The whole million years into the future could be another mislead from fox. Perhaps they heard it and said "wow... That is so not our script... but hey, we can use this to mislead even more!"
All we have is speculation, I guess. I asked Diane O'Bannon about it via FB, here's what she told me:
Frankly, I have calls in to 20th about this new non-Alien Alien prequel, since they have contractual obligations to the writers if it is part of the Alien franchise. No one has gotten back to me. Perhaps it is so very secret, even their legal department doesn't know. I am thinking that soon perhaps my attorney will ask them.
Is it me, or is there an aura of, "we'll sue for not being consulted about the fact of if this is an alien franchise or not related film from the O'Bannon clan?. Fair enough if they're entitled to some of the profits from the film rights, but why can't both sides just sit down and thrash this out in a civil manner. I know fox are not known for being the easiest people to liase with when it comes to money and royalties. but frankly it's posts with comments like this which get the wheels of legal and copyright breach proceedings turning. Which can lead to production and release delays. It nearly happened with watchmen a few years back. Off the subject ,does andyone know if Ridley got his R/18 rating he was pushing for after for prometheus? or did Rothman and his buddies get the PG13 they wanted?
No, it means if it's an Alien film, O'Bannon gets credited, as he did for every other Alien film in a 'Characters Created By' credit. Since it's been rumoured to be an Alien film, and they haven't been contacted, then they're curious to know what's going on. She didn't mean anything at all 'suing,' lawyers are also intermediaries for business, and may be need to prick the ears of someone who, after several attempts, have been ignoring the other party.The film won't be put into delays over a bloody 'Characters Created By' credit. As for the rating issue, that seemed to be rumour amid all the other BS that was floating around.