The frightening rumor that emerged last week of an “Alien” reboot has been confirmed, somewhat, by director Tony Scott.

Talking with Collider at the “The Taking of Pelham 123” junket, Scott confirmed that he and his brother Ridley’s production company Scott-Free Productions is indeed producing a remake with director Carl Rinsch directing.

However the good news is that the film isn’t a reboot but rather a prequel to Ridley Scott’s original 1979 horror classic. Thus the Ripley character or any of the crew of the Nostromo are very unlikely to be involved. The film could also answer key questions such as the origins of the race, what caused the alien transport ship to crash on LV-426 and so forth.

Scott finally adds that they hope to be shooting by the end of the year.