‘Alien: Covenant’, otherwise known as ‘Prometheus 2’, is set to bring Australia back to the Hollywood spotlight. Director Ridley Scott is currently filming in Sydney. Meanwhile, Katherine Waterston’s character is speculated to be directly connected with the iconic ‘Alien’ franchise and its original star Sigourney Weaver.
According to ABC News, Scott’s upcoming sequel starring Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston is currently filming in Sydney. The filmmaker previously admitted that he was interested in Australia as the main filming location for his ‘Prometheus’ franchise.
Fassbender also expressed his enthusiasm over the prospect saying, "It's great. I love it. It's a fantastic city - what's pretty special here is you've got clean beautiful beaches, it's very accessible to the city so I really enjoy it… Of course, why not, great crews, and great facilities, great location, it's fantastic."
The 39-year old actor plays David in the franchise. David is an android from the David 8 series synthetic line who served as a crew member aboard the USCC Prometheus spacecraft in Scott’s first film ‘Prometheus’, released in 2012. He was the ship’s maintenance man and butler also integrated with human emotions.
Australia was featured in several Hollywood films from the 1990s to the early 2000s with films such as ‘The Matrix’ and some ‘Star Wars’ installments. However, it became less attractive to filmmakers after it was hit by the Global Financial Crisis. Richard Harris, head of business and audience at Screen Australia, admitted that major productions lessened after the dollar surge.
However, more Hollywood films are drawn back in by the Federal Government’s pledge for $47.25 million for production just last year as well as tax breaks. Harris said, "For Australia to attract productions around the world those incentives have to be in place because we simply don't compete if they're not… If the Government thinks it's an important thing for us to be in those international productions, we need to have incentives no matter where the dollar goes."
Meanwhile, Waterston’s Daniels was revealed to be a key character connecting the new franchise to Scott’s iconic ‘Alien’ cinematic series. According to The Independent, rumors emerged that Daniels is actually Ellen Ripley’s mother. Ripley was the main protagonist in the original series and was portrayed by Sigourney Weaver.
Scott’s original science-fiction and horror film ‘Alien’ was released in 1979. It received both critical and commercial success, earning an estimated $104.93 million worldwide against an $11 million production budget. It was succeeded by ‘Aliens’ in 1986, ‘Aliens 3’ in 1992, and ‘Alien: Resurrection’ in 1997.
‘Prometheus’ was created as a series taking place long before the events of the ‘Alien’ franchise. Upon its release in June 2012 in the United States, it drew mixed criticism but managed to earn $403.4 million at the worldwide box office against a $130 million budget.
‘Alien: Covenant’ is an upcoming science-fiction and horror film intended as the sequel to ‘Prometheus’. It is directed and produced by Ridley Scott. David Giler, Mark Huffam, Michael Schaefer, and Walter Hill are also producing. It is scheduled to be released on August 4, 2017.
