Ridley Scott reveals plans for third ‘Alien’ prequel

Ridley Scott does not seem to be thinking of retiring anytime soon. Not only does the director, 88, have Jacob Elordi starrer “The Dog Stars” opening Friday, he’s planning to put his own stamp on “Treasure Island” next with Hugh Jackman. And at some point after that, he’s planning a third “Alien” prequel.

The next installment in the long-running franchise will center on the “Alien: Covenant” character David (Michael Fassbender), creating a “brave new world for himself,” the director said in an interview in the L.A. Times Wednesday.

The David character is a malfunctioning AI android who was a maintenance crew member on the Prometheus.

“AIs can go off,” Scott said in the interview. “And if they do, it’s like a bomb.”

Although Scott has long been making films about the ramifications of artificial intelligence and robots, from “Alien” to “Blade Runner,” he said that up to now he hasn’t found the need to use AI in making his films. “I can compete with an AI without any problem making images. But it’s coming, inevitably,” he told the L.A. Times.

“The uneasy question is: Can the AI only be as good as the information fed into it?” Scott said in the interview. “If I say ‘Here’s a blank canvas, write me such and such,’ would that just be a melange of millions of other scripts? Probably. But the danger is it’ll pass that point and become smarter than we are.”

After being nominated for best director three times and sharing a best picture nomination for “The Martian,” Scott will receive an honorary Oscar at the Governor’s Awards in November, the same month he starts shooting “Treasure Island.”

-Variety