Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant director Ridley Scott with Katherine Waterston 20th Century Fox

While franchises and seemingly never-ending series are all-the-rage in Hollywood and the movie industry these days, there's always that worry amongst fans that with each instalment won't be as good as its predecessors. But while some sci-fi lovers might be doubtful that upcoming Prometheus sequel Alien: Covenant will live up to the 1979 original, director Ridley Scott is adamant that it's even better and will have people wanted more xenomorph-centric follow-ups upon seeing it.

During a roundtable interview at South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival in the US, the legendary British filmmaker told MovieWeb that he'd be keen to continue making Alien movies until the end of time. He also gushed about the next instalment and explained that Covenant purposefully leaves some things unanswered so that they can be addressed in later movies.

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"Well I think this is so, dare I say clever and violent and everything you kind of want," Scott said of the upcoming outing. "I think it's a cut above what's come before. And therefore we leave all kinds of things open for the next one. Just see how you go. I mean, I enjoy doing them so much. Honestly, I'd like to keep it going forever."

There's a proven method and reason behind Scott's success with the sci-fi franchise too, according to Katherine Waterston – who stars as protagonist Daniels in the film. And that's that the 79-year-old carefully selects his cast and leaves them to it when he knows their capable on set.

"When I first met Ridley he was like, 'I hire people I think are good at acting and do their thing," she recollected to the publication. "Figure it out and if they're doing something really idiotic I'll tell them, but mostly I like to leave them alone. I know what the f*** I'm doing and you should know what the f*** you're doing. You show it to me and then we go have dinner. It's not rocket science.'"

Also starring Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo, Billy Crudup and James Franco, Alien: Covenant centres around the crew of a colony spacecraft, who travel to an uncharted paradise in the hopes of forming a new Earth. But soon after they arrive, they discover that there are some pretty pesky extraterrestrials lurking about on the land, and they're not so keen on giving it up to humans...

Alien: Covenant will be released in the UK and the US on 12 May 2017.