It sounds like the world of Alien could soon be growing a bit more. A new report from Variety, which takes a look back at the original Alien in honor of its 40th anniversary, includes a particularly interesting nugget regarding the franchise's future. After mentioning the franchise's two prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, the article references "a third prequel, which [Ridley Scott] will direct, is in the script phase."

For Alien fans, this morsel probably is somewhat of a surprise, as the franchise's future has been in somewhat of a state of flux for years. The wildly different narrative choices in Prometheus and Covenant - plus the latter film's box office woes - made it seem like a third prequel may or may not be in the cards.

"I don’t live in Hollywood, and I’m always usually the last person to know even what’s going on in my own career. So, [I’m] probably not the best person to ask," Covenant star Katherine Waterson explained earlier this year. "But I did get some sense of where they thought they might like to take it when we were shooting Covenant, and it sounded really interesting. I would be absolutely game to do more if they wanted to have me. But that’s all I know. I’m sure they’ve changed their minds anyway.

"And there’s been probably loads of different ideas going around and everything. But just in case I spoil something by talking about it, I wouldn’t dare."

"I'd love to, I just absolutely love working with [director] Ridley [Scott], and it was a real moment for me, when I stepped on the set on Prometheus, I got to work with him," Waterson's co-star, Michael Fassbender, explained in a recent interview. "I love the character, it's a lot of fun. I'd definitely enjoy it."

The fact that Alien is among the Fox properties now owned by Disney adds another wrinkle to the proceedings. But nevertheless, Scott did recently confirm that he's had talks with Disney, and that he has an idea in mind of where the franchise could go next.

"The alien [origin concept] is uniquely attached to Mother Nature," Scott explained earlier this month. "It simply comes off a wood beetle that will lay eggs inside some unsuspecting insect. And in so doing, the form of the egg will become the host for this new creature. That's hideous. But that was what it was. And you can't keep repeating that because the joke gets boring.”

“Go on, leave that behind, and see where it can evolve,” Scott added. “So we're looking where we're going to evolve.”

What do you think of an Alien: Covenant sequel being in development? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!