As Ridley Scott completes his work on the upcoming The Martian, reports are suggesting that Prometheus 2 could be his next project. The sequel would be the follow-up to his Alien prequel which saw Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender flying towards the Engineer’s homeworld in an attempt to find out why they want to destroy humanity. Earlier this month, it was being reported that Scott would actual begin filming the movie next January, although it wasn’t clear how this might affect production for Neill Blomkamp‘s Alien 5.

Now we are learning that Prometheus 2 could have a huge affect on the production of the next Alien movie. More on this story below.

The ending for Prometheus left the door open for sequels and a possible direct bridge to the Alien franchise. But because of its lackluster performance at the box office, development on the sequel has been slow going. Then came word that Neill Blomkamp would direct Alien 5, stirring up rumors that Prometheus 2 could also be on its way to actually going into production.

While it is far from a confirmation, a new interview reveals that Ridley Scott may actually start shooting Prometheus 2 in January. More on this story below.

Neill Blomkamp talked a little bit about his planned Alien film during the Chappie press tour, saying that he wants to make it a “genetic sibling.” Confirming that his film is indeed part of the Alien canon, the District 9 director said that it goes “Alien, Aliens, and then this film.” According to him and star Sigourney Weaver, the new chapter in the Alien franchise would give Ripley’s story a proper ending. These comments led to the speculation that his film would ignore Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection.

While that “proper ending” would lead some to believe that it would undo the last two films of the Alien franchise, Blomkamp clarified his previous comments, saying that he’s “not trying to undo Alien 3 or Alien: Resurrection” and said that his goals are to “make a film that’s connected to Alien and Aliens.” Hit the jump for more.

When looking at the entire film catalog of the Alien franchise, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection are the weakest of the four. So Neill Blomkamp hopes that his new Alien film will be something that can disregard those final two films, and be a proper installment by acting as a “genetic sibling” to the first two movies.

Blomkamp amazed us all with the concept art that he released via Instagram, and the District 9 director then revealed that he could make the movie if he wanted to before it was eventually confirmed that he would indeed helm a brand new Alien film next. But it wasn’t clear whether Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley character would be involved or not.

While making the press rounds for Chappie, Blomkamp and film star Weaver talked about the new Alien and confirmed that the movie would feature Ripley after all, acting as closure to her story. Hit the jump for more and to see a video of the two talking about the movie.