The final chapter will never be made?

@Drake

How should we know? But I honestly because of Covenant and it's sole focus on David don't care that much about it.

Purely speculative, but this is interesting:

http://www.alien-covenant.com/topic/47825

I would like to think we will.

All things said and done, the Covenant is in exactly the same predicament as when we were first introduced to it.....minus a few characters and + David and a vector for future Xenomorph infestation.

We still have some 2000 odd colonists travelling in a well equipped colonisation ship loaded with terraforming gear (minus one XL dump truck) heading to Origae-6.

It's a clean slate, and the possibilities for what does happen next can be potentially very exciting, regardless of who takes ownership of the franchise.

We could have a world-building premise on Origae-6 with David overlording upon both his colonist subjects and growing xenomorph experiments.

We could have the rumoured War of the Worlds showdown with the Engineers and other players.

We could have a claustrophobic derelict spaceship premise

We could go to LV-426 and set-up the Space Jockey (but please don't)

Hell, we could turn the Covenant around and return to earth and get the Earth Hive story arc.  

The point is, there is a blank slate available to finish these prequel's AND set-up the new direction for whomever takes the reins of the franchise.....providing that more films is part of the plan. Which, damn it, it bloody well better be XD.

I think the show is over. 

I will only speak for myself here. I am not interested in another movie about David and if that is what they had planned then they should stop where it is. No movie is better than something that is bad or just have decent parts but the whole is not very good (for example AC). They shot themselves in the foot here.

I am happy they made Prometheus but AC was a mistake imo

Critters5:

I do not think that Prometheus is a total stinker since we have Janek and David that save the movie from being bad. When I said that I am not interested in another movie about David I mainly meant with AC in mind. He was interesting in Prometheus but was too evil in Alien Covenant.

It's just going to be so crazy if this prequel train-wreck is never completed. 

IRaptus- We could have a claustrophobic derelict spaceship premise

That would be a great unexpected approach. The movie is entirely in the ship. David starts his work, awakens Daniels, makes a mistake with a face hugger embryo.....they never reach Origae-6.

"Hey maybe I'm sour about the April 1st post. No idea."

Oh, I feel ya there Drake.

I believe Ridley Scott will be involved in a final prequel.

But the way AC ended so vaguely and open-ended, the next film can be tailored to build an ending that starts a new beginning, a new direction while finishing off the prequel arc.

They can't leave it hanging like this, its totally disconnected from the rest of the franchise without at least some closure. Finish it to start anew. 

Too much David, no-worries, dial him back as a nefarious mastermind for the colonists on Origae-6 to overcome, but without him being centre stage; example Snoke. Still important, just less visible. They could make David a really enigmatic antagonist puppet-master. 

Alien Covenant is left Open Ended... Especially if we THROW out the Advent Viral a little but more so IGNORE Ridley Scotts comments..  If someone else comes to the Helm, then it could go in a few different ways.

Looking at the Set-Up and Ridley Scotts comments the NEXT few movies seem pretty much laid out....

*David will take the Covenant to Origae-6 which means we arrive there 10 years before the events of ALIEN

*The Company will at some point detect Davids Advent, they will thus have some idea of Where David has been, and is off to and what he could be up to...   Ridley Scott mentions 3-4 incoming Parties and so ONE has to be a incoming W-Y Ship to Origae-6

*The movie will be more about AI, and not the Xenomorph... this does not rule out the Xenomorph, but it means the Focus is not going to be on showing us WHEN/HOW/WHERE David creates Thousands of Eggs out of those Thousands of Colonist.  The Amass of Eggs could likely come from the 3rd of this New ALIEN: Prequel series.

*The movies seem to be eventually taking is to ALIEN and hint HOW/WHEN/WHY the Derelict and cargo ended on LV-426

*The Engineers Return to Planet 4 and Discover the Destruction caused by David and will be off after him..... they will be ONE of the 3-4 incoming Parties and NO Doubt the Plot Device to get us the Engineer Ship that Eventually becomes the Derelict or Set-Up the Engineers to arrive at Origae-6 and then set up heading to LV-223 where the Derelict could also be obtained from.

*Bringing us close to ALIEN while Origae-6 is not located near by, must mean that Davids Creations have to..

i) Become Evolved to Bio-Mechanical Creations.

ii) End up going to or From LV-223 at the time of the Space Jockey Event.

It all points to me that ENGINEERS become Fascinated with Davids Creation and either THEY or/and David end up going to LV-223 to Evolve and Create in Mass those Eggs...  Before things go to POT just as the Derelict Departs LV-223.   But this Process could happen on Oriage-6 where the Destination to Mass Produce/Experiment is due on LV-223 but only getting as far as LV-426

Thats how it seems to Pan out to me.

Will we ever see it completed?

Well to leave it would be a CRIME! its at a Loose End now...

But it is in LIMBO... The Performance of Alien Covenant, means FOX would have to think how do we make 2 movies and Guarantee a better Return than Alien Covenant.  If they invest $100M they are going to want to see at least $250M Back, if they invest $150M they would want to see at least $300M back... If they feel they wont get those returns then it would be NOT Worthwhile...

Making a 2nd movie that makes back as much as Alien Covenant, that ends Open Ended and Needing a Conclusion would also be a concern for them, because if such a movie disappoints it would leave them DEAD IN THE WATER as far as the Final Chapter.

Then we have the Criticism of Alien Covenant, where a Range of Fans had disappointments... from not getting the Prometheus Answers and exploring the Engineers History/Agenda.  The David Creates the Xenomorph Arc, and Emphasis on David.   The Xenomorph use including its Aesthetic, its Gestation/Growth Rate and how it was USED.

A movie that does not be about the Xenomorph but more about David would not appeal to a lot of Fans, even if it sets up and introduces the Engineers and maybe Xenomorphs for the 3rd of these New Prequels... i feel a movie about David and not much Xenomorphs or Engineers that sets up to introduce them NEXT would not go down too well with a majority of fans...  Despite some having a interest in the other Aspects of the Franchise apart from JUST Xenomorphs.

Then we have the BUY-OUT Saga..... and especially with Disney, they WOULD not want to take on or invest in a Project if they have concerns it could critically Damage the Legacy of the Franchise, and Financially not make a Good Return...

THEN... we arrive at the TWO main things to effect the Franchise while this Limbo is in place... Ridley Scott, and Micheal Fassbender.

Can Ridley Scott do it justice in 5 years time? if he wants TWO more movies then they have to be made in 5-7 years back to back... but would WHOEVER owns the Franchise be willing to take that risk?  So we would likely get a SINGLE Concluding Movie as far as the Set-Up for ALIEN.

In 5-7 years can Micheal Fassbender pull off playing a Android who should appear as a 35-40 year old Male?  in 5-7 years Fassbender will look OLDER than he did in Prometheus and DO Androids Age?

Yes we can do CGI overlay... but the longer Screen Time, the more cost or risk of IFFY looking CGI....  

So the LONGER it takes, the more likely we will get ONE PREQUEL set years after Alien Covenants Sequel would take place... by-passing the events of the Colony on Origae-6 and David and arrive at the After-Math and discover the Damaged Remains of David 8

And so a Plot that would  be like a MIX of Aliens and Alien 3

I feel this is the ROUTE that is likely to be taken WHEN they do decide to make another ALIEN movie as they CANT leave it how it is... it needs closure and i think it WILL but will this be 5 years, 10 years? 20 years?

Eventually YES we will get our Final Chapter and i do however think its a Scenario as explained above..... UNLESS Production can be started in 2 years!

The OTHER Option.... 

Would be a Movie set on LV-223, Planet 4 or even LV-426 post ALIEN but prior to ALIENS were the Plot will reveal some information about Origae-6, David and Prometheus...  that could TIE-UP loose ends of what a Alien Covenant Sequel would cover... without having to even visit any sequel...   a Plot that could then leave it Open Ended to wether Davids Xenomorphs from Origae-6 get to LV-426 or that this was a Ancient event... so that either is left OPEN.

Or even Provide Answers that will show the Derelict was Ancient.. or skip that but indicate Davids Xenomorphs are a Re-Creation.

BigDave

2.5 times 150 is not 300, however, and shooting 2 movies back to back might save money on sets but not on marketing and the rest, but the series as a whole is on diminishing returns. 

And with covenant it was made pretty clear where this whole thing would go so there is not a tragedy not seeing it. You have generation of creations revolting against creators, but as Marx said history repeats itself "first as tragedy then as farce", making your antagonist (the only one you care about) a bloody idiot.

Indeed 2.5X 150 is not 300.

I am a bit speculative in this point.... i just think that those in Charge would want to Turn a $150M Profit as BARE Minimum so if they spend $120M then i would think they would want to make $270M as a Bare Minimum.

I think if they have any Doubts they could do this, then they would likely not attempt another Movie.    I would assume and so its mainly speculative, that Production Companies would see anything that makes Triple its Budget would be seen as a Success while anything that fails to make Double its Budget would be seen as a Disappointment.

I think we can assume FOX would have felt Alien: Covenant could make as good a return as Prometheus had, but sadly this was not the case, but it was certainly no DISASTER but with some of the Criticism aimed at the Plot/Movie and how introducing the Xenomorph did not lead to making nearly as much as its Predecessor you cant blame any Production Company to be involved to have concerns that ANOTHER movie may take a even more SLIP as far as Interest as Alien Covenant had from Prometheus.  With Prometheus making a 310% Profit and Alien Covenant making 240% Profit, if this trend continued resulting in a 190% Profit... would any company risk investing $100-125M to make $190-235M mark back?

I agree the Majority of the Plot for the Next movie seems quite easy to Guess, as far as Broad Strokes go, especially in light of Ridley Scotts comments.... and as Damien Lindeloff had said... ONCE you go the Direct Prequel route all you are doing is connecting the dots..

But they have kind of Wrote themselves in a Corner now... regardless if they MADE another, there would be a % of Fans who will be expecting any sequel to LEAD directly to Alien.... even if they did another U-TURN regarding the Xenomorph Orgins.

You just cant Please Everyone... and its WHY Prequels are sometimes a Poisoned Chalice.

I think the Final Chapter will come down to WHO ever takes ownership at the time someone plans to consider making another Alien Movie.

It will then be WHEN this happens, and IF Ridley Scott is available to work on the Project or to discuss with him what Direction to take. So i think the BIGGEST Questions that will come around at the TIME anyone decides to Re-Visit the Prequels would be...

1) Are we STILL going to go the Route that David is the Creator of the Xenomorph Origins?

2) IF so or IF Not... are we going to provide a Direct Answer or even show the EVENT that leads to the Space Jockey?

Determining the Stance on these Subjects at the time they consider working on a Prequel... will have the Greatest Impact on where they will TAKE the Story or Question which options are Viable as far as what would gain interest and make $$$

They could feel in relation to such Questions...  and this is maybe the Question that would be ASKED prior.

Would it be wise to continue the Prequels, and would it be Damaging to leave them as they are.. Unfinished?

If they choose to NOT explore the Prequels... then it leaves them open to Explore other Avenues  as far as Sequels to ALIEN or movies set in the Time Periods of Post PROMETHEUS and prior to ALIEN.

I think those who are in charge, will be looking more at what they FEEL the Fans would want and what Ultimately would make more $$$$ rather than what ever Plans Ridley Scott Sadly had in mind.

Well, seeing how Fox said that they trust Scott despite the disappointing box office....I can see "Alien: Awakening" sometime in 2019 or 2020. However, I think it's gonna be the last prequel. 

It will depend of Disney to greenlight actual sequels if they end up buying Fox.

“Too much David, no-worries, dial him back as a nefarious mastermind for the colonists on Origae-6 to overcome, but without him being centre stage; example Snoke. Still important, just less visible. They could make David a really enigmatic antagonist puppet-master.” Iraptus

I could accept that, it worked with Snoke in TLJ even though it was a disappointment except for Luke which they could have done better anyways. This would be a lot better than what we got in Alien Covenant.

I would not be against the idea that the Engineers would mass-produce Xeno eggs, at least it would give a sort of logical explanation of the egg chamber in Alien. Still an issue of scale is a problem: how does the cave fit in with the size of the ship? Not that this is the biggest problem in the franchise but anyways maybe it was before the prequels but anyways.

To me it depends, if they will get better human characters and less David then sure. If they will have as bad characters and more David or the same as in AC then forget it. One thing is sure and that is that they got to learn from the mistakes and the criticism of AC or else we will risk getting another one that is as bad or worse (worse is questionable though since it really was at the level of AR so chances are that it will be better). Honestly I have lost interest in David as a main character but keeping him in the background could work.

More Engineers would be interesting. I would like to know a bit about their society and so on. The Engineers are a lot more interesting than David which I am tired of anyways because of AC. Make him recreating the Xeno, they still have that possibility despite of what Scott says.

Two more movies from Scott? Bahaha! Good luck with that, I am not sure how many that are interested in one after Alien Covenant. My guess is that we will at the maximum get one more movie but we will see how it turns out.

“And so a Plot that would be like a MIX of Aliens and Alien 3” - BD

Hmm, if they get them right so sure why not? It should not be like a pure remake of them though, like copy some scenes from Aliens and A3, throw them in the blender and there it is because that is like trying to copy the past almost and that seldom works.

Actually it could be better with another director, then we might get someone that cares more about the humans than a crazy robot so that would be a welcome change for me. AI or Xeno, to me it should be about well written human character that get into fearful situations that they are not well prepared for. This is in a nutshell what the franchise is about to me. Once you get badly written human characters, that is when it does not work, no matter how good the environments there is, no matter how good the monsters look or if you have one million androids. I would point my middle finger at another movie focused on mad androids and wonder if they have ignored the complaints that it is more about crazy robots and bad human characters.

No I will not have David as the creator of the Xeno, that sucks balls and is one of the most dumb ideas that have been suggested recently. Do not make David the reason why the Derelict crashed that would not only make him responsible for the Xeno but also for the derelict and that would make me annoyed.

“The Engineers Return to Planet 4 and Discover the Destruction caused by David and will be off after him”

I like that, hopefully they will tear his head off and smash it into pieces.

I think this is where they have the Problem.... AC had portrayed David in a way that displeased a lot of Fans, even those who were pleased with his Character in Prometheus...

I think what we need to do here is NOT wipe the Character under the Carpet like Dr Shaw was... but to look at WHAT went wrong and try and FIX the problem...  Dr Shaw could have been explored and had a Character Change due to Events and HOW they affected her.

With David they have to give us background to HOW/WHY he became as he did,  Flash Backs to the Abusive Upbringing he may have suffered?   Have him have a change of heart with the Colonist.  Because having him Charade as Walter and help the Colonists to set up a Colony then BAM! David then starts to use them for Experiments to Create more EGGS because thats his SOLE Agenda.. i think this simply would not work, well it would not please those who were disappointed with Davids Character in Alien Covenant.

I have said this before and recently i feel NOW  a AFTERMATH Movie is what they have to give us that proves to be Less Risky.

Alien Covenant is a AFTERMATH movie of a Potential Prometheus 2, we arrive at the Aftermath of what happened When David and Dr Shaw left LV-223 and so maybe the SAFE route is a Aftermath movie to what ever happens from the end of Alien Covenant and its Sequel

So we BYPASS the next 10 years as they did with Alien Covenant.

A Mission/Ship arrives at Origae-6 some 10 years after the Covenant leaves Planet 4, where they discover a partially Set-Up Colony, Death and Destruction and Horrors that lie in wait!

With a Handful (or TWO Handfuls) of Colonist managing to keep themselves Locked Away and Safe and the Remains of a Synthetic who has the Answers to what happened...

Its then a case of DO THEY go with the David Creator Route?  Which if they DO then we need Engineers so we can get a Ship that ends up with Davids Eggs on board.

IF they U-Turn again and so David Did-Not Create those EGGS on the Derelict they would need to be clear that Davids are a Re-Creation, and then we have to ASK..... Do they cover the Space Jockey Event or leave it a Mystery?

BD: I disagree in a way, maybe they can fix bits of him but that will not change my mind about him. I am tired of David and I want him to be gone or at least be reduced to such an extent so we do not see him that much. They already had him too much in AC so if they reduce his role and try to get better human characters then that would be a direction that I will welcome. Some people might want it to be all about him but I am the opposite to that. Maybe have like 5-10% being David stuff, and the rest should be other things.
 
Yes I agree that he was a lot better in Prometheus. He was more evil in the Alien Engineers script so maybe they though that people that did not like Prometheus would have liked it to be more like Alien Engineers so they made David more like that? That was a mistake I think because then he became like a mad scientist.

Nah, I have lost interest in that. Leave the David movie and make something better (that would not be too difficult). I would rather have it so they make a Shaw out of David than to have another movie about him again. Hopefully they are smart enough so they can see that so we do not get another disappointing prequel. This would probably depend on a lot of who the bosses at Disney are if the deal with Fox and Disney is through that is. By the way I do not want an Alien 5 and not a David movie either.

Sure he might have been abused in his earlier life but that is how you write a human character and he is an android. This is not something that I would like.
"So we BYPASS the next 10 years as they did with Alien Covenant."

If that means less David then sure.

"Its then a case of DO THEY go with the David Creator Route?  Which if they DO then we need Engineers so we can get a Ship that ends up with Davids Eggs on board."

Hmm, I would rather have it to the Engineers did the original version and David did his so that gives David a lesser role. More Engineers and less David. Please do not mess it up again because in a way I think that they need to compensate us for Alien Covenant which was not very good but I prefer if we get no movie compared to another one about David. Perhaps they get it right, I hope so.

"IF they U-Turn again and so David Did-Not Create those EGGS on the Derelict they would need to be clear that Davids are a Re-Creation, and then we have to ASK..... Do they cover the Space Jockey Event or leave it a Mystery?"

I do not have any problem with David making his own version, what I have a problem with is him being the original creator of the Xenos because it is a dumb idea that should never have been done.

About the SJ: They could give us clues but they do not need to show the whole thing. There should be some room left for speculation because it is fun and that is what has kept the mystery this far. We could see the ship take off and then we could fill in the blanks ourselves, I would like them to make it that way. (Prometheus showed us that in a way that I think was alright. The Squid thing) I can imagine it being in some sort of locked room or something and then get out but then how do we explain the blue mist in Alien? Maybe they had different places in the ship where they had eggs so the eggs that Kane finds were not the ones that created the Xeno that got the SJ. Maybe this is a bad idea but it could be a possibility.