethng. Since Ripley was still taking her cryo nap when they started colonizing.

Also depends on how A:C spins the general plot line.

Ridley isn't beholden to info on a blu-ray extra. It might remain intact when Covenant comes out; it might not.

metalos

"we will embed a David 8 unit with the crew. And he will programmed with multiple contingency plans to address and exploit whatever assets we secure on 223. But only David will know about 426 and will ensure that the rest of the crew - including Meredith - learn nothing about the transmission"

This has led me to wonder for some time if David was duping Shaw from the jump. If perhaps the only reason he warned her of the incoming engineer was because he knew it was his only chance to execute the LV426 contingency.

"What if David changed his mind and instead of Paradise he wanted to go to LV-426? What if Shaw and him got a fight on this and crash landed a third planet? We will see what happened sooner or later but i think the fact David knew about LV-426 will be significant if not in Alien: Covenant then in the sequel(s)."

This is another thing I've considered. The idea that Shaw somehow realizes along the way that David was using her and she tries to stop him but he ends up killing/subduing her for experiments. I wouldn't mind this out come though there are other theories also compelling which paint David as benevolent. Right now I favor something more like what you've outlined above but if the opposing theories can manage to mount a more reasoned foundation it could be difficult to favor either over the other.

Myrddin365
"the company probably tried to destroy all evidence of their complicity in the doomed endeavor"

This is possible though it seems more likely (considering Weyland, Vickers, and Burke for example) that the board room characters in Aliens don't know because they don't need to. Most large corporations use the same kind of "need to know" pyramid model for controlling sensitive knowledge that intelligence agencies use. Couldn't it be possible that once the Nostromo incident occurs, the company engages in a long term project to explore the planet using the plans to terraform that were already in motion as a cover? The colony could then pave the way for future expeditions to be undertaken in a more hospitable climate once terraforming was complete. The colony could then also serve as the "canary in the coal mine" to offer an idea of the situation while keeping an eye out for the derelict ship with the sought after payload (all of this is in line with typical business logic). Is there any reason this wouldn't be the case?

S.M,

This is also true. Ridley doesn't seem like the kind of artist that appreciates being bound to extra content whether it's bluray extras, comic books, novels, stand alone films, etc

I can't see a company risking 200+ gross negligence and conspiracy to commit manslaughter charges on top of civil suits from every living relative of those colonists. News clearly gets out eventually. hacktivists are a thing, you know. (Call)

Hm... Let's see

Civil suits: 

Not everywhere u can sue companies "to death". In germany we had the Contergan-Scandal. Where tousands of children were born with deformations caused by flawed medicament. The producing conpany Grünenthal came out of it relatively unscathed. What they had to pay was little compared to the money they made. 

Gross negligence and conspiracy:

In case of Grünenthal the charges were dismissed.

This is just one example. So if someone asks me wether i think companies would go trough extreme lenghts when they believe the money is worth it my answer is yes.

EDIT - Double post

"This is possible though it seems more likely (considering Weyland, Vickers, and Burke for example) that the board room characters in Aliens don't know because they don't need to."

As far as we know the only Company people in that scene are Burke and Ripley.  Everyone else is ECA, ICC, insurance, etc.

"Couldn't it be possible that once the Nostromo incident occurs, the company engages in a long term project to explore the planet using the plans to terraform that were already in motion as a cover? "

Why wait 57 years and then partner up with the government to exploit the Alien?

"As far as we know the only Company people in that scene are Burke and Ripley.  Everyone else is ECA, ICC, insurance, etc."

You're right, that's something that was always lost on me as a kid and to this day I still forget. Thanks for the correction

Why wait 57 years and then partner up with the government to exploit the Alien?

"I assumed they didn't have the exact whereabouts of the derelict ship since it was an unsurveyed planet. Figured they saw establishing the colony as an opportunity to closely monitor the situation"

I don't doubt it was possible the info was lost through the decades. But would something that important so easily fall off the radar?

Also the events of Alien Isolation took place during this time so I'd imagine the creature and the Nostromo's black box is still fresh on the company's mind

Could be wrong though

Simple answer is that the Company - as a whole - didn't know anything about the Alien.  One person or a small group arranged to get the Nostromo diverted and arranged to buy Sevastopol 15 years later.  Much the same as how Burke was operating alone so he could obtain exclusive rights.

In one of the final scenes in Prometheus, the Juggernaut Shaw and David steal ENTERS HYPERSPACE 

For literally the fifth time: In THEATRICAL CUT footage of Prometheus AND Alien, LV-223 and LV-426 are EXPLICITLY INDICATED to be in the ZETA 2 RETICULI system. If they are in the same effing solar system they don't need effing hyperspace. If RS wants to ignore what he shot himself, then he's not making responsible story telling decisions, and I have severe doubts about his ability to properly continue this franchise. 

"But they could come back later." They could also have a huge orgy with the Neos and Xenos wearing GIMP suits, but it's not likely nor would it make much sense based on what we know to be true.

Literally ALL of the AC marketing says that the planet they go to is UNCHARTED. LV-426 is not UNCHARTED Prometheus flew right by it. If they charted LV-223 they charted LV-426. 

Not to mention the planet wide, crust melting catastrophe that NO ONE SEES ANY SIGN OF 18 YEARS LATER that leaves a derilict space craft and massive egg chamber relatively untouched and transmitting a warning beacon. 

And why would RS NOT include the Peter Weyland files. It was his choice to include them in the Blu Ray. Is he suddenly going to say "yeah, I put this there, but f*** it."

While I agree with your overall point that LV-426 is not the planet in Covenant, a couple of things:

- Neither Alien nor Prometheus explicitly state LV-223 and LV-426 are in the same system.  Information released peripheral to the films, however do state they orbit the same gas giant (despite some obvious continuity errors).

- While the Juggernaut does engage what looks like an ion drive, we don't know that it's going into hyperspace.  I had the same thought - Why fire up that engine if you're just going to the next moon?

- The Peter Weyland Files were written by Charles de Lauzirika. Only a small portion of the audience would have read them, so if Ridley had what he thought was a better idea for Covenant, he's not going to go 'Oops, can't do that because of a blu-ray extra'.

Lambert specifically states that they are near the Zeta 2 Reticuli system at the scene on the bridge in Alien. Around 12:52 ish. David's star map readout clearly says Zeta 2 Reticuli. On the display when they arrive. 

The faux motion it displays is shorthand in pretty much every sci-fi film for hyperspace or FTL travel. Star Wars, Star Trek, fifth Element. It's pretty universal.

The Weyland files are basically canon till someone more important than us says they aren't.

"David's star map readout clearly says Zeta 2 Reticuli. On the display when they arrive. "

Which starmap readout? Do you have a timecode?

And 'faux motion' or not, it doesn't really prove anything.  Prometheus did the same thing when it rammed the Juggernaut.

"The Weyland files are basically canon till someone more important than us says they aren't."

Probably.  Mostly.

I think Riddles would count as 'more important'.

I completely agree, but he hasn't made any such disclosure. Till he does, I'm going with his consent to include them as a stamp of canon.

I misspoke about David's display, though. I imagined it. The link is pretty vindicating, though.

Who is to say that they first did not visit Lv-426 before going to Paradise? It has been ten years so they have had some time to make a quick stop.

Perhaps David brought an egg from the Derelict along the way and well, the possibilities are endless. Perhaps Shaw got facehugged etc etc.

Maybe they did. It would still mean that the planet in the film isn't LV-426 though.

"I misspoke about David's display, though. I imagined it."

Bummer. I was almost hoping I missed some tidbit of info.