Did Ridley Scott Change the ‘Prometheus 2’ Title Again?

Back in September Ridley Scott casually announced that his sequel to Prometheus is called Alien: Paradise Lost, with the director confirming that production begins next February on what will be a more direct prequel to the Alien franchise. And just as we were getting comfortable with that title, it appears that Scott may have changed his mind, as he’s once again revealed a new name for the sequel.

Scott participated in an hour-long conversation at the AFI Film Festival last night (via The Playlist), where he discussed his career with Scott Foundas. When asked about his approach to selecting projects, Scott said he doesn’t have one, and described his movement from one film to the next as “childlike.” He went on to discuss how he got involved with The Martian, off-handedly dropping a new name for his Prometheus sequel in the process:

I was going to be doing what will be called ‘Alien: Covenant,’ which starts shooting next February, and we were struggling then with the screenplay there and then there was a phone call, somebody saying, ‘Listen, we’ve got this thing which is completely written called ‘Martian,’ and I said, ‘Huh.’ And I sped read it in an hour and by mid-afternoon, I talked to Fox and said, ‘I need to talk to ‘Drew [Goddard]…’

Sure, it may have been a mistake, but Alien: Covenant sounds like a cooler — and less wordy — title than Alien: Paradise Lost. There’s also the possibility that Scott could have been referring to the second movie, as he recently revealed that he has plans for at least two more sequels, which will eventually tie the story directly into the first Alien film and explore the origins of the Xenomorphs.

Earlier this week, the director also said that he was reclaiming control of the franchise, feeling as though it was a mistake to decline involvement with previous sequels. That’s not great news for Neill Blomkamp’s Alien sequel, which has been shelved for the time being due to Scott’s plans for the franchise.

Alien: Covenant (or whatever it’s called) hits theaters on May 30, 2017.