Why Alien: Covenant box office numbers faltered

joylitt

According to Grace Randolph from Beyond the trailer it was due to:

1- Audience not interested in a philosophical Alien movie

2- Michael Fassbender is not too much of a box office draw

3- Confusing ad campaign targeting mostly fanbase and not general audience

4- Weak protagonist, lack of diversity in the leading roles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NejE6aEBXO0

poochies

Word of mouth is killing it, unfortunately I saw the movie, and everyone left very underwhelmed. Orams' chestburster garnered giggles and comments about the cheesy special effects, and it waving  with David should have been cut out. Ridley really knows how to alienate the audience . After the stellar ' Martiian' I expected so much more from this. Of course Martian was at first a great book. Oh well, I hope they lose the funding and cancel all sequels to this mess. I gave him ( and Fox) one more chance after Prometheus, and i'm done now. I'm happy for the folks that liked it and saw the deep philosophical meanings with David being a creator and creating the Xeno, to each their own. 

cuponator3000

An interesting take. I think, basically, all good points. I would say that 1 and 3 are kind of tied together. Part of Fox's point after Prometheus was generally regarded as, "Too far from Alien," was to make a sequel that could satisfy them (Fox), Ridely, and the fans with a mix of Prometheus and Alien, but leaning more towards Alien.

The ad campaign focused so hard on the horror element that it fell again into it's own trap. Prometheus was (at least at one point) intended to scare the **** out of us, but it ended up being different. Covenant was also, not scary. I mean, this is also subjective, but it was not a horror movie to me. It was scifi with a tiny hint of horror. Little baby hint. Still, I found myself nervous, gripping my seat, and jumping at times, so it did enough for me.  There was also a strong desire to bring back the fans of Alien that were utterly disgusted by Prometheus. Still, there was no way to just ditch the Promethean storylines and what Scott is building towards (at least not totally. They came close, by killing Shaw and the Engineers), and the thing with a hollywood theatrical release is that a rather large number of folks need to go see it, to justify making it adn then continuing to make more.  

Also, with the diversity, I sort of agree. I can't deny that there was an alright mix of cultures and races, but the few it truly came down to were indeed white people. I thought Daniels was a pretty well written, directed, and played lead though. Not perfect, but nothing to really tear down (it is subjective I guess. I mean, not everyone is hooked by the character or story. They don't get curious and therefore can't experience the sympathy or empathy necessary to really enjoy the movie.)

Overall, I think that the issues of the film can be summed up in one word: Balance. They tried to juggle everything and keep it all even and perfect and that just never adds up.

colonialsoldier

I agree that I do not want a religious-themed, philosophical movie.  I want action horror.  Return to the roots.  Perhaps Alien5 did not have a finished screenplay but again, Alien Isolation is a great idea.

Assassin's Creed and The Counselor shows the issues with him in a leading role.  I do like him in the X-Men movies.

The pro-Covenant crowd on this website has acknowledged why myself and countless others, as much as we are fans to the series, pans this movie as well.  

I hope and do await the real great Alien movie on the horizon. I do not think a reboot is required but you can go back to the Ripley timeline with new and interesting characters.

joylitt

Actually there is nothing wrong to have philosophical touch, but when that is the only saving grace of an otherwise uninteresting and tension free story, things  go down the drain.

dk

I think you can have all the philosophical things you want. The trick is to make it enjoyable for both camps like The Matrix did imo.

joylitt

dk Exactly in Matrix they didn't need to recite poetry to make it philosophical, that aspect was embedded in the story. So when are you watching it. I'd love to have your opinion on the movie.

dk

joylitt I remember after Matrix came out- biblical/Christian connections were made as well as references to philosophy and governance/slavery etc. That is nice to have but it was also enjoyable to just kick back and enjoy it for itself. Honestly I may not see AC until BR is released. It will be worth the wait. I just hate the entire theater experience.

colonialsoldier

Matrix does not equal what Alien is all about but great point on the philosophy comment.

I guess my views are different because I like the original themes of the series; survival, maternal instinct, existential threat from alien species.  

I could care less about the Engineers, their home world, androids with god-complexes.  It is like trying to change the Halloween movies into something else it is not.

joylitt

colonialsoldier Yes, indeed. This is like Halloween III then.

dk

colonialsoldier I suppose I was attempting to convey that a great movie ultimately appeals to those whom want to enjoy on a scale that ranges from superficial/casual to as deep as one wishes to go.

Capola

The movie failed because it was just another alien movie.

FUQUAN

AC is how an alien prequel should be. Beautiful location, thought-provoking, and new ways for those little suckers to burst VIOLENTLY out of the body.

Yall need a face-hug

cuponator3000

Philosophy in it is fine, but like dk wrote, it needs to balance it by making it enjoyable for people there to see exciting horror show that was advertised (and subsequently didn't exist). 

Once again, balance seems to have been the key, but the production ended up shooting for everything, which just muddied it all. That said, I am all for the themes and messages Sir Ridley is trying to work with and convey.

It is unfortunate that Alien 5 was basically confirmed and stuff was leaking out, but it didn't come to fruition. A rather large number of people were more excited for it, so when they didn't like Covenant, it stung. Salt in the wound. Bad timing, man.