Legendary film director Ridley Scott says he needs to know "now-ish" whether he can shoot his next sci-fi blockbuster in Australia.
Scott, who currently has the No.1 film in Australia with The Martian, wined and dined Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in New York during the past week to put his case for tax offsets to the government. 
Ms Bishop promised to take up the matter with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison.
Speaking to national film writer Neala Johnson, Scott, 77, confirmed the "really nice" meeting and said he was now "living in hope".
"We're hoping to bring a movie into Fox Studios in Sydney, well, kind of now-ish, to start shooting 'round about end of Feb. It's a big one, so it's six-month prep.
"It's really about trying to get a fair whack of the tax rebate - the problem is I'm not Australian, I'm English," he said with a laugh.
"But the whole, fundamental workforce will be Australians." The film Scott is angling to shoot here is the sequel to 2012's Prometheus, which grossed $573 million worldwide and was a prequel to his 1979 classic Alien.
The new film will be called Alien: Paradise Lost and star Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender (pictured below).
Asked if he knew when he might expect an answer from Ms Bishop or her colleagues, Scott replied: "Dunno, I'm waiting right now!
"I've got to get going pretty quick. If she says yes I'll be there in a heartbeat." Scott's reasoning for banking on Australia is twofold: UK studios are overcrowded and the Australian landscape is suitably "alien"."I wanna find a pretty exotic landscape and some very big studio space - and Australia fits the bill. And as you know, I love Aussies, because I've worked with Russell Crowe five times, I've worked with Cate Blanchett once and Joel Edgerton, love him! So I'm an Aussie-phile." Scott's hopes to film here have been dashed before. Changes of Australian government stymied his hopes of shooting The Martian in the Australian desert.