Normally the cast of a movie is announced before it goes into production, but with Alien: Covenant, they’ve waited until several months after production wrapped to reveal that James Franco and Danny McBride will be in the movie. And with Franco’s role, it could turn out to be quite key.
As a result, we’re heading into spoiler territory, so if you don’t want to know more, stop reading.
According to AVP Galaxy, Franco is set to be the captain of the spaceship, Covenant. He’ll also be married to lead character Daniels, played by Katherine Waterson. Apparently though it’s a fairly small role, with Franco only appearing in the first 10 minutes, and then briefly later one. There are also rumours that he may be the father of Ellen Ripley.
The movie is due out May 19th, 2017, although we haven’t had a trailer yet (some expect one to be included with Rogue One or one of December’s other major releases).
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Set as the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with Prometheus, Alien: Covenant connects directly to Ridley Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. It begins with the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. There, the crew discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.’
The movie is based on Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 novel of the same name, which follows Los Angeles private detective Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) in 1969. It’s described as being, ‘Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon- private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era. In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren’t there.