It turns out that one more actor may be boarding the Covenant and exploring a new world in Alien: Covenant, as Alien vs. Predator Galaxy has reported that Oz the Great and Powerful and Spring Breakers actor James Franco is the latest cast addition to the film.
The website says they have learned exclusively that Franco will appear in “the first ten minutes or so of the film with later small appearances.” He will play a character named Branson, the captain of the Covenant and husband to the film’s main protagonist, Katherine Waterston’s Daniels.
Reportedly, he is also set to make appearances in “viral footage that has been shot” for the film.
If the article is indeed true, the film will reunite him with his longtime co-star Danny McBride. The two have worked together on Pineapple Express, This is the End, Your Highness and Sausage Party, and Franco has even directed McBride in As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury and the upcoming movie Zeroville.
A little while back, Franco turned down the lead role in 2018’s The Predator at 20th Century Fox, but it appears that he’s attaching himself to a different franchise at the studio now. Franco also starred in Rise of the Planet of the Apes for Fox, which turned out to be a massive success.
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.
Alien: Covenant is set for release on May 19th, 2017 and is penned by Michael Green, Jack Paglen and John Logan. Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace return alongside new cast additions as Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice), Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down), Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Billy Crudup (Watchmen), Jussie Smollett (Empire), Carmen Ejogo (Selma), Amy Seimetz (Upstream Color), Benjamin Rigby (That’s Not Me) and Callie Hernandez (Machete Kills).
Originally published December 9, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
