Ridley Scott is taking the Alien franchise back to the territory he mapped himself. The Hollywood Reporter says 20th Century Studios and Scott Free are developing a new mystery feature, with Aaron Guzikowski writing. Guzikowski wrote Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve’s English-language debut. The film is not the long-rumored sequel to 2024’s Alien: Romulus, which remains in limbo. It ties instead to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, the two Alien films Scott directed in the 2010s.
Sources told the trade that the link is the amoral android played by Michael Fassbender. Fassbender is not attached at this stage, though it is hard to picture the film without him.
Who is behind it
Scott is producing, with Michael Pruss through Scott Free, but he is not directing, and no director has been named. J.R. Young is overseeing the project for 20th Century. Sources say Scott turned to Guzikowski to jump-start it.
The two know each other. Guzikowski created the HBO Max sci-fi drama Raised by Wolves, which Scott executive produced and directed the first two episodes of. It was Scott’s first television work since he began making movies in the 1970s. Guzikowski’s other credits lean gritty: Prisoners, the Papillon remake and the Sundance Channel series Red Road. He is also writing an original sci-fi feature for Jon Watts at Twentieth, adapting a Philip K. Dick short story for Sony Pictures and writing an adult animated feature based on the video game Death Stranding.
Scott’s own account
His involvement in Romulus was, by most accounts, limited. Director Fede Alvarez told the Los Angeles Times in 2024 that Scott was the person he went to for a blessing and for pushback. Scott downplayed it: “Fede is a surge of energy, and I had to step back and let him do it.”
In August 2026 he told the French outlet AlloCine that Romulus “was OK” and that “it needs some help.” He added, “I’ve already got a footprint for the next Alien,” picking up from Covenant with Fassbender, “who now thinks he’s Ozymandias.” At the time it was only an idea. The Reporter’s story suggests it has become a project.
Last month Scott credited himself with rescuing the series. Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection disappointed in the 1990s, and the Xenomorphs then faced the Predators in a pair of crossovers. “After 4, they killed it,” he said. He sat down with writers, eventually including Damon Lindelof, and they “caught fire” writing Prometheus. Covenant followed, and “now it’s up and running.”
No release date or director has been announced.
Sources
- Ridley Scott Is Producing a New 'Alien' Movie
- New ‘Alien’ Movie in the Works With Writer Aaron Guzikowski (Exclusive)
- Alien: Ridley Scott Developing New Movie With Prisoners Writer — And Michael Fassbender Could Return
Photo: Raph_PH (CC BY 4.0)
