30 years on, Scott returns to Alien

Reports coming in today are stating that Ridley Scott has been officially confirmed as the director of the in-development prequel to 1979′s Alien, a film he directed that launched the incredibly popular Alien franchise of films, videogames, novels, toys and comics.

Early news had Carl Rinsch attached to direct the film, which was meant to be produced by Scott, however, Variety is running a story today claiming that the veteran helmer will be taking the reins himself. This isn’t as surprising as it may seem, considering that it was widely cited that 20th Century Fox wanted him to take control of the film personally, over the mostly-untested Rinsch, whose previous experience mostly includes commercials and music videos. Fox had tried this approach before with the woeful Alien vs Predator: Requiem, to a staggeringly poor effect both critically and commercially.

The script for the Alien prequel, which has yet to receive a title, will be written by Jon Spaihts, who Variety claims has become a “go-to guy” for science fiction in Hollywood. It was his previously involvement with a Keanu Reeves film that landed him an audience with Scott and Fox for Alien, and his pitch was by all accounts very successful.