That Third Alien Prequel Is Apparently Still On

 

Despite the critical ribbing Alien: Covenant received a few years back, Ridley Scott’s third Alien prequel is apparently still in development.
The news comes via Variety‘s retrospective on the original film, which is 40 years old this month. In mentioning both Prometheus and Covenant as Scott’s other additions to the Alien canon, they state “A third prequel, which he will direct, is in the script phase.” During the aftermath of Prometheus, Scott claimed he had ideas for three additional pictures which would bring the story begun in that film to the moment the crew of the Nostromo land on LV-246 in Alien. The four films would finally answer the questions lingering in the director’s mind: how did that derelict ship end up on that planet and what is in those eggs?
The fact he clearly showed you what was in the egg back in Alien is a fact he seems to have forgotten.
When development on Covenant began, it was called Alien Paradise, but changed in the scripting stage and, eventually, changed into the second part of a trilogy which includes Prometheus and the as-yet unrealized third prequel. Of course, all of this comes from the Scott’s own words, who has a habit of changing his mind midstream. This is part of the reason a sequel to Blade Runner took as long as it did to finally materialize.
Meanwhile, rumors are already indicating Alien‘s new owner, The Walt Disney Company, has an interest in bringing the creature and its world to a television series on Hulu. Whether or not this would conflict with Scott’s plans remains to be seen, but is should be noted Scott saw to the end of a Neill Blomkamp’s attempts at a direct Aliens sequel while prepping Covenant. Will Disney or Scott win out in this case? We’ll bet on the mouse.
We’ll also refer back to the great Dark Horse Alien comics of the 1990s, which produced a far better sequel series than any of the films to date.