Ridley Scott Reveals Alien Prequel Details

Ridley Scott is following in the (questionable) footsteps of George Lucas by making a much-delayed prequel to his 1979 sci-fi classic Alien. The director has been talking about the second installment of Alien for a while now and recently revealed some of the movie’s details in an interview with MTV.

The prequel’s plot boils down to answering one essential question: “It’s fundamentally about going out to find out ‘Who the hell was that Space Jockey?’” Scott said. “The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer’s chair. Remember that?”

But there’s a little more to it than that. “[The film] is about the discussion of terraforming—taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life,” Scott said. Of course.

Although Scott said previous knowledge of the Alien franchise won’t be necessary to understand the prequel, it will share similarities with the other films. And, as with the original Alien, which starred Sigourney Weaver, the next installment will have a female star.

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.