In a chilling new trailer for "Alien: Covenant," characters face a rough landing on a strange planet, along with ominous wildlife and plenty of abruptly gory situations.
The movie, which will be released May 19, 2017, helps to bridge the gap between 2012's "Prometheus" and the core "Alien" film series that stretched from the late '70s to the late '90s. It follows "Prometheus" as the second of the three planned prequels to the series, and it shows glimpses of aliens that look like the series' famous xenomorphs — and maybe variations of them, too.
The plot centers around a group of colonists trying to survive on the unexpectedly dangerous planet. According to Katherine Waterston, the film's lead actress, the colonists are scientists, not military experts who would be better equipped to deal with violent emergencies.
At the very beginning of the trailer, for instance, one of the colonists faces the prospect of leaving a crewmember trapped with an emerging alien, and she must make a quick judgment call for her own safety and that of others.
"You always wonder what kind of person you would be in an extreme crisis: Will you be a coward, or will you be courageous?" Waterson said at a New York press event in December.
Ultimately, her character, in particular, rises to that challenge, Waterson added. "I think she's just one of those people who, if her kids were in a car that was on fire, she'd be able to lift up the car. You hear those stories about people doing extraordinary things — it's like that."
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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