Weaver in talks for Alien sequel

Sigourney Weaver has revealed the news every Alien fan has wanted to hear for years - she is in talks to reprise her role as warrant officer Ripley in a sequel.

District 9 filmmaker Neill Blomkamp has closed a deal with 20th Century Fox to officially take charge of the film, Variety reported on Wednesday.

Blomkamp confirmed the news with fans on Instagram, when he uploaded a sketch of the alien xenomorph and captioned it, "Um... So I think it's officially my next film. Alien".

Further details about the untitled sci-fi project are yet to be revealed, but it is separate from Prometheus 2, the second prequel from original Alien director Sir Ridley Scott.

Meanwhile, Scott's Alien leading lady Weaver has revealed she is interested in returning to the franchise after working with Blomkamp on their new movie, Chappie.

During an interview on The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon quizzed Weaver about her possible return.

"I actually heard the rumour that this director (Blomkamp) was pitching you on maybe doing another Alien. Is it true?" Fallon asked Weaver

"We've been talking about it, he (Blomkamp) is so talented," Weaver said.

The actress also said she has already agreed to help comedian Louis C K land an appearance in the next film.

"Louis CK said, 'I wanna be in it and I wanna die in a terrible way.' And I said, 'I'm sure something can be arranged.'"