"Alien: Covenant" doesn't hit theaters until May 19, but if director Ridley Scott has his way, it may be just the beginning.

"If you really want a franchise, I can keep cranking it for another six," the famed director, 79, told the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday. "I'm not going to close it down again. No way."

In fact, if "Covenant" is a success, he's ready to go right away with a follow-up script already written.

"You don't want a two-year gap (between films)," Scott said. "So I'll be ready to go again next year."

"Alien: Covenant" takes place 10 years after "Prometheus," and Scott views it as just one of three sequels to that 2012 film. The sequel trilogy would advance the plot of the sci-fi horror series to "the back entrance" of 1979's "Alien."

And don't think you're going to get out of the theater without being frightened.

Scott says "Covenant" is a "relatively intelligent" film that digs into evolution issues, and that it's less claustrophobic than the original "Alien," because the crew members leave their ship.

"But that said, it's pretty scary," he said.

You can watch four minutes of the new film in this preview, released Feb. 22.

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