Virtual reality is the next big thing in movie marketing. Are we ready to experience Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant in terrifying VR?
Alien: Covenant is building up towards its May release with the kind of nightmarish fervor we haven’t seen from mainstream movies in a long time. The new red-band trailer scared the pants off us recently, and every glimpse of the upcoming film is filling us with more and more dread. We still can’t help wondering if Alien: Covenant will suffer the same backlash that Prometheus has, but from what we’ve seen so far fans shouldn’t be too worried. What we should be concerned about now is the announcement that a VR experience is coming to scare us even more.
The development team at Fox Innovation Lab announced last week that the next chapter in the Alien series will have a virtual reality tie-in available soon. The company has not yet posted an official release date for the interactive experience, but since the film comes out May 19 we should see it by the end of springtime. This will be a great way to kick off the early weeks of summer and hopefully Alien: Covenant VR will have plenty of replay value for fans of the franchise.
Does VR movie marketing have legs?
Ridley Scott is no novice when it comes to bringing his vision to audiences through virtual reality. Last year Scott’s Academy Award Nominated film The Martian was released for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. The plan is for the Alien: Covenant VR Experience to be out on the same platforms with a likely price tag of ten to twenty dollars. For this kind of marketing to stick with fans, Fox will have to deliver an exciting and thrilling product that players want to revisit again and again.
The hype surrounding the Alien prequels is divided between fans hoping the series will deliver the goods and those that still feel burned by Prometheus. Our quick guide to Alien: Covenant lays out where this new story falls in the timeline and if Ridley Scott was bold enough to pass on directing the new Blade Runner, maybe this will be the return to greatness we want. There’s nothing quite as terrifying as being hunted by xenomorphs. Fingers crossed Alien: Covenant for VR remembers that.
