After reviewing over 550 pitches from filmmakers, six final stories were chosen for production. 

The filmmakers were given unprecedented access to the franchise, including storytelling elements, creatures, and characters, to bring a new, terrifying experience to life for audiences. Each of the six shorts brings forth an exciting new narrative for fans while paying homage to the original film. 

Starting this week, screenings for the first four Alien shorts will commence at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle on Friday, March 15th, followed by C2E2 in Chicago on Saturday, March 23rd. The final two shorts, both helmed by female filmmakers, will screen exclusively for fans at WonderCon on Saturday, March 30th, followed by a moderated panel with the directors. 

Afterwards, the shorts will be released weekly on IGN, starting on March 29th. So make sure to keep an eye out for them soon. In the meantime, check out the trailer for an early peak. 

ALIEN: 40th Anniversary Shorts Synopses: 

ALIEN: Alone – Hope, an abandoned crew member aboard the derelict chemical hauler Otranto, has spent a year trying to keep her ship and herself alive as both slowly fall apart. After discovering hidden cargo, she risks it all to power up the broken ship in search of human life. Written and Directed by Noah Miller 

ALIEN: Containment – Four survivors find themselves stranded aboard a small escape pod in deep space. Trying to piece together the details around the outbreak that led to their ship’s destruction, they find themselves unsure to trust whether or not one of them might be infected. Written and Directed by Chris Reading 

ALIEN: Harvest – The surviving crew of a damaged deep-space harvester have minutes to reach the emergency evacuation shuttle. A motion sensor is their only navigation tool leading them to safety while a creature in the shadows terrorizes the crew. However, the greatest threat might have been hiding in plain sight all along. Directed by Benjamin Howdeshell 

ALIEN: Night Shift – When a missing space trucker is discovered hungover and disoriented, his co-worker suggests a nightcap as a remedy. Near closing time, they are reluctantly allowed inside the colony supply depot where the trucker’s condition worsens, leaving a young supply worker alone to take matters into her own hands. Written and Directed by Aidan Breznick 

ALIEN: Ore – As a hard-working miner of a planet mining colony, Lorraine longs to make a better life for her daughter and grandchildren. When her shift uncovers the death of a fellow miner under mysterious circumstances, Lorraine is forced to choose between escape or defying management orders and facing her fears to fight for the safety of her family. Written and Directed by the Spear Sisters 

ALIEN: Specimen – It’s the night shift in a colony greenhouse, and Julie, a botanist, does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have triggered her sensitive lab dog. Despite her best efforts the lab unexpectedly goes into full shutdown and she is trapped inside. Little does she know, an alien specimen has escaped the mysterious cargo, and a game of cat and mouse ensues as the creature searches for a host. Directed by Kelsey Taylor 

Alien (1979)

The original series of films

The film that launched the franchise, 1979’s Alien, is remembered as a classic of its era – and is still considered to be a very fine and ground-breaking film. The decision to have a woman in the lead role of a sci-fi action film made it stand out and Sigourney Weaver’s performance as Ellen Ripley created an iconic film character. A fairly simple story of an alien terrorising the human crew of a ship, it was nonetheless a gripping one and a huge hit. Rather surprisingly, it took seven years for a sequel to be completed, but 1986’s Aliens proved to be another critical and commercial smash hit. Weaver returned, with Ripley the only survivor of the crew from the original film and having been in hypersleep for 5 years. This time she joined a new crew that were investigating a colony ship that has gone missing and coming into contact with deadly aliens again. The next film in the original series was released in 1992 and was called Alien 3 – centring on Ripley’s experiences after crash landing on a prison planet- and ends with her being forced to kill herself after finding out she has an alien within her body. Ripley returned in the form of clones in 1997’s Alien Resurrection, but by this time the franchise had run out of steam at the box office.

Alien Resurrection

Prequels

After a prospective sequel on earth that would have been directed by Joss Whedon fell through, the franchise returned with new lead characters in the prequel film Prometheus in 2012. Set within the same universe and with the creative involvement of original director Ridley Scott, it is still only loosely connected with the earlier films, but was a sizeable hit – although some fans found the aliens and plot disappointing. The new film follows on from this, featuring events that are supposed to have taken place around 20 years before Alien, but whether the prequels will go any further remains to be seen.

Prometheus

Spin-offs

As with other franchises, there have been a number of spin-offs from the main series, including crossover film Alien vs Predator. All of the films have been novelised, while a comic book series inspired by it has been published by Dark Horse Comics. There have also been games, ranging from video games like 1982’s Atari Alien and Alien Isolation from three years ago for Sega, to a new Alien online slot game.

Although nothing is certain at the moment, there are certainly rumours that there will be more films in this franchise and fans will be hoping that this proves to be the case.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Scott expressed interest to quickly move forward on the untitled project.

You’ve got to assume to a certain extent [of] success and from that you’d better be ready. You don’t want a two-year gap. So I’ll be ready to go again next year.

Apparently, the next Alien sequel was written while Scott was filming Alien: Covenant to allow him to move forward on the next Alien film sooner rather than later. A sequel which could be targeted for 2018 based on Scott’s recent comment.

Alien: Covenant is the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with Prometheus. The film drops in theaters on May 19th.

It is with heavy hearts we share the news that Bill Paxton has passed away due to complications from surgery.

A loving husband and father, Bill began his career in Hollywood working on films in the art department and went on to have an illustrious career spanning four decades as a beloved and prolific actor and filmmaker.

Bill’s passion for the arts was felt by all who knew him, and his warmth and tireless energy were undeniable.

Paxton is recognized for appearing in multiple James Cameron films over the years, such as The Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, Titanic, among many other Hollywood flicks. His final film appearance will be in thriller The Circle alongside Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, which is currently in post-production and is slated for April.

R.I.P. Paxton! You will be missed forever!

Bill Paxton

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

In addition to the teaser, a batch of images with encrypted codes have also been revealed over Social Media these past few days. Three more have arrived giving Alien fans another sneak peek preview.

Alien: Covenant stars Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollet, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby.

The film hits theaters on May 19th, 2017.

Perhaps there will also be an encounter Noomi Rapace’s explorer Elizabeth Shaw, who was last seen alive in Prometheus? Her character hasn’t been mentioned yet, but she could be the best-kept-secret for Covenant.

Anyhow, the mysteries behind the story of the film is still looming, and I’m certain we won’t know anything until the theatrical release in 2017. However, we do have a proper look at Katherine Waterson as Daniels in the film, and the setting for which looks remarkably like the original Alien. Don’t you think? The image was released via Facebook, which was accompanied with the caption, “Nowhere to run. #AlienCovenant #Daniels”.

Filming for Alien: Covenant is now underway in Australia with Ridley Scott directing. The film is currently slated to hit theaters on August 4th, 2017.

Aliens vs. Pinball will also feature voices and key characters from the film franchise such as Ellen Ripley. The games is expected to offer a “dynamic interpretation of the terrifying atmosphere and white-knuckle situations that have made the ALIEN anthology one of the most popular, frightening and enduring franchises in science-fiction.”

Aliens vs. Pinball is slated to hit most consoles and Windows 10 on April 26th, 2016.

Key Game Features

– Join Ellen Ripley as she confronts her nightmares and help the Colonial Marines rid LV-426 of its Alien infestation in Aliens Pinball

– Watch out for the merciless Alien stalking you on the Alien: Isolation pinball table

– Defeat Xenomorphs and rise in Yautja society on the Alien vs. Predator table

– Original iconic voiceovers and sound effects from films and videogames set in the ALIENS
Universe

– Leaderboards, score tracking, exciting social features, and more

– The Aliens vs. Pinball pack will be released on consoles, PC and mobile platforms on ALIEN DAY, April 26th. For more information on Aliens vs. Pinball as well as other titles from Zen Studios, please visit blog.zenstudios.com.

In some shape or form, Demián Bichir (The Hateful Eight) will be playing alongside Michael Fassbender in Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant. The second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with Prometheus and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction.

There’s no official word on which role Bichir will play yet, but according to Variety, the actor has a guaranteed spot in the Alien film, which will also star Katherine Waterston (Steve Jobs), and there’s talk that Danny McBride is in negotiations for a co-starring role. For those unfamiliar with Birchir, he was previously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in 2011’s A Better Life and appeared in many TV series and movies, including The Bridge, Weeds, No News From God, Savages, and Machete Kills, just to name a few.

Alien: Covenant is currently slated to hit theaters on October 6th, 2017. Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine for more Alien news to come.

Alien: Covenant Synopsis

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.”

Slot machines are very popular in today’s casual gaming world, especially since you can play video slot machines at Platinum Play online casino and other similar venues completely free. Developers – and there are quite a few of them – are always looking for new sources of inspiration. While some of them settle for mediocrity, choosing the usual topics (gold, loot, four-leaf clovers and Egypt), others are out to entertain with more than just a collection of clichés. This has led to the release of some great horror movie themed slot machines over the years.

Here are the ones that are the most impressive.

The Invisible Man by NetEnt

Swedish developer NetEnt has an entire series of games based on classic Universal horror movie characters, such as Dracula, Frankenstein or the Creature from the Black Lagoon. But their most entertaining one is by far The Invisible Man, a classic horror story by H. G. Wells, with visuals and sounds inspired by the 1933 movie with the same title. Aside from being fun to play, the game also has the potential to pay out big for its players, should they decide to play it for real money.

Psycho by NextGen Gaming

The Australian developer NextGen Gaming has decided to take on a classic horror movie bearing the name of the master of chills, Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho was the archetype of the psychological horror genre, and is still considered one of the best in history. The game is successfully recreating the atmosphere of the original movie (not the forgettable 1998 remake) by using footage and sounds, even its nerve-racking music. While it lacks the animations and side games of the one above, this Universal horror movie adaptation is one of the better ones made in the last few years.

Aliens by NetEnt

People are still debating whether Aliens, James Cameron’s 1986 blockbuster, is a science fiction or a horror movie in the first place. But everyone agrees that it was one of the most impressive space monster movies ever made, inspiring and influencing moviemakers in the coming years. Luckily, it was NetEnt to make a slot machine based on the movie. The result is an impressive, award-winning game with elements borrowed from the subsequent Alien-themed video games.

The Aliens desktop / mobile video slot machines takes players back to LV-462 (Acheron), to explore a Xenomorph-ridden human colony. Players need to gather a number of various symbols to gain access to the game’s special feature, where they need to take on increasingly tough aliens: face huggers, adult xenomorphs and the Queen herself. The game is incredibly atmospheric and visually appealing – no wonder it is one of the most popular horror based slot machines ever created.

– Brazil Pack – The Brazil Pack features three new character skins: Futbol Cage, Capoeira Liu Kang, and Gaucho Kung Lao.

– Kold War Pack – The Kold War Pack includes three new character skins: Motherland Sonya, Tundra Sub-Zero, and Revolution Kano.

– Kold War Scorpion – Kold War-themed Scorpion character skin.

In addition, players will also be able to get their hands a Xenomorph character from Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic, Alien. Two new trailers have been released to give us a closer look at the new playable characters mentioned above, including Bo Rai Cho (drunken fist master) and Tri-Borg (combination of Cyrax, Sektor, and Robot Smoke).

Kombat Pack 2 will be available early this year. Expect the price to be around $30, which is the cost of the first Kombat Pack.