Recently it was announced that writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5 was being put on hold, as original Alien director Ridley Scott was planning a new Alien film of his own, which would serve as a prequel to his 1979 original, and as a sequel to his recent film, Prometheus. Now, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Scott clarifies what the plans are for the next Alien film, or rather, Alien films, plural.

The plans for the franchise were revealed by Scott when he spoke during a press conference in Australia, where he is starting to oversee production on Alien: Covenant, which Scott confirmed will be the first of three sequels to Prometheus connecting it to Alien. Apparently, the three-part series will answer “very basic questions posed in Alien: Why the alien, who might have made it, and where did it come from? So I’m now going to the next one, which is the next evolution directly connected with the first one.”

The veteran director said the new film will pick up pretty much right where Prometheus left off, adding, “when that’s finished there’ll be another one and then another one, which will gradually drive into the back entrance of the (original Alien) film in 1979.”

Alien: Covenant will follow the crew of the titular colony ship Covenant, and when they arrive on a planet that seems like paradise, they will find that world’s only inhabitant to be the android David, played by Micahel Fassbender, a survivor of the failed Prometheus expedition. Although Fassbender is set to return, Scott says that his Prometheus co-star Noomi Rapace will have only a limited role this time.

Hopefully, fans won’t have to wait until Ridley Scott’s new trilogy is complete to see Neill Blomkamp’s installment to the franchise, which would see the return of not only Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, but also Michael Biehn as Hicks, and a grown-up Newt from James Cameron’s Aliens. I know I’m way more excited about that than three movies explaining how the xenomporphs came to be. Although, like a good little nerd, I will, of course, see all of these on opening weekend.

Alien: Covenant is currently set to open on October 6, 2017. What are you hoping for with these next three movies? Let us know in the comments below!

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HT: The Hollywood Reporter
IMAGES: Twentieth Century Fox