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MOVIES
A L I E N
TIMELINE
Alien: Covenant is set to be released May 12 in the UK and May 19 in the US. The film was directed by Ridley Scott and written by John Login and Dante Harper. It is a direct sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus and is the second installment in the Alien prequel series and the sixth overall. The film stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demián Bichir. Now that we’ve got the bare facts out of the way let’s talk a little bit about the plot of the movie. It’s set in 2104 and follows the crew of the colony shop Covenant as they travel to a remote planet on the other side of the galaxy. They believe that this place will be a veritable Eden but instead they find a planet filled with danger and inhabited by David (the artificial life form from the first movie) as well as some monstrous alien creatures who are
YEAR 2091: PROMETHEUS (2012)
YEAR 2179: ALIENS (1986)
Ridley Scott, who directed the original Alien (1979), returned to the franchise to produce the first prequel of the series. The USCSS Prometheus voyage to moon LV-223 begins in 2091, and the crew arrive in 2093. During this time in the Alien universe, Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) is born in 2092.
Ripley is discovered after being in space stasis for 57 years. In the same year, and the same movie, we’re introduced to popular characters Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), and Rebecca ‘Newt’ Jorden (Carrie Henn).
YEAR 2103: ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)
At the beginning of David Fincher’s movie, the unit 2650 crash lands on Fiorina “Fury” 161 facility, killing Hicks and Newt. At the end of the film, Ripley sacrifices herself, but genetic samples of her are collected.
The next release in the franchise, also directed by Scott, will be set 10 years after the events of Prometheus, around 2103.
YEAR 2122: ALIEN (1979)
by Thomas Neil
determined to hunt and kill all of the colonists. With Alien: Covenant being a direct sequel to Prometheus, which was set in the same universe as the Alien Franchise but was not intended to be directly related - in fact a direct quote concerning Prometheus was that it has “strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak” but not connecting it any further allowed them to explore new ideas. Prometheus had an overall positive critical reception but received flack for unresolved or predictable plot points. It was intended to jumpstart and rejuvenate the franchise, feeling that it was a step in the right direction to linking the past and present movies But for those who are slightly confused by the timeline of the movies, let’s piece together the jigsaw and have a look back at the Alien franchise so far.
The original classic sits neatly in the middle of the chronology of the story so far. During 2122, Spaceship Nostromo is returning to Earth, with Ellen Ripley aboard, before it is interrupted by the distress signal that triggers the events of the movie.
YEAR 2179: ALIEN 3 (1992)
YEAR 2379: ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997) Flash-forward 200 years and the film earns its title by cloning Ellen Ripley, using the genetic samples that were collected at the end of Alien 3. Chronologically, these are the latest events in the franchise.
@Lonely_Among_Us thomas.neil@live.com
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