“In space, no one can hear you scream.” Arguably one of cinema’s most recognisable taglines, that phrase heralded the arrival of what was to become a classic of sci-fi horror, 1979’s Alien, directed by Ridley Scott. Alien remains a standard bearer for the horror genre, a psychologically taut, uncomfortably claustrophobic film, as lean and effective as the sleek, vicious beast that first stalked Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the crew of the starship Nostromo.

Alien also signalled the launch of one of Hollywood’s most beloved franchises, which, 15 years after the so-so Alien: Resurrection in 1997, was itself resurrected in 2012 with Prometheus, which had Scott back in the director’s chair and whose story took us back 30 years before the events of the original.

Alien: Covenant takes place 10 years after that… its title derived from the spaceship of the same name. Covenant’s crew and passengers are deep in hyper-sleep as they travel to the remote planet Origae-6 on the far side of the galaxy, where they hope to establish a new outpost for humanity.

Charged with their protection is the ship’s crew – Captain Jacob Branson (James Franco) and his wife, Daniels, head of terraforming operations (Katherine Waterston), second-in-command Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup) and his biologist wife Karine (Carmen Ejogo), boisterous pilots Tennessee (Danny McBride) and Faris (Amy Seimetz), head of security Sergeant Lope (Demián Bichir) and his second-in-command and husband Sergeant Hallett (Nathaniel Dean). With them is one non-human, Walter (Michael Fassbender), the Covenant’s loyal synthetic, keeping watch as the passengers remain locked away in cryo-sleep until they reach their destination.

However, an unexpected incident throws the mission off course, leading them to discover a new planet, an undisturbed paradise that may prove just as viable a new home. Yet, beneath that idyll lies a dark and deadly world full of unexpected twists and turns. Facing a terrible threat beyond their imagination, the embattled explorers must attempt a harrowing escape.

The same foreboding atmosphere while also offering new richness and depth to the larger Alien mythology

“I think Ridley Scott’s first line was, ‘We’re going to make a hard R-rated film, and we’re going to need a lot of claret,’ which is a term for film blood,” says the film’s producer Mark Huffam. “That was the very first conversation – we’re out to scare the pants off everybody.”

Thinking back on his magnum opus, Scott muses that “in a funny kind of way, I always thought of Alien as a B-movie, really well done. The subtext was pretty basic… it was seven people locked in the old dark house and who’s going to die first and who’s going to survive.”

For this latest instalment, Scott sought to recapture the same foreboding atmosphere of constant danger and dread while also offering new insights that would add richness and depth to the larger Alien mythology. That approach was necessary, he says, to keep the storytelling fresh and surprising. “You can’t keep being chased down a corridor by a monster… it gets boring,” he adds.

And with Covenant the veteran director teases the possibility of answering one of the franchise’s most intriguing questions… what are the origins of the mother of all aliens, the lethal Xenomorph from the original film?

“It came to me that no one had asked the question, who made this and why. You could say monsters from outer space, gods from outer space, engineers from outer space invented it,” he says. They didn’t. Alien Covenant is going to flip that around.”

Needless to say, Scott, a director consistently acclaimed for his unique vision, is in his element, crafting a bold, uniquely terrifying, visceral experience flush with the attitude and swagger of a classic Alien movie. And we can expect nothing less than relentless, heart-stopping, terror.

Fassbender, who returns to the franchise after his acclaimed performance as android David says that “for me, Alien Covenant is in a lot of ways like the first Alien. It’s gritty and dark, and from the get-go, when the Covenant hits the space storm, it sets a series of events in motion that don’t stop until the final frame. Ten minutes into the film, it becomes relentless. I think this is going to be the scariest one of all the films.”

“I hope the film gets people very uneasy, helps your arteries start pumping, sets hearts pounding,” says Scott. “I hope you have a very dry throat but can’t take your eyes off the screen. To really scare the crap out of people is quite difficult, but this might give them nightmares. And that’s a good thing.”

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