‘Alien: Covenant’ Casts Billy Crudup In A “Key” Role
Just when you thinkAlien: Covenanthas finished casting recognizable actors to get killed by Xenomorphs,Billy Crudupjoins the ensemble. He’s very much in line with everyone else directorRidley Scotthas recruited to star in hisPrometheusfollow-up: a strong performer with a recognizable face who isn’t so well-known that he overshadows the largerAlienfranchise.
The news of Crudup’s casting comes to us viaDeadline, who say that Crudup is in “advanced negotiations” for a “key part” in the film. Naturally, details beyond that are currently unknown. The obvious guess is that he’s playing a crew member of the Covenant, the colony ship that stumbles across a strange and hostile planet. You just know that Crudup would wear the hell out of a science fiction jumpsuit.
Although best known for his breakout role inAlmost Famous, Crudup has been a dependable screen presence for his entire career. You surely remember him as the god-like superhero Dr. Manhattan inWatchmen, but he’s also delivered memorable work in films likeBig Fish,Public Enemies, andMission: Impossible III. Last year, he was a key member of theSpotlightensemble, a cast that rightfully earned its fair share of accolades.
Crudup joins a cast that already includes the likes of Michael Fassbender (reprising his role as the troublesome android David), Katherine Waterston (replacing Noomi Rapace as the heroic female lead), Demian Bichir (playing an unknown role), and Danny McBride (playing an unknown role who is surely an obnoxious stoner). This particular piece news arrives hot on the heels of Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo and Callie Hernandezjoining the cast. Naturally, every single role remains top secret at this time, but we can safely assume that most of these new characters won’t live to see the end credits roll.
What we do know is thatAlien: Covenantwill take place 10 years afterPrometheus, will bethe first in a “new trilogy” of Alien films, and willhave an R-ratingbecause what good is anAlienmovie without a little viscera? Here’s theofficial synopsis:
Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in ALIEN with 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. 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.
