Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel won’t be on HBO Max for much longer.
Scott’s Alien (1979) remains one of the most seminal sci-fi movies ever made, birthing a franchise that now consists of seven films and one successful TV show. Scott hasn’t directed an installment in the franchise in almost ten years but remains active on new installments as a producer. He most recently executive produced Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth series for FX, and he also served as a producer on Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus (2024). Alien: Earth season 2 is confirmed, and Romulus is expected to get a sequel, both of which Scott will be involved with.
Scott’s final directorial effort in the franchise, Alien: Covenant, is currently streaming on HBO Max in the U.S., but the 2017 film won’t be there for long. The sci-fi horror movie is confirmed to be departing the streamer at the end of the month, making July 31 the final day to watch it.
It’s not yet clear what streaming home the movie will end up on, but it could land somewhere new on August 1 as licensing deals change. While Covenant‘s streaming future is unknown, the film remains available to rent and purchase on major VOD platforms.
After letting other filmmakers make Alien movies for three decades, Scott returned to his beloved franchise with Prometheus in 2012, a prequel movie exploring the origins of the Engineers and the Xenomorphs. The film was a hit, paving the way for Covenant a few years later. Covenant, however, proved far more divisive and grossed significantly less at the box office, putting Scott’s plans for a third Alien prequel movie on hold.
Starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, and Danny McBride, among others, Alien: Covenant follows the crew of a colony ship as they opt to explore a seemingly perfect planet along their journey to a distant star system. Upon landing, however, they realize this new planet holds a terrifying threat.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Covenant holds a lukewarm 65% critics’ score, a step down from Prometheus‘ 73%. The audience-driven Popcornmeter score is even lower at 55%, compared to its predecessor’s 68%.
At the box office, Covenant grossed $240 million against a production budget of $97 million. This was a disappointing result given Prometheus grossed $403 million at a budget of $130 million. Covenant was praised for some of its intense sci-fi terror, but was criticized for feeling relatively familiar and for failing to deeply explore its themes relating to creation and AI.
Fassbender’s android, David, played a key role in both Prometheus and Covenant, and David’s Alien story was set to continue in a third prequel movie. After Covenant‘s lackluster performance, the decision was evidently made to pivot the franchise, with Romulus taking the story in an entirely new direction while also paying homage to some of the ideas in Scott’s prequels.
Generally, the first and second films are widely considered the best of the Alien franchise, but Scott’s prequels do have their defenders, and opinions seem to have softened in recent years. While Scott’s prequel trilogy will seemingly never happen, now is evidently the perfect time to revisit Alien: Covenant while it’s still streaming on HBO Max.
- Release Date
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May 19, 2017
- Runtime
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123 Minutes
- Writers
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dante harper, John Logan, Jack Paglen, Michael Green