Alien movies chronology Alien: Covenant, the sixth movie in the hugely successful Alien canon, sees original director Ridley Scott, take the series back to its horror film roots. Here’s what’s happened so far in the almost 40-year-old billion dollar franchise PROMETHEUS Release: 2012 Dir: Ridley Scott Rotten Tomatoes: 72% Global box office: $403.4m Set 30 years before events of original Alien movie, scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) discovers remains of archaeological star map on Earth. It points to same region of space first seen in Alien. She joins crew of “Prometheus”, including synthetic human David (Michael Fassbender), and journeys to planet LV-223, in search of origins of humanity. Instead, she finds remains of ancient race who were developing biological weapons that could cause extinction of human race ALIEN: COVENANT NEW Release: May 12, 2017 (UK) Dir: Ridley Scott Bound for remote planet on far side of galaxy, crew of colony ship “Covenant” find what they believe to be uncharted paradise. It soon reveals itself to be dark and dangerous world inhabited by synthetic David New instalment Filmed in Sydney, Australia, movie stars Katherine Waterston (left) as terraforming expert Daniels, who together with crew of Covenant, must face terrifying Xenomorph aliens from previous movies, plus all new Neomorph creature Kane (John Hurt) becoming a little too familiar with alien eggs in Alien (1979) ALIEN (original movie) Release: 1979 Dir: Ridley Scott Rotten Tomatoes: 97% Global box office: $104.9m U.S. commercial starship “Nostromo” is diverted to desolate planetoid after receiving distress signal from derelict alien spacecraft. While exploring alien ship, crewman Kane (John Hurt) finds chamber full of eggs, one of which releases alien creature that attaches to his face, rendering him unconscious. Parasite soon dies and Kane awakens, seemingly fine. Soon afterwards, alien organism bursts from his chest and grows rapidly into terrifying 2.5m-tall creature that begins killing helpless crew one-by-one, until only Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) remains ALIENS Release: 1986 Dir: James Cameron Rotten Tomatoes: 98% Global box office: $131.1m After 57 years in hypersleep, sole survivor of Nostromo, Ripley, awakens aboard Earth space station. Her story of alien monster that killed her crew is disbelieved, until contact is lost with planetoid (from original movie, known as LV-426 ) now home to terraforming human colony. Ripley, against her better judgement, accompanies squad of Colonial Marines, including Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn), aboard spaceship “Sulaco” to investigate. Once there, they discover colonists have been wiped out after finding derelict alien ship and its deadly cargo of eggs ALIEN 3 Release: 1992 Dir: David Fincher Rotten Tomatoes: 44% Global box office: $159.8m Escape pod carrying survivors of Sulaco is jettisoned onto ore refinery/prison planet Fiorina “Fury” 161. Ripley and damaged synthetic Bishop (Lance Henriksen) are only survivors. Unknown to them, alien facehuggers are also aboard and before long, new alien-dog hybrid is killing inmates and guards ALIEN: RESURRECTION Release: 1997 Dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Rotten Tomatoes: 54% Global box office: $161.4m Set 200 years after events in Alien3, experimental military clone Ripley 8 (her DNA mixed with that of alien) and band of mercenaries, including synthetic human Annalee Call (Winona Ryder), must escape and destroy ailing USM Auriga spaceship before its cargo of lethal aliens reaches Earth Spin-offs (merging two popular sci-fi franchises) Alien vs. Predator (AvP) Release: 2004 Dir: Paul W. S. Anderson Rotten Tomatoes: 21% Global box office: $172.5m Industrialist Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) discovers ancient Antarctic arena – proving grounds for Alien and Predator* monsters AvP: Requiem Release: 2007 Dir: The Brothers Strause Rotten Tomatoes: 12% Global box office: $128.9m Set immediately after AvP, Predalien hybrid crashes spaceship into small town in Colorado. Veteran Predator arrives to clean up hybrid alien infestation *1987 sci-fi movie set in Central American jungle, follows band of soldiers (led by Arnold Schwarzenegger) who fight to survive being hunted by alien predator Sources: Alien Vault (Aurum Press), Empire magazine, IMDB, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes Pictures: © Twentieth Century Fox © GRAPHIC NEWS