Alien: Covenant director teases xenomorphs' origin: 'if you think it's the Engineers, you're dead wrong'

Considering that there have been five instalments in the sci-fi franchise already, Alien: Covenant certainly had some pressure on its shoulders when it came to conjuring up a fresh new story line. Director Ridley Scott has managed to do so by daring to answer the question every fan has been asking since the iconic 1979 original... Where did the aliens come from?

"It shouldn't have really ended, so we've come back with a very simple idea: Who made them?" the 79-year-old teased to Collider during a set visit in Sydney, Australia last year. "[Alien] was just about there it is; it exists. And this is what it is. Seven guys and gals in a steel hull. Frankly, the very old idea of The Old Dark House [a 1932 US Pre-Code horror]. Who's gonna die next? The fundamental basis of Alien was a pretty old B-movie, but because of the cast and talent involved it came out an A+ movie.

"So we've reinvented the idea of Alien, I think, which is that Covenant gets us a step closer to who and why was this thing designed to make human beings. And if you think it's them [the Engineers], you're dead wrong."

Whoever, or whatever, created the xenomorphs, the revelations are sure to be gruesome. Collider also spoke to special effects' supervisor Neil Corbould, who explained that Scott had listened to critiques of previous instalment Prometheus and is actively using Alien: Covenant to right said wrongs. He also divulged that the crew had made over 1000 litres of blood for the film during principal photography...

"Certain studios want to make a certain movie... If you're making it for a PG-13 or 15, your hands are tied to give proper horrors," he said. "But when the gloves are off and it's 18 or R-rated, then you can make the movie exactly what you want.

"It's definitely going to be scary. I think it's going to be a lot gorier than everyone's probably expecting," Corbould continued. "Everyone said they wanted more aliens, they wanted more horror, which, you know, he's certainly taken that on board and I think you're going to get that."

Starring Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Carmen Ejogo, James Franco and Danny McBride, Alien: Covenant centres on the coupled-up crew of a colony spacescraft, who travel to an uncharted paradise. But of course, it doesn't take them long to find out that they're not alone.

Alien: Covenant will be released in the UK and the US on 12 May 2017.