Neill Blomkamp confirms he will direct the new Alien film, but says it will take a long time to develop

District 9 director Neill Blomkamp has confirmed he will be directing the new Alien movie. 

The director had long been linked with taking the reins on the new Alien movie, but confirmed to hmv.com in an interview to be published next week that it will be his next project. 

Asked what he was up to after he finishes promoting his new film Chappie, Blomkamp told hmv.com: "I think I'm going to go straight into making Alien".

Then asked when we could expect to see it, he replied: "I don't know. It's going to take a long time to do develop so it's a shifting target. I'm not sure when it will come out."

According to earlier reports, the deal for Blomkamp to make the new Alien movie does not see him taking over the franchise, with Ridley Scott continuing to work on a sequel to prequel Prometheus. Blomkamp's new film will be set many years after the events of Prometheus.