Watch Spectacular Spaceship Explosion on Alien: Covenant Set

Alien: Covenant, the latest film in the long-running sci-fi horror franchise, is currently shooting in New Zealand. New footage has emerged of a spectacular rigged explosion on one of the film's spaceship sets. Check it out below, via AVP Galaxy.

Closer photos of the effects sequence have also been published by the site, which can be viewed below, together with images of the ship before the explosion. Click each thumbnail to view it at full size:

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Alien: Covenant is being directed by Ridley Scott, who helmed the original 1979 classic Alien, as well as Prometheus, the 2012 prequel. The cast includes Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride, and Demian Bichir.

In an interview with The Wrap in December, Scott revealed that the film would feature some of the franchise's most famous creatures. "There was always this discussion: Is Alien, the character, the beast, played out or not? We'll have them all: egg, facehugger, chestburster, then the big boy. I think maybe we can go another round or two," he said.

Originally, two Alien films were going to be made over the next few years--a Prometheus sequel, and Alien 5, directed by District 9's Neill Blomkamp. However, with the news that Prometheus 2 was now titled Alien: Covenant, and would tie in more closely to the Alien series than its predecessor, Blomkamp's film was put on hold.

Alien: Covenant is set for release on October 6, 2017.