It’s being reported that the man himself, Ridley Scott, will now be directing a prequel to his own classic science fiction film, Alien. The report comes as quite the shock: back in May we learned that Carl Rinsch would be directing the prequel that had been swirling around in rumors for a while at that point (Read: “˜Alien’ Prequel With Carl Rinsch As Director Confirmed By Tony Scott Himself). Rinsch is an understudy of Ridley and Tony Scott, and has done music video and commercial work for their Scott Free Productions label, which is producing the movie, naturally.

20th Century Fox, however, was holding on to the hope that things would change and Ridley would actually come back to direct — a wish that has now come true.

The original 1979 film followed a space shuttle crew that responds to a distress signal while on their way home. While checking out the call, they soon realize that the signal was actually a warning, and that a horribly dangerous and deadly alien species inhabits the planet and knows that they’re there.

The Alien prequel is being written by Jon Spaihts, who’s new to the writing game, but impressed producers with his pitch. No word yet on whether Carl Rinsch will still work on the project in some fashion or another.

It is also unclear if original star Sigourney Weaver will be involved or not, though she has said that her and Ridley spoke about the possibilities of doing another movie before. Considering it’s a prequel, expect it to be a completely new cast. If I had to guess, they may take the same path that those who are remaking The Thing, which is supposedly going to tell the tale of the crew that was there before the events of the original movie.

[Source: Variety]