Earlier this year filmmaker Ridley Scott was bullish on the prospects of “Alien: Covenant,” speaking about ambitious plans for the future of the franchise and its revival of the iconic xenomorph that he created. Even as the film disappointed, Scott maintained a desire to further progress the story with at least one more “Alien” tale.

Now though, in a new interview with THR, he appears to have changed his tune when he was asked about his decision to helm that film as opposed to “Blade Runner 2049” which he only produced:

“It was a crossfire of too much business. I’m doing a lot of TV and films, there are six films going out this year. I figured it was a good piece of business to follow through Prometheus, which, from ground zero, had good lift-off. So we went to Covenant to perpetuate the idea and [revive] the franchise of the Alien. I think the beast has almost run out, personally. [On 2049] You’ve got to come in with something else, you’ve got to replace that. And on Blade Runner, I think Denis was a fantastic choice.”

Scott also spoke about where he would like to take a follow-up should it go forward, and he indicates shifting the focus further away from the creatures and onto Michael Fassbender’s android David:

“I think the evolution of the Alien himself is nearly over, but what I was trying to do was transcend and move to another story, which would be taken over by A.I.’s. The world that the AI might create as a leader if he finds himself on a new planet. We have actually quite a big layout for the next one.”

“Alien: Covenant” scored mixed reviews and ultimately grossed $240.7 million worldwide from a reported $97 million production budget – good enough to avoid being a flop, but it wasn’t a profitable film let alone a hit and was notably down from 2012’s “Prometheus”. Since then 20th Century Fox has reportedly begun rethinking their strategy with the franchise moving forward.