Variety is reporting that Ridley Scott has indeed signed on to direct a prequel to his legendary Alien franchise, with John Spaihts to pen the script. The word that 20th Century Fox had already agreed to revive the classic about a crew that is hunted by a race of murderous aliens, has been out there for quite some time, but initially Scott had refused to return as director. Instead, Scott protege Carl Erik Rinsch was chosen to remake the original Alien. But Fox never seemed happy with that decision, and pushed openly for Scott to return behind the camera.
With this being a prequel, it's likely that the story will cover the inhabitants of the abandoned ship found in Alien, but that's obviously not been confirmed.
For me, this is an obvious good call. I have no idea who this Carl Rinsch guy is, and although I've heard he makes great commercials do I want him tackling one of the classic movie franchises? No. My only concern is whether or not Ridley still has the talent that he so deftly employed 30 years ago. His most recent films have been good, but not necessarily in the same vein as Alien. But if anything he has shown the ability to do many types of films, so I have complete confidence that he can flex the sci-fi muscles when he needs to.
