Christmas Eve seems like a curious time to release an anticipated movie trailer. Though many people will be going to the movies on Christmas, so it’s a good time to promote a film to big audiences. (And there is some precedent, with Disney releasing the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Thanksgiving 2014.)
So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that Fox chose Christmas as the time to release its first trailer for Alien: Covenant, a new prequel to the celebrated sci-fi/horror movie series. However, a red-band trailer — with blood, the f-word and nudity (sort of) — that isn’t going to play in theaters, nor is probably appropriate to play in front of the family on your new tablet or smartphone, seems like a bit of a head-scratcher.
Nonetheless, we have our first look at one of next spring’s big releases, as director Ridley Scott dives back into the film that broke out his career as a director (after dipping his toe in with 2012’s Prometheus). Take a look:
Not much of a slow build-up to this one. The tension and terror is established right away. And we get a little taste of the new, as the alien xenomorph is getting ready to burst free from its human host — but this time through the back, rather than the chest, as we’ve seen time and time again throughout the five Alien films (and those Alien vs. Predator cash-ins).
Judging from the opening of this trailer, Scott is definitely trying to invoke the dark look and claustrophobic feel of 1979’s Alien. And why not? Not only is that movie a sci-fi/horror classic, but it’s Scott’s film and arguably the best in the entire Alien series. As the action later ramps up, the trailer also recalls James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), while the exploration of another world — presumably the home of this alien lifeform — tips back to Prometheus. (Don’t let any alien lifeforms fly into your ears, kids.)
Another reference to Prometheus is Michael Fassbender, who returns as the android David. (Given his fate in Prometheus, however, is this an entirely new model? Did he and Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw settle in on a new planet?) Katherine Waterston’s short haircut is also reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, the key character of the original four films and keeping in the tradition of female leads in this series.
Alien: Covenant will be released in theaters on May 19, 2017.
