Ridley Scott is developing a new “Alien” movie, and “Raised by Wolves” creator Aaron Guzikowski is writing it. The Hollywood Reporter broke the story on October 23rd and Deadline confirmed it the same day. The Hollywood Reporter says it is not a sequel to “Alien: Romulus”. It says the film is related to Scott’s own “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant”, with the link being the android David (Michael Fassbender) according to sources. That is a report and not an announcement. Scott is producing but is not directing at this point and the trade says no director is attached.
Almost everything else is open. Deadline puts the project in very early development and says it is unclear whether it follows “Alien: Romulus”. Fassbender is not attached at this stage, according to The Hollywood Reporter, so the character is reported but the actor is not. Scott and Michael Pruss produce through Scott Free and J.R. Young oversees the film for the studio. Warning beyond this point there are spoilers for “Alien: Covenant”.
Fassbender is not attached at this stage, according to The Hollywood Reporter, so the character is reported but the actor is not.”
Guzikowski is a familiar name to Scott. He created “Raised by Wolves”, which follows two androids raising human children on a mysterious planet. In the official logline the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is “a treacherous and difficult task.” Scott executive produced it and directed the first two episodes of a series that HBO Max canceled after two seasons in 2022. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Guzikowski also wrote “Prisoners” with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. That was Denis Villeneuve’s English-language debut. He also wrote the “Papillon” remake with Rami Malek and Charlie Hunnam. The Hollywood Reporter says Scott turned to him to jumpstart the project. It adds that he is also writing an original sci-fi film for Jon Watts at 20th Century, an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story for Sony and the animated “Death Stranding” feature. Cosmic Book News calls androids Guzikowski’s wheelhouse and says that fits a David story.
David’s story stopped in a very particular place. In “Alien: Covenant”, the android had already created the first xenomorph. After a fight with his synthetic counterpart Walter he took Walter’s place. He then returned to the colony ship Covenant disguised as Walter. Daniels (Katherine Waterston) and the other survivors came with him. The ship carried thousands of colonists toward the planet Origae-6. Den of Geek says David brought embryos from his experiments along with him. Dread Central describes the ending as David secretly taking control of the ship. Looper floats the idea that David saw something in Daniels worth keeping. That is the outlet’s interpretation. Nothing on screen has resolved what he does next. That cliffhanger is the thread Scott has said he wants to pull. Looper recalls that two months before the 2017 release Scott told The Sydney Morning Herald he already had the next prequel written. Dread Central notes it was once called “Alien: Awakening”.
Scott said so himself this summer. Dread Central and The AV Club reported on August 26th that he told The Los Angeles Times a sequel to “Alien: Covenant” is in its early stages. He was promoting “The Dog Stars” at the time. The paper said the film would follow David as he creates a “brave new world for himself.” Scott told it that AIs can go off and that if they do it is “like a bomb.” The AV Club adds that the interviewer, Emily Zemler, found him still “fascinated” by David. A few days later Scott told the French outlet AlloCiné that he had “gone back in” on the franchise, as Dread Central quotes him. He called “Alien: Romulus” “okay”. Dread Central says he tied his interest in David to fears about artificial intelligence and quotes him liking “the fact that AI is going off the rails.” He also told the outlet, “I’m picking up where we left off in Covenant with Michael Fassbender, who now thinks he’s Ozymandias.” Dread Central noted at the time that there was no word on a writer.
The Brian Duffield question comes next, because it has muddied this story since June. Daniel Richtman and Jeff Sneider said they had heard in June that Duffield, who wrote and directed “No One Will Save You” and “Whalefall”, was writing a new “Alien” film. Steve Asbell, the 20th Century Studios president of production, answered the story with “Who?”, an apparent joke. Duffield later denied the report and told The Hollywood Reporter, as Dark Horizons quotes him, “I’m not doing an Alien movie.” What he did do was help on a script. Film Stories reports that Asbell asked him over the holidays and quotes him saying, “It was a very brief window. I’m not a part of it.” He did not say which project. None of the reports on his comments ties his work to Guzikowski’s film, so the two should be kept apart.
The “Alien: Romulus” sequel is a separate track, and its status is murky. Fede Álvarez said in September of 2025 that he would not direct it, according to The Playlist, though he and co-writer Rodo Sayagues finished a script and would stay on as producers. He said they wrote it because they love the characters they created and did not want a repeat of “Alien 3”, where Newt and Hicks are killed. The Hollywood Reporter says that sequel “remains in limbo” and around August 1st World of Reel claimed it was shelved and Asbell replied with one word on X, “Nope.” Film Stories relays a report that Álvarez wanted David in his sequel while Scott wanted to protect the character for himself. That account is unconfirmed and Álvarez’s own explanation was that he is a one-time director.
The television side is on its own path too. Variety reported in November of 2025 that FX renewed “Alien: Earth” for a second season, and it lists Scott among the executive producers. Dread Central reported on September 3rd that cameras were rolling at Pinewood Studios in London, with Peter Dinklage, Tracey Ullman, Sam Spruell and Jerome Flynn joining the cast. The series is set in 2120, which Consequence puts two years before the 1979 film. Noah Hawley told SYFY Wire he placed it “a couple years before the events of the film.” So three Alien tracks are in motion: a TV season, a “Romulus” follow-up and a David film. ComicBook.com thinks it unlikely that the new film bridges “Romulus” and David’s story, though it adds that stranger things have happened in this series.
The open questions now center on Scott himself. The AV Club notes that he is 88 years old, with “Treasure Island”, a Bee Gees biopic and other projects ahead of him. A Hollywood Reporter headline says Sony has dated “Treasure Island” for 2027. The AV Club also reports that in the Los Angeles Times interview, which came while he promoted “The Dog Stars”, there was no update on a script or on whether Scott would direct the film. Whether he directs this one is the biggest open question. Film Stories guessed he may hand the directing to someone else and stay on as producer, which is speculation. Neither The Hollywood Reporter nor Deadline names a title, a cast or a release date.
ComicBook.com notes that Fassbender has made clear he enjoys working with Scott, and it reads that as a possible sign he could return. For now the facts are short. A writer is attached, a character is reported, and Scott is producing. The first real milestones will be a director and whether Fassbender signs on. If both arrive, the cliffhanger from 2017 finally gets an answer. If they do not, this stays one more “Alien” idea in a very crowded queue.
What Do You Think? Should Ridley Scott finish David’s story after “Alien: Covenant”, or should the franchise move on? Is Aaron Guzikowski the right writer for it? And who should direct?
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