'Alien: Covenant' cast, plot, release date update: new Covenant mission patch photo is out

Ridley Scott's follow-up project to 2012's "Prometheus," titled "Alien: Covenant," is now in full production.

In early April, SSN Insider revealed that the principal photography for the film started at New Zealand's Milford Sound, located in Fiordland National Park.

The film released its first promo image before the end of April, showing the mission patch attached to the uniform of the people working at the Covenant, the main ship of the movie.

The mission patch shows the ship's slogan, which reads "Building Better Worlds," as well as the image which shows the Ark of the Covenant, the wooden chest that holds the 10 Commandments based on the Bible. It also features the company name, Weyland-Yutani, which is a product of the merger between Weyland Corp. and Yutani.

According to the official synopsis of the film, "Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world -- whose sole inhabitant is the 'synthetic' David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition."

Joining Fassbender in the upcoming movie is a stellar cast, including "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her" actress Katherine Waterston, who will portray the role of Daniels in the film. Other cast members include Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Empire's Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo, Callie Hernandez, Billy Crudup, Alexander England and newcomer Benjamin Rigby.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that original "Prometheus" star Noomi Rapace will no longer reprise her role as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in the upcoming sequel.

Twentieth Century Fox revealed that "Alien: Covenant" will be released in theaters on Aug. 4, 2017 instead of the initially reported Oct. 6, 2017 release date.