Alien: Covenant adds Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez and more

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

The pieces are falling into place for Ridley Scott’s ALIEN: COVENANT, which is bringing crew members aboard with the quickness now. In addition to the previously-announced Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Danny McBride and Demian Bichir, the sci-fi epic has added four new names to its roster, signifying for once and all that the next chapter in the ALIEN franchise is really, really happening.  

Deadline reports Jussie Smollett (Empire; pictured above), Carmen Ejogo (THE PURGE: ANARCHY), Amy Seimetz (THE SACRAMENT) and Callie Hernandez (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series; pictured below) have all come aboard Scott’s film, which begins shooting soon in Australia. It is the first of a planned trilogy of ALIEN prequels (not including PROMETHEUS) that will eventually link up with the original 1979 cult classic.

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, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

ALIEN: COVENANT will be released on October 6, 2017.