Following the news that Ridley Scott was shooting the sequel to his 2012 sci-fi horror hit Prometheus next year and calling it Alien: Paradise Lost, there has been much uncertainty about the status of the other proposed Alien movie, Neil Blomkamp's Alien 5. Now the director has confirmed that the project is on hold.

　　Blomkamp tweeted the news earlier today (October 30), stating:

　　alien is kinda holding/ pending prometheus 2. So I shall be working on other things... as much as I love the xeno- and Lt ripley

　　— Иeill BlomkΛmp (@NeillBlomkamp) October 30, 2015

　　Earlier this month, Blomkamp released an image of a pulse rifle that looked very much like the ones used in James Cameron's classic Aliens, suggesting that his sequel was still happening. However, with the director moving on and Ridley Scott talking about the possibility of multiple Prometheus movies, it is uncertain if and when Alien 5 might happen.

　　Blomkamp's most recent film, the sci-fi thriller Chappie, was a critical and commercial disappointment when it was released earlier this year, making just $30 million in the US.

　　Although Scott had originally stated that Alien: Paradise Lost would film in early 2016, Deadline have now reported that it would in fact go into production in the "latter half" of next year. The film will shoot in Australia, and once again star Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender.