Sir Ridley Scott’s return to the universe he created with Alien: Covenant has opened at the top spot in the Australian Box Office, taking $3,958,047 in its opening weekend.
With 70% of the film shot in Sydney on sound stages at Fox Studios Australia or at the former Sydney Water Reservoir at Potts Hill as part of an efficient 74 day shoot, much of the final spine-tingling screen results were achieved thanks to an incredible array of NSW screen industry talent across over 600 highly skilled jobs.
Known for his ‘supernatural’ attention to detail, Ridley Scott came to depend on the skills of many NSW film practitioners to deliver the minutiae of the Alien world.
“I had never shot here before,” says Scott, “and I have to say Sydney has been spectacular. Fox Studios Australia are very efficient. What I would call the technical talent, the artisan and carpentry, the plasterwork, everything has been spectacular.”
Local screen talent across Alien: Covenant included:
SETS
All bar one of the nine sound stages at Sydney’s Fox Studios Australia were transformed to create the Covenant set, including two rigs as gimbals, one weighing 10 tonnes, the other 40, for action sequences in which the sets were required to move.
CAST
Joining the Alien world in Alien: Covenant were five Australian actors in Benjamin Rigby as Private Ledward, Nathaniel Dean as Sargeant Hallett, Tess Haubrich as Private Rosenthal, Alexander England as Private Ankor and Uli Latukefu as Private Cole.
ARMOUR
Australian production armorist John Bowring (Hacksaw Ridge, The Matrix, Crocodile Dundee) created six hero rifles and pistols plus 90 weapons for the film.
VISUAL EFFECTS*
Sydney-based Animal Logic (Peter Rabbit, The LEGO® Batman Movie) was one of the visual effects teams engaged for the film, alongside teams in the UK and Canada. *Ausfilm VFX member companies Luma, Rising Sun Pictures and Iloura also provided VFX services to the production.
MAKE-UP AND HAIR DESIGN
New Zealand born and Australia-based Oscar® winner (Mad Max: Fury Road) Lesley Vanderwalt was in charge of hair and make-up, including the task of creating four types of sweat for the crew.
COSTUME
Award-winning Sydney milliner Rosie Boylan (The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge, Australia, The King and I) was responsible for the headgear sported by the ship’s crew.
Ridley concludes, “I’ve sincerely had one of the very best experiences in my career in Sydney. All the talents in all departments artistic, technical, and organisational have been formidable. A great place to come. Love Sydney”.