The latest installment of the AlienOpens in a new tab franchise has added yet another cast member, and this is probably one that few saw coming. According to VarietyOpens in a new tab, actor James FrancoOpens in a new tab has joined the cast of director Ridley Scott’sOpens in a new tab prequel Alien: CovenantOpens in a new tab in an unspecified role. He joins Michael FassbenderOpens in a new tab, Noomi RapaceOpens in a new tab, and Guy PearceOpens in a new tab, who are returning to their roles from Scott’s PrometheusOpens in a new tab, which itself was originally promoted as only loosely being an Alien prequel, but now appears to be much more tied into the overall Alien saga than originally thought. Franco joins Katherine Waterston, Demian Bichir, Billy Crudup, and his frequent co-star Danny McBrideOpens in a new tab.
Scott is directing a script by Jack Paglen, Michael Green, and Penny Dreadful Opens in a new tabcreator John LoganOpens in a new tab. According to the official synopsis, the film follows the colony ship Covenant as it heads toward a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. Crew members discover what they believe to be an uncharted paradise, which turns out to be a dark, menacing world in which the only inhabitant is the synthetic David (Fassbender), a survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. Ridley Scott and studio Twentieth Century FoxOpens in a new tab have promised this film will have deeper ties to the overall Alien mythos than Prometheus did, although it won’t feature actress Sigourney WeaverOpens in a new tab as Ripley.
Alien: Covenant was originally scheduled to come out in August of 2017, but was recently moved to early May. Recently, several minutes of the film were screened for select members of the press, who gushed about the movie and said it was very much a return to the sci-fi/horror elements of the original film. Apparently, this movie is but the second in a planned new trilogy of Alien films from Ridley Scott, and there is another possible installment of the franchise coming as well, one returning Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in a film from director Neill BlomkampOpens in a new tab.
Alien: Covenant hits movie theaters on May 19, 2017.
Are you excited about James Franco joining the cast of the latest chapter in the xenomorph saga? Let us know down below in the comments.
Images: Twentieth Century Fox
