Alien currently dominates Alien: Covenant 79–21
Scott's original haunted house devours his own late-career return.
The Verdict Director's Cut
The chestburster scene works because nothing before it suggests the film is capable of that level of violence — the Nostromo crew eating dinner, Hurt coughing, and then the most visceral five seconds in sci-fi history. Covenant's violence arrives on schedule. You know the xenomorph cycle by now, the film knows you know, and that mutual awareness drains the tension. Scott returning to his own franchise thirty-eight years later is a director competing against his younger self's capacity for surprise, and at 79 to 21 the younger self wins by a landslide. Covenant has Fassbender playing two androids at once. Alien has a cat surviving a spaceship. The cat wins.
The Numbers
| Alien | Alien: Covenant | |
|---|---|---|
| Head-to-Head | 79% | 21% |
| Overall Win Rate | 69% | 32% |
| Championships | 60 | 9 |
| Avg Decision | 1.9s | 2.4s |
| Budget | $11M | $97M |
| Return | 9.5x | 2.5x |
Where This Matchup Sits
BingeBracket tracks 38 Horror films — Alien near the top at #1, Alien: Covenant languishing near the bottom.
Looking at Ridley Scott's 4 films on BingeBracket, Alien ranks #1 and Alien: Covenant ranks #4.
Against other opponents, both dominate Prometheus on the platform — a shared floor that suggests these two films belong in the same bracket tier.
Alien with 60 titles and Alien: Covenant with 9 — the tournament record and the head-to-head point the same direction.
Alien (1979) returned 9.5x its budget while Alien: Covenant (2017) managed 2.5x. With 38 years between them, ROI is a fairer comparison than raw grosses — and Alien wins the bracket too.
Where to Watch
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