History may be set to repeat itself if Cameron signs on for the follow-up to Ridley Scott's latest return to the Alien universe • ... but in fact it's unlikely to as we discovered this story was an April Fool's joke on the part of the original source on 3 April. Sorry for the misinformation

James Cameron has said he wants to direct the follow-up to Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

Cameron, fresh from his solo voyage to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, spoke at the Titanic 3D premiere about his involvement in a sequel to the Alien spinoff. "There's a gap of a few years between Prometheus and the original Alien," he said. "That gap is meant for me to answer all the questions raised in Prometheus."

If Cameron signs on for the sequel, it will be the second time he has inherited one from Scott. The director was at the helm for Aliens, the 1986 sequel to Scott's 1979 original Alien movie. He said the idea of him making a second Prometheus movie was first mooted when he spoke with Scott during the making of Avatar.

"Ridley came to me, and he saw what I was doing [with Avatar] and the ideas I was exploring," said Cameron. "We sat down and talked about Alien, and saw that there's big ideas hidden in these stories. Where do we come from? What does it mean to be human? This was something that Ridley saw as original and something he wanted to be a part of.

"I'm not sure if Ridley changed his mind, because the movie [Prometheus] turned out fantastic, but it was during those early talks when he brought up the idea of me stepping in to direct a follow-up."

Prometheus, originally planned as an Alien prequel, is now described as a film based in the universe of Alien, which will involve the discovery of the origins of the alien race that the crew of the Nostromo face in the original film. Scott's film will see a group of scientists land on a strange planet inhabited by a lifeform that may hold the secret to the origins of mankind. But the shrieking and wailing at the end of the film's latest trailer would suggest that – like Alien – the promise of the scientists' discovery quickly turns sour.

There's no official word from the studio behind Prometheus as to if or when Cameron will be officially attached to a second film. "Right now I'm working on Avatar 2," he said. "So if Fox wants to wait … we'll see what happens."

• The standfirst on this article was amended on 3 April 2012, when it became apparent the original source was inaccurate.