[_____V_____]

We all learned over the summer that Ridley Scott, director of the original "Alien," will be returning to the franchise he created to direct a prequel.

Given the series' overarching story, fans very reasonably speculated that a prequel would take a look at the events immediately preceding the first movie.

It seems that may not be an accurate assumption anymore.

Scott, who in London recently to support his daughter's entry at the London Film Festival, took some time out to chat with Empire about some of his plans for the prequel. He doesn't drop any specific narrative bombs, but there is a general outline of the "when" fans can expect to be deposited into.

"The prequel will be a while ago," he explained. "It’s very difficult to put a year on 'Alien,' but [for example] if 'Alien' was towards the end of this century, then the prequel story will take place thirty years prior.”

What's interesting about this is that the xenomorphs discovered in "Alien" are just that: a new discovery. A prequel set immediately before the first movie could easily justify human foreknowledge of the creatures by simply killing off any human protagonists.

A 30 year gap is a bit trickier. Perhaps the xenomorphs are in fact a secret creation of shadowy human forces? Or an older discovery, carefully covered up (for a time)?

Time will certainly tell. And Scott is excited about the telling.

“I never thought I’d look forward to a sequel,” Scott said. “But a prequel is kind of interesting. I’m looking forward to doing that.”