Sigourney Weaver may be returning to the "Alien" franchise -- as the original Ellen Ripley. How? Thanks to the digital magic of de-aging.

GeekTyrant reports that, in an upcoming issue of Empire magazine, Ridley Scott said he's planning two more films connected to the original 1979 film that started the whole franchise. "Right now we've got a ten-page synopsis," he says. "John Logan [who wrote "Alien: Covenant"] is doing it. And we know where we're going with it." When asked about using a digitally de-aged Sigourney Weaver to bring back Ripley, the director said, "You could do that."

That tentative statement is hardly a sure thing, but when you can bring back entire characters played by characters who died decades ago, it's a question that has to be discussed when revisiting an old franchise.

In this case, if we see the entire original cast of the Nostromo, that would involve bringing the late John Hurt back to life as the doomed Kane.

Scott also said that we'll be seeing "different mutations" of the original Alien. Which, unlike humans, will never need to be de-aged.

"Alien: Covenant," a prequel to "Alien," opens May 19.