It’s official. Ridley Scott is returning to the “Alien” franchise to direct a prequel for Twentieth Century Fox, reports Variety.

Jon Spaihts has been hired to pen the script which Scott Free will produce.

Fox also hired Spaihts, in an unrelated move, to rewrite “The Darkest Hour,” which Timur Bekmambetov will produce with Tom Jacobson.

The scribe is also developing “Children of Mars” for Disney and Scott Rudin, and will follow that up with a rewrite of “St. George and the Dragon” for Sony and Red Wagon.