EXCLUSIVE: Katherine Waterston, who co-starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, is set to star in Alien: Covenant, the Ridley Scott-directed sequel to his Prometheus. In what will be the biggest role of her career to date, Waterston has been cast as the lead, Daniels.

Scott, of course, had put the 20th Century Fox project on hold to do The Martian, which is in the thick of the awards-season race. Covenant is his next pic. Specific plot details are being closely guarded, but it is believed to follow the crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet, who discover what they believe is an uncharted paradise. But in fact it’s a dark, dangerous world whose the only inhabitant is David (Michael Fassbender), the “synthetic” and survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

Covenant is believed to be the first in a conceived trilogy of new films that will link the events of Prometheus with the Scott-directed 1979 classic Alien.

Waterston is next up in the Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them with Eddie Redmayne. She also co-starred in Steve Jobs.

She’s repped by UTA and Silver Lining Entertainment.