What did Hollywood do before the Black List? Jack Paglen’s 2012 script, the upcoming sci-fi – Johnny Depp vehicle Transcendence, was plucked from the Black List. Now  Variety and The Wrap are both saying Jack Paglen is in (and Damon Lindelhof is out) as the writer to bring Fox and Ridley Scott back to space with Prometheus 2, the sequel to last year’s $403 million blockbuster.

Prometheus 2 did not get the green light as fast as you might think. Many people were confused by the original story line. Said Ridley Scott via Slashgear:

A lot of things in science fiction we can’t easily conceive of because it’s not in our life experience. The best thing to do when you watch a sci-fi film is to put your brain aside, enter the movie, and let yourself breathe. I like my films to contain lots of speculative parts, parts that spark conversation and discussion.

Sir Ridley Scott (he was knighted in 2003), certainly makes films that spark plenty of discussion. His first commercial breakthrough was 1979’s Alien, which has spawned four sequels so far and is widely considered an icon in the horror genre. Blade Runner, American Gangster, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down, and the 2000 Best Picture, Gladiator, have made Scott one of the best known and most widely respected directors in the business.

Swedish actress Noomi Rapace only started speaking English 4 years ago, but that hasn’t slowed her rapid ascension to Hollywood’s A-list since her widely lauded performance in the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Since Prometheus, she has kept busy with Sherlock Holmes:Game Of Shadows, and Dead Man Down, with Colin Farrell. She will be reprising her role as scientist Elizabeth Shaw in Prometheus 2.

Michael Fassbender will also be back for the sequel as the android David. Fassbender has been busy as well; he’ll next appear in the star studded, Ridley Scott-directed, Cormac McCarthy written The Counselor before English director Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, based on the memoir by Solomon Northrup.

Prometheus 2 will be produced under the Scott Free banner. It is expected to start shooting by years end.