** Official Prometheus Thread ** Spoilers inside.

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Apr 25, 2002
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'Alien' prequel takes off
Ridley Scott attached to return as director

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006722.html?categoryid=13&cs=1



Twentieth Century Fox is resuscitating its "Alien" franchise. The studio has hired Jon Spaihts to write a prequel that has Ridley Scott attached to return as director.
Spaihts got the job after pitching the studio and Scott Free, which will produce the film.

The film is set up to be a prequel to the groundbreaking 1979 film that Scott directed. It will precede that film, in which the crew of a commercial towing ship returning to Earth is awakened and sent to respond to a distress signal from a nearby planetoid. The crew discovers too late that the signal generated by an empty ship was meant to warn them.

The deal gives Fox another chance to keep the "Alien" franchise alive. There were three sequels to Scott's original, but it is the first time the director has set his mind on directing one.

Spaihts has become a go-to-guy for space thrillers. After Keanu Reeves became attached to his Warner Bros. sci-fi script "Shadow 19," Reeves hired Spaihts to write the space journey epic "Passengers," which is berthed at Morgan Creek. That script got Spaihts the meeting with Fox and Scott Free, and he won the job with an "Alien" reboot take that the studio and Scott loved.

Fox has separately hired him to rewrite "The Darkest Hour," which Timur Bekmambetov to produce with Tom Jacobson. Spaihts is writing "Children of Mars" for Disney and Scott Rudin, and he will follow by rewriting "St. George and the Dragon" for Sony and Red Wagon.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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good we need Sir Ridley Scott to return to this series that had so much potential. Hopefully they get new H.R. Giger work as well.
 
Feb 23, 2003
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Alien Prequel

According to Variety, the rumored Alien prequel is a go, and the man in charge of the original Alien, Ridley Scott, is set to direct. Twentieth Century Fox has hired Jon Spaihts (Shadow 19) to write the script, which will take place before the original Alien film. That's as much detail that has been reported thus far. This will be the first Alien film that Scott has been involved in since the original.
 
Apr 25, 2002
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Exclusive: Ridley Scott Reveals 'Alien' Prequel Details
'I've always avoided sequels, unless I felt there was something fresh,' director says of returning to 1979 classic.
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1637638/story.jhtml
By Larry Carroll

It isn't overstating things to say that Ridley Scott is among the greatest filmmakers of all time, and "Alien" is among the greatest films of all time. So how could anyone not be eager to learn every little detail about his prequel to the 1979 classic?

On Thursday (April 22), we caught up with the "Robin Hood" director to speak with him for next week's MTV Summer Movie Preview. And when he mentioned that he was feasting his eyes upon the latest "Untitled 'Alien' Prequel" script pages, we couldn't help but ask some questions.

What followed might be the most revealing interview Sir Ridley has given thus far on the top-secret project. Read on for exclusive details concerning the prequel's plot, creature design and the woman — not named Sigourney Weaver — who will soon be kicking alien ass:

MTV: We're very excited about your return to the "Aliens" world — what's going on with it at this point?

Ridley Scott: As we speak, I've got a pile of pages next to me; it's like the fourth draft. It's a work in progress, but we're not dreaming it up anymore. We know what the story is. We're now actually trying to improve the three acts and make the characters better, build it up to something [we can shoot]. It's a work in progress, but we're actually making the film. There's no question about it, we're going to make the film.




MTV Imagines The Kick-Ass Stars Of An 'Alien' Prequel
MTV: Awesome.

Scott: Now it's a matter of, how good can I get the screenplay in the next few weeks so I can get a good ballpark figure of what it will cost. I've already got people working graphically on designs for the various requirements of the film.

MTV: Since this is a prequel, will you need to make the ships more primitive-looking than in "Alien"?

Scott: It's set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver's character Ellen Ripley]. It's fundamentally about going out to find out 'Who the hell was that Space Jockey?' The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer's chair. Remember that?

MTV: Of course.

Scott: And our man [Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas] climbs up and says "There's been an explosion in his chest from the inside out — what was that?" I'm basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I'm explaining who the space jockeys were.

MTV: And is the Weyland-Yutani company in existence at this point?

Scott: It's Weyland. Weyland hasn't joined Yutani yet, so they go and see Weyland. [The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life.

MTV: We know how obsessive "Alien" fans can get. Are you going to make a film that doesn't require having seen any of the other movies?

Scott: Totally. Yes. [People will still get it], because there's a lot of copying, dude.

MTV: There's a lot of copying of your movies.

Scott: There's a lot of homage. Is that the polite word? Homage? I call it something else. [Laughs.]

MTV: Will Sigourney Weaver have any participation at all?

Scott: It will be before she was born!

MTV: So not even a voice-over, explaining things? Nothing?

Scott: Well, the main character [in the prequel] will be a woman, yeah. We're thinking it could go down that route, yeah. When I started the original "Alien," Ripley wasn't a woman, it was a guy. During casting, we thought, "Why don't we make it a woman?"

MTV: So will you be creating new aliens for your prequel?

Scott: What you have to do is — were there four or five "Alien" films? I can't remember how many followed.

MTV: There were three after you, then the "Alien vs. Predator" nonsense.

Scott: Yeah, the thing about "Alien vs. Predator" is, I know it's commerce, but what a pity. I think, therefore, I have to design — or redesign — earlier versions of what these elements are that led to the thing you finally see in "Alien," which is the thing that catapults out of the egg, the face-hugger.

MTV: OK.

Scott: I don't want to repeat it. The alien in a sense, as a shape, is worn out.

MTV: Will you consult the original alien designer, H.R. Giger, on these ideas?

Scott: Yeah, he's still around. Once I get more serious and get going, and the big wheels start turning, we'll certainly talk. And maybe we'll come up with something completely different.

MTV: In your mind, when do cameras begin rolling on the film?

Scott: We're hoping to have it in theaters in late 2011, or maybe the best date in 2012.

MTV: Have you given any thought on how you'll feel when you walk on set that first time, how you'll deal with the déjà vu from 1979?

Scott: Yeah, it'll be weird, because I always said I'll never do a sequel. [Laughs.]

MTV: What made you change your mind?

Scott: Honestly? They've squeezed the franchise dry. The first one will always be the most frightening, because the beast we put together with Giger and all its parts — the face-hugger, the chest-burster, the egg — they were all totally original, and that's hard to follow. ... I've always avoided sequels, unless I felt there was something fresh.
 

Mike Manson

Still Livin'
Apr 16, 2005
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Gonna be two movies!

Ridley Scott Talks "Alien" Prequel

Ridley Scott is now firmly looking at his 3D "Alien" two-part prequel as his next project, the "Robin Hood" director telling UK paper The Independent that he expects the venture to take no prisoners.

"The film will be really tough, really nasty. It's the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?" says Scott. "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindoff is polishing the first prequel's script set three decades before the events in the 1979 original film.

Scott takes a friendly jab at "Aliens" director James Cameron, seeing the success he had with the first sequel as a challenge he has to at least match with these films - "Jim's raised the bar and I've got to jump to it."

Meanwhile, Digital Spy reports that actress Gemma Arterton has indicated she'll meet with Scott about possibly starring in the planned prequels. Scott was apparently so impressed with her work in recent British thriller "The Disappearance of Alice Creed" that he wants to meet with her for the main female role.
 

Mike Manson

Still Livin'
Apr 16, 2005
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#18
So I guess there won't be the OG Aliens in these movies. They are re-designing them.

The film will be really tough, really nasty. It's the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would actually go in and clean up a planet? It will take place in the years before that, when they first come across this thing on a planet called Zeta Reticuli. ...

Yeah, the thing about Alien vs Predator is, I know it's commerce, but what a pity... I think, therefore, I have to design - or redesign - earlier versions of what these elements are that led to the thing you finally see in Alien, which is the thing that catapults out of the egg, the face-hugger. I don't want to repeat it. The alien in a sense, as a shape, is worn out."
And fuckin Fox is trying to make this a PG-13...

Last we heard, 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott were having trouble seeing eye to eye on the upcoming Untitled Alien Prequel. Scott is reportedly seeking a $250 million budget and a hard-R rating. The studio doesn't want to give that much money to something that isn't rated PG-13. Now, the project is at a standstill, and it's not clear who will back down first. But that hasn't stopped Ridley Scott from seeking out a female lead for his movie.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps star Carey Mulligan has met with the director, and so has Tamara Drewe's Gemma Arterton. But according to Deadline, Ridley Scott is most interested in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo actress Noomi Rapace. The site claims that she has had more than one meeting with Ridley Scott, and that she has left a very strong impression on the director.

Noomi Rapace recently signed onto play a Gypsy in next Christmas' Sherlock Holmes 2. With the Untitled Alien Prequel on indefinite hold and that sequel shooting before the end of the year, its quite possible that Rapace will be able to take on both roles.

Deadline reports that meetings with potential cast members are ongoing , and that no decisions have been made at this current time.