If handed the chance to make a prequel to the original ALIEN, most filmmakers probably would have crafted a story that would lead right into the events of that first film. But when ALIEN director Ridley Scott decided to return to the franchise to make a prequel, he went further back in time than expected to tell the story of PROMETHEUS (who would have ever guessed it would be tied to the creation of humanity?), and planned to bridge the gap between PROMETHEUS and ALIEN with a couple more prequel movies. So far he has only managed to make one of those follow-ups, ALIEN: COVENANT, and whether or not he'll get to make another one remains to be seen. ALIEN's home studio 20th Century Fox was purchased by Disney, and while Disney may want to revive the franchise at some point, will continuing Scott's prequel series be a priority for them?
We don't know what Disney is up to, but we do know what Scott is thinking. During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he made it clear that he is still pondering the questions that he wants to answer in the next prequel:
I still think there’s a lot of mileage in ALIEN, but I think you’ll have to now re-evolve. What I always thought when I was making it, the first one, why would a creature like this be made and why was it traveling in what I always thought was a kind of war-craft, which was carrying a cargo of these eggs. What was the purpose of the vehicle and what was the purpose of the eggs? That’s the thing to question — who, why, and for what purpose is the next idea, I think."
Scott has previously said that he wanted to focus more on AI and the evil android David (Michael Fassbender) in the next film, delving into
the world that the AI might create as a leader if he finds himself onto a new planet."
He also wanted to have Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride return as their ALIEN: COVENANT characters.
As I have said before, I'm not really interested in the story Scott has been telling with PROMETHEUS and ALIEN: COVENANT, but COVENANT ended on a cliffhanger that needs to be resolved for this series to feel complete, so I hope he does get to make one last prequel movie that will finally lead into what happens in ALIEN.
Scott confirmed a while back that he has had discussions with Disney about the future of the ALIEN franchise, so for now we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.