Mission 2104

Alien: Covenant is set in the futuristic world of 2104.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Alongside Scott during the media conference was German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender, who reprises his role as the synthetic android David. He also plays Walter, a later version of David and serves as a housekeeper in the spaceship Covenant.

Fassbender says David initially had a South African accent but it was later changed to British style, while Walter speaks like an American.

For most fans, David might be the most charming role in Prometheus. He likes watching the war epic drama Lawrence of Arabia Prometheus and reportedly will quote English poet John Milton's Paradise Lost in Covenant. He has an independent spirit but develops into an evil schemer who wants to destroy humans.

The new movie may reflect that the Alien franchise is catering to artificial intelligence, a hot topic now, says Zhang Lixian, publisher of the Chinese edition of Alien the Archive: The Ultimate Guide to the Classic Movies.

The book that unravels the background of the Alien series has been written by British author Mark Salisbury and translated by Chinese writer Liu Siyu. The Chinese edition will be released on Saturday.

Zhang, also an Alien movie enthusiast, says the franchise has taught Chinese fans about Hollywood's high production quality.

Many Chinese fans are equally excited about the coming movie. Despite the month left before the movie's release in China, nearly 1,600 people have posted comments on Douban.com, and around 53,000 more have joined a forum called "Alien" on Tieba, Baidu's community-based online platform.