Travelling from his home planet that is gripped by a catastrophic drought, a humanoid alien named Thomas Jerome Newton comes to Earth on a mission to take water home. Using the advanced technology at his disposal to patent several inventions on Earth, Newton acquires incredible wealth as the head of a technology-based conglomerate that he intends to use to finance the construction of a space vehicle to ship water back to his planet. But Newton soon finds his true identity at risk due to the actions of an unscrupulous business colleague.