Alien: Covenant sequel to focus on Artificial Intelligence over aliens, says Ridley Scott

‘I think the evolution of the Alien himself is nearly over’

As the title hints, the Alien movies have nearly always been predominantly preoccupied with the titular alien.

Since the beginning, though, Artificial Intelligence has also played a significant role throughout the franchise, particularly in the most recent installment - Alien: Covenant - which sees Michael Fassbender’s robotic David and Walter become the central villain.

The shift in focus is set to be carried into the future of the series, as director Ridley Scott has revealed the upcoming sequel will focus more on AI than the aliens.

Chatting about current progress on Alien: Awakening for the Empire Film Podcast, Scott explained why xenomorphs are taking a back seat.

“I think the evolution of the Alien himself is nearly over”, he said. “But what I was trying to do was transcend and move to another story, which would be taken over by AI’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”.

The Blade Runner director is currently acting as executive producer on the scorching sequel Blade Runner: 2049. Alien: Awakening is set to start filming next year, ready for a 2019 release.