'Alien: Covenant', otherwise known as 'Prometheus 2', is scheduled to begin filming in Australia on April. Noomi Rapace, who played the lead protagonist Elizabeth Shaw in the first film, will not be reprising her role in the sequel.

According to Screen Rant, principal photography for director Ridley Scott's newest science-fiction suspense film is due to start sometime in April. It will start filming in Sydney well ahead of its scheduled release for October 6, 2017. It was reported that Scott had already planned to film in Australia since as early as May 2014.

Meanwhile, according to /Film, Noomi Rapace will not be returning for the lead role in Scott's sequel to 'Prometheus'. Although the new film will follow the events from the last film, Scott confirmed that Rapace's archaeologist Dr. Elizabeth Shaw will not be reappearing. He said, "We're still casting the main roles."

As of the present, only Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston have been confirmed as part of the new film's line-up. Fassbender is set to reprise his role as the android David, who in the first film was tasked as the spaceship USCSS Prometheus' maintenance man and butler.

David's mission was to search and explore the answers to humanity's mysterious past. Although he is a "synthetic", he is integrated with human emotions and is capable of social interaction.

According to IGN, Scott admitted to the challenges of helming a complicated film and likened it to brain surgery. He said, "It is bloody brain surgery! You're putting together a whole group of people, you're trying to budget as accurately as you can and, at the end of it, you've got to sell a lot of tickets. That's more complex than banking - but a few of us manage to pull it off."

The prominent director created the 'Prometheus' series with the intention of having it as the fifth installment in his 'Alien' franchise but eventually opted to move it in a totally different direction. His new series precedes the story of 'Alien' but is not directly connected to it although it shares ideas, elements and mythos.