In space, you may not be able to hear anyone scream, but you will be able to hear the click-clacking of a keyboard.
Aaron Guzikowski, who wrote Denis Villeneuve’s English-language debut Prisoners, has been tapped to write a mystery Alien feature project for 20th Century Studios and Ridley Scott.
The project marks a reunion between the writer and Scott, as the two worked together on Raised by Wolves, the well-regarded sci-fi drama that streamed on HBO Max. Guzikowski created the series while Scott exec produced it and helmed the first two episodes, his first TV work since he began making movies in the 1970s.
Scott is not at this point directing the Alien project, just producing it, along with Michael Pruss via their Scott Free production banner. No director is attached.
And while much of it remains shrouded in secrecy, it is known that it is not a sequel to Alien: Romulus, the last Alien movie and one that reinvigorated the franchise when it was released in 2024. (The sequel remains in limbo.)
This one is said to be related to the two Alien movies Scott directed in the 2010’s, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. The connective tissue, according to sources, is the amoral android played by Michael Fassbender. Fassbender is not attached at this stage.
Sources say that Scott turned to Guzikowski to jumpstart the Alien project, which Scott Aversano is overseeing for 20th Century.
The scribe is known for his gritty dramatic elements, as evidenced in the such movies as Prisoners, Villeneuve’s child kidnapping drama that starred Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, and the remake of Papillion that starred Rami Malek and Charlie Hunnam. Guzikowski also created and executive produced the series Red Road that starred Jason Mamoa for The Sundance Channel.
Guzikowski remains one of the consistently busier scribed in town and is currently writing an original sci-fi feature film for Jon Watts at Twentieth, adapting a Philip K. Dick short story for Sony Pictures, and writing the adult-targeted animated feature film Death Stranding based on Hideo Kojima’s hit action-adventure video game. He is repped by Verve and Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment Group.