We've been hearing about Prometheus 2 (or whatever working title it's been operating under) for a long while, but even with different writers chipping in on the script and alleged casting close calls, it's felt like a very ethereal, far off project (especially given how Ridley Scott has freely jumped onto three different films since the first one). The announcement changes that, not only by giving us some word from Fox themselves, rather than Ridley in a promo interview, but by also giving us a set release date. Alien: Covenant will hit on 6th October, 2017, less than two years away. That's actually a rather charged release date, revealing a lot about the studio's hopes for the movie, both tonally and financially. In the past few years we've seen autumn become a proper breeding ground for smarter, grounded sci-fi - Looper, Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian all hit to broadly rave reviews and some serious box office smashing - and it looks like Fox is keen to stake a claim to the slot, hoping a proper hit here. It also suggests a return to the franchise's original ideals. The real science angle has been the strongest link between the recent work from Cuarón, Nolan and Scott bar release, so it's a fair bet we can expect the franchise to return to its earlier naturalism here (at least in aesthetic - there are giant human creators stalking about).
