Fox unspooled a five-minute sneak peek of “Alien: Covenant” on Wednesday during an episode of the new FX hit series “Legion.” After the overwhelming success of last year’s sci-fi flick “The Martian,” director Ridley Scott returns to the franchise that launched his film career back in 1979. The three-time Oscar nominee helmed this sixth film in a series that is due out on May 19. While Scott directed that original “Alien,” he left it to others, including James Cameron, to helm the first three follow-ups. He returned for the acclaimed 2012 prequel “Prometheus” and this new film is a sequel to that one.
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In the preview, entitled “Prologue: Last Supper,” we see James Franco in command of the Covenant sparring with his chief pilot Danny McBride about the path they should take to an uncolonized planet. “Alien: Covenant” was written by Tony-winning playwright John Logan (“Red) and much of the story takes place as the crew is pursued by an aggressive alien life form which it first encounters on that supposedly uninhabited planet.
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Among those on the Covenant crew are Michael Fassbender, who plays Wayne, a more advance version of the android David that he introduced in “Prometheus.” Also in the cast is Katherine Waterston, who played foil to Eddie Redmayne in last fall’s blockbuster “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Here she is Daniels, a crew member forced to fight off an alien invader. From the trailer above, she looks to be the new Ripley, the role in the original films that earned Sigourney Weaver an Oscar nomination.
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