Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" sequel has its lead: Katherine Waterston has been cast as Daniels in 20th Century Fox's "Alien: Covenant," as reported Thursday by Deadline.

Waterston played an acclaimed supporting role in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice," and appeared as Chrisann Brennan in this year's "Steve Jobs." She's portraying Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein in the upcoming "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," Warner Bros.' hotly anticipated "Harry Potter" spinoff, but this looks to be her highest-profile role yet.

Here's Deadline's educated guess description of the plot: "it is believed to follow the crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet, who discover what they believe is an uncharted paradise but is, in fact, a dark, dangerous world, the only inhabitant of which is David (Michael Fassbender), the 'synthetic' and survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition."

"Alien: Covenant" is scheduled for release on Oct. 6, 2017.