New Alien prequel gets long-awaited update
It’s been a minute since the last newsworthy update on the sequel to Fede Álverez’s Alien: Romulus (2024). Following the success of Romulus, it was announced that a sequel had begun development with Álverez and Rodo Sayagues returning to write the script. Álverez later stated that he hoped to begin filming the sequel sometime this year.
But then everything went quiet for a while. Steve Asbell, 20th Century Studios’ President of Production, took to twitter on July 31 to shut down the rumor that they’d shelved the sequel. Brian Duffield [writer/director of No One Will Save You (2023) and Whalefall (2026)] retweeted Asbell’s post, adding fuel to a separate rumor claiming that Duffield has been writing an Alien script for 20th Century Studios.
Now, a substantial update has finally come thanks to two interviews with Ridley Scott, who previously directed the original Alien (1979) and its prequels before serving as a producer on Alien: Romulus. In an interview with the L.A. Times, he announced that a third prequel film is in the works. Continuing the story of Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017) about a rogue android named David [played by Michael Fassbender], the new film will pick up with him creating a “brave new world for himself.”
Shortly after this interview came one conducted by French news outlet AlloCiné. During the interview, AlloCiné asked about the rumor that Sébastien Vaniček [co-writer/director of Evil Dead Burn (2026)] would be directing the sequel to Alien: Romulus. Scott simply replied that “he could be,” and he proceeded to shed some light on the current state of the movie.
“I’m rewriting the next Alien film,” Scott revealed. “Actually, I suddenly went back and got involved. [Romulus], it was okay. I think it needs some help, so I’ve gone back in.”
Scott went on to clarify that the sequels to Romulus and Covenant are one and the same, giving another glimpse into the story of the new film. “So I’ve already got a footprint for the next Alien. We did Prometheus and then Covenant, so I’m picking up where we left off in Covenant. Michael Fassbender, who now thinks he’s Ozymandias, he’s gone [crazy].”
The update is concluded by Scott explaining why stories about the horrors of AI interests him.
“I like the fact that AI is going off the rails, y’know. If we go AI, the moment we discover it’s off the rail is too late. It could switch every digital thing off in the world like that. You’d have fucking chaos. It’s that kind of stuff that’s scary.”
It is currently unknown if Cailee Spaeny or David Jonsson will reprise their roles as Rain and Andy from Romulus in its sequel, or when production on the film is expected to officially commence.
