What is the budget of Alien Covenant?

"Alien Covenant," a horror released in 2017, was directed by Ridley Scott and stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston. The production budget was $97,000,000, placing it in the high-budget range for horror productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a horror production like this include:

Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup: Horror productions invest disproportionately in practical effects , prosthetic applications, animatronics, blood and gore effects, and creature suits. A single hero creature suit can cost $50,000 to 200,000.
Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography: Creating dread through environment is essential. Abandoned locations must be secured and dressed, lighting rigs designed for shadow and tension, and sets built to enable specific camera movements and reveals.
Sound Design & Score: Horror is arguably the most sound-dependent genre. Foley work, ambient textures, frequency manipulation, and jump-scare stingers require specialized sound designers working with unconventional techniques.
Writing: The initial screenplay was written by Transcendence screenwriter Jack Paglen in June 2013.

What were the major cost factors in Alien Covenant?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Alien Covenant."

Practical Effects: Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.
Atmospheric Production Design: Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.
Sound Design: Sound Design & Score is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.

How Does Alien Covenant's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $97,000,000, Alien Covenant sits in the high-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

Logan (2017): Budget $97,000,000, Worldwide Gross $619,021,436
Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008): Budget $97,250,400, Worldwide Gross $131,856,927
Ford v Ferrari (2019): Budget $97,600,000, Worldwide Gross $225,508,210
The Mummy Returns (2001): Budget $98,000,000, Worldwide Gross $443,280,904
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024): Budget $99,000,000, Worldwide Gross $452,000,435

The median budget for wide-release horror films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Alien Covenant Box Office Performance

"Alien Covenant" earned $74,262,031 domestically and $240,891,763 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $97,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Alien Covenant," that break-even threshold was roughly $194,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $240,891,763, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $97,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $240,891,763
Net Return: $143,891,763
ROI: approximately 148.3%

At 148.3%, "Alien Covenant" earned roughly $2.48 for every $1 invested in production.

Alien Covenant Production History

The initial screenplay was written by Transcendence screenwriter Jack Paglen in June 2013. In March 2014, Michael Green was hired to rewrite Paglen's script. Dante Harper later wrote a new script, but an extensive rewrite was performed by screenwriter John Logan.

In August 2015, it was announced that the film would star Rapace and Fassbender, while Rik Barnett was in talks to join the cast. That December, Katherine Waterston was cast in the lead role of Daniels; it was Waterston's second film alongside Fassbender, after Steve Jobs. Summer Glau, Carolyn Murphy and Alice Eve were also being considered.

Principal photography for the film began on April 4, 2016, at Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, and wrapped on July 19, 2016. Some footage was also filmed at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England, which included reshoots. The complete list of countries used for filming were listed by BFI in Sight & Sound as the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Critical Reception

Alien: Covenant received generally positive reviews from critics. The film has approval from reviews compiled by review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Alien: Covenant delivers another satisfying round of close-quarters deep-space terror, even if it doesn't take the saga in any new directions." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 65 out of 100, based on reviews from 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.