Ridley Scott to direct Alien reboot

British director Ridley Scott is to return to his roots by making a 'prequel' of Alien, the ground-breaking 1979 sci-fi film that launched his Hollywood career.

The latest movie will be set before the original film, in which a commercial towing ship's crew, that includes Sigourney Weaver (pictured above, in character) in the seminal role of female action hero Ripley, responds to a distress signal from an empty ship only to discover too late that the signal was meant to warn them. The film received commercial success and critical acclaim, winning an Oscar for best visual effects. 

Since then Twentieth Century Fox has made three sequels, all starring Weaver, and two 'Alien vs Predator' spin-offs, yet the franchise has grown stale. Getting Scott to take the director's chair once more will give Fox a chance to breathe new life into the franchise, noted Michael Fleming in Variety.

The 71-year-old director originally planned to produce - but not direct - the film. Now it seems that commercials director Carl Rinsch who had been Scott's choice to direct, will make way for Scott. Some reports have suggested Fox was unhappy with a first-time filmmaker resurrecting its once-iconic series.

Fox's attempt to reinvigorate its Alien franchise follows similar attempts by the producers behind films such as Superman, Star Trek and the Incredible Hulk, which have been 're-booted' to varying degrees of success.

The Alien prequel will be Scott's first science-fiction film since he directed Blade Runner in 1982. He is currently 'rebooting' another stale tale, Robin Hood, which will star Russell Crowe as the outlaw, and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. ·