Idris Elba captained the eponymous ship in Prometheus, but the sequel now has a new pilot. Danny McBride, who joins a cast that includes Katherine Waterson and Michael Fassbender, confirmed himself to be the pilot of the Covenant space craft in Alien: Covenant, while a new video from behind the scenes of production reveals some of the practical effects in action.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, McBride said:
I’m the pilot of the spaceship Covenant, which is a colonization ship, searching for a planet where we might start life anew. I run the ship.
The actor, who’ll be seen next on HBO’s Vice Principals, also dished on the make-up and costume work that goes into the alien creatures. Thankfully, he says the film won’t be entirely CGI.
I didn't know if it would be all green screen, but most of the stuff is practical effects: when you're running from an alien it's really a dude in an alien suit coming after you! The sets are incredible and you're in them: We go through some inclement weather at one point on the spaceship and this whole gigantic set is on a gimbal, shaking up and down. You don't have to use your imagination.
Fans can glimpse some one of these costume accoutrements through a new, extremely short video from the film’s set. The official Twitter account for the films posted video of monstrous hands with elongated fingers getting a paint job. You can check out the embedded tweet right below.
Ridley Scott returns to direct Alien: Covenant, which also includes Noomi Rapace, Billy Crudup, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, and Amy Seimetz. The crew of this new colony ship called Covenant discover what they believe to be an uncharted paradise, which is soon revealed to be anything but as they stumble on the sole inhabitant, Fassbender’s David.
Alien: Covenant is scheduled for theaters on August 4, 2017, but fans of the franchise are in luck since this year marks the 30th anniversary of Aliens. As such, EW announced a special reunion panel will be held this month at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 23. Director James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, producer Gale Anne Hurd, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Michael Bien, and Carrie Henn (now all grown up) will participate.
