You can now see Michael Fassbender as the newest human-like android in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Alien: Covenant. The film’s ad campaign has officially launched, and wants you to meet the ‘world’s most advanced synthetic companion”.
The short, called ‘Meet Walter’, is about 2 minutes 30 seconds. The ad campaign was created by both Ridley Scott and his son Luke Scott, and supported by RSA Films, Ridley Scott’s production company for advertising/commercials. The clip includes a small-print disclaimer at the bottom of the screen (similar to a medical prescription commercial), reading ‘Matchmaking interview and DNA screening required. Customers with genetic abnormalities may not meet requirements for safety certification. No refunds after consciousness imprint. Default payments will forfeit DNA rights in perpetuity.’
Twentieth Century Fox has also launched a ‘Meet Walter’ website to assist in the marketing campaign, which includes links to their Alien social media pages. The website also allows you to ‘purchase’ your own Walter. On the site, once you press the ‘reserve’ button, a message comes up saying “Thank you for your interest in Walter. You will be able to customize your synthetic companion once production begins. Please complete the reservation process”. Below this, it includes the disclaimer “Walter is a fictional character in the film Alien: Covenant. By clicking the Connect button, you will not receive an actual ‘Walter’” Instead Fox states that they may ‘tailor ad experiences’ to you while you are online, so that you receive more updates about Alien: Covenant (which you can opt out of at any time).
Both the short and the website are set to the song “I Feel You” by Melanie De Biasio. The campaign is similar to 2012’s Prometheus (Scott’s last Alien movie) that also teased audiences with Walter’s predecessor David 8.
This is technically the sixth movie created in the Alien series, although it is only the third created by Ridley Scott (the first being Alien, the second being Prometheus). Allegedly Ridley Scott avoided watching Alien 3 (which was not his project) after it was released, and after watching it decades later, strongly disliked it. Consequently, he wanted to create a “sequel-substitution”, which after years of development, became Alien: Covenant. In November 2015, Ridley confirmed that Alien: Covenant will be the first of three additional films in the Alien prequel series, before catching up to the timeline of the original Alien.
The film also stars Katherine Waterston, Noomi Rapace, and James Franco. The project, originally titled Alien: Paradise Lost, was announced in 2012, and filmed in New Zealand in spring/summer of 2016.
Alien: Covenant will hit theaters in May 2017. See the ‘Meet Walter’ ad below.
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