Prometheus

[Krakalakachkn]

Director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Robin Hood") tells MTV News that after years of talking about it, script work on the "Alien" prequel is well underway with a fourth draft currently sitting on his desk.

 

"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... 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" says Scott.

 

Surprisingly Scott was more forthcoming than expected about the story which will be set in 2085, 30 years before Ellen Ripley is born, but will have a female lead. Of the story Scott says he's finally going to solve the mystery of a key scene in the 1979 original.

 

"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... I'm basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I'm explaining who the space jockeys were." says Scott.

 

For those who don't remember or have never seen Scott's original, the story followed the human crew of the starship Nostromo touching down on the unexplored planet LV-426 to investigate a signal. They come upon a crashed spacecraft containing the fossilised remains of the pilot (the Space Jockey) and a vast cargo hold full of alien eggs. Despite being from an obviously different alien species to the titular xenomorphs, the Space Jockey's origins are never explored or really talked about onscreen outside of that scene.

 

Scott adds the film's 'company' won't be the Weyland-Yutani company yet - just Weyland. Also the story will deal with their early attempts at terraforming planets.

 

Scott says that he'll likely have to redesign the creatures "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."

 

Release date wise, Scott says "we're hoping to have it in theaters in late 2011, or maybe the best date in 2012."

 

Update: More details have emerged from HitFix where Scott confirms they'll film in 3D and the project isn't one but two films - "Prequels. Two films." The movies however will NOT be shot back-to-back, it's the first one that is following the release plans above.

[Krakalakachkn]

Talking at the L.A. Times Hero Complex Film Festival, director Ridley Scott revealed that the script for the "Alien" prequel has been completed and pre-production is currently underway according to FearNet.

 

As previously reported, the focus will be on the origin of the 'Space Jockey', the unknown alien pilot of the crashed ship carrying the more familiar xenomorph alien eggs in the original 1979 film. Surprising news though is that this prequel may not be the only one with Scott commenting that a second prequel is planned as events will take place well before the events of "Alien".

 

Scott says "If you explain who he [spacey Jockey] was and where he came from, then that will deal with the savagery of this version, which will be pretty savage. Then you may want to find out where they came from, the place where his people come from."

 

Scott has done a lot of underwater research for the upcoming movies which will cover different ground - "The first Alien was honestly The Old Dark House -- seven people in the old dark house with a visitor. This will go further into the world of terraforming. We're thinking about doing it. In fact, if Kennedy had been allowed to continue his space program, we'd probably be on Mars now with a population of nine-thousand people. That's how far we should have gone."

[Krakalakachkn]

Noomi Rapace from Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is being considered for the lead female role.

 

Noomi Rapace, the star of the Swedish "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" films, is apparently Ridley Scott's favourite to star as the female lead in his upcoming "Alien" prequels at 20th Century Fox reports Deadline.

 

Rapace has apparently had more than one meeting with Scott, and has left a very strong impression on the director. Carey Mulligan and Gemma Arterton have also met with the director.

 

Noomi Rapace recently signed to play a gypsy in "Sherlock Holmes 2", and with the "Alien" films currently on hold there's likely no issue of scheduling conflicts. However has still yet to be made.

 

At last report, the films are hitting a roadblock as Scott is seeking a $250 million budget and hard-R rating, whereas Fox wants a cheaper PG-13 project.

[Krakalakachkn]

Natalie Portman is heavily favored as the lead:

 

Natalie Portman is said to be the favourite to star in the upcoming "Alien" prequel reports Vulture.

 

Portman joins a very short list of contenders which also includes "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" star Noomi Rapace for the lead role in the film which Ridley Scott will direct from a script originally by Jon Spaihts.

 

"Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof came onboard a while back to re-write it and has apparently turned in a new draft of the screenplay which the studio has loved. Why? It avoids adding any further expensive set pieces and effects-heavy action sequences, and allows the film to be kept at a PG-13 rating but will still "be as violent" as the original 1979 feature.

 

At present most of the issues over the project are in regards to the budget, Scott apparently wants $150 million but the studio would like it to be less. Story details are being kept top secret, but it is known that events will be set 35 years before Ripley, Dallas and the crew of the Nostromo first came upon the crashed alien ship on LV-426.

 

I have a hard time seeing her in the role of a badass alien slayer

[Krakalakachkn]

James Franco and Anne Hathaway also want in

 

 

Anne Hathaway and James Franco have joined the list of potential candidates to star in Ridley Scott's new "Alien" prequel reports Bloody Disgusting.

 

Both Hathaway and Franco have expressed an interest in appearing in the film but aren't formally linked in any way. Natalie Portman, Noomi Rapace and Carey Mulligan have all been rumoured to be under consideration for the project in the past month.

 

Meawhile out doing promotion for the "Alien" Anthology Blu-ray set being released next week, Sigourney Weaver says she has no interest in being on screen in the film, but would like to be involved in a different capacity than many expected.

 

“Certainly not as an actor but if they needed help with the story, I could probably help them. I have a good sense of what people appreciate in the series and what they don’t care about. So I hope they’ll ask me" said Weaver in an interview with Screen Junkies.

[Krakalakachkn]

An online rumor emerged earlier this week that Ridley Scott's "Alien" prequel project(s) had been put on hold for a year. Now, Fox has quickly denied the claim but has indicated that the project isn't moving as fast as we might hope.

 

A studio rep told The Playlist that there is “no truth” to the reports on the delays and development is continuing apace. However the whole project hasn't yet been greenlit or announced, so any talk of filming or release dates at this point is extremely premature.

 

Soon after, Vulture added to the report saying the 'delay talk' was due to a failed effort to cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the film and adjust production to his schedule. As DiCaprio's involvement is now definitely out, they claim the film is still targeting a March date to begin production.

 

They also added some talk of their own - the story is as much a reboot as a prequel and "follows a group of space travelers who encounter a monstrous alien creature that picks them off, one by one". The title is rumoured to be simply "Paradise", while the lead character's name is Elizabeth Shaw with actors like Noomi Rapace, Carey Mulligan and Olivia Wilde all having tried out for it.

 

Other characters include the android David, the tough/sexy older lady Vickers, a businessman character along for the ride, and a 6'5 entirely CG engineer character. Scott wants Michelle Yeoh for Vickers and Michael Fassbender for David, but early talks with Fassbender's reps apparently didn't go well. Still it's early days and as there is no working budget, no formal offers have been made.

 

A few hours later Fox communications VP Chris Petrikin posted an update on Twitter essentially debunking some of the report, saying that the project is just one film (not two as has been previously reported) and the film is NOT titled "Paradise". Petrikin is also dismissive of most talk already about the project, saying "I don't know where to begin to correct what is being written."

[Evoke]

Noomi, yes. Natalie, no. Franco and Hathaway can get the #$%& out.

 

I so want to work on this project...

[MattTaz]

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/02/11/prometheus-alien-michael-fassbender/

 

A prequel when your not having a prequel.

 

I think Fox were hedging their bets when they said this was not an alien prequel but a stand-alone

film. But from this actor it sounds like both

[Krakalakachkn]

Charlize Theron is in final talks to co-star in Ridley Scott's upcoming sci-fi epic "Prometheus" for 20th Century Fox reports Variety.

 

Theron and Noomi Rapace will be the leading protagonists with equal screen time in the roles of Elizabeth Shaw and Vickers, though who will play which isn't certain.

 

How much this film connects with Scott's original 1979 "Alien" film remains a big question. Actor Michael Fassbender, who plays an android in the film, recently spoke about the film with MTV and explained a little more about its connection with "Alien".

 

"There's a definite connecting vein. You realize you're part of something else, but it's definitely in keeping with the old ones. When I read it, I was like, 'Well, okay, another Alien. Where do you go with this idea?' And then I sort of read the script, and it's new, yet it's in keeping with the old traditions as well. But there's a whole new revelation within this film. The first 'Alien' [movies], they were thrillers. Something's going on. It's creeping, it's sinister. Things are happening, it's building, [and there are] different sorts of intrigues and politics going on between the different relationships on board. There's action in (this new film), but the intelligence is what struck me when I read it. It's more sort of like the original ones. There are things happening and building, and the intelligence of the first two-thirds of the film gets you ready for the action."

[Emperor]

UPDATE: In response to the leaked synopsis, a Fox representative has described the information as "way off" and countered with the release of a short official synopsis - "Visionary filmmaker Ridley Scott returns to the genre he helped define, creating an original science fiction epic set in the most dangerous corners of the universe. The film takes a team of scientists and explorers on a thrilling journey that will test their physical and mental limits and strand them on a distant world, where they will discover the answers to our most profound questions and to life's ultimate mystery."

 

ORIGINAL: io9 has been forwarded a lengthy piece of text which, if true, basically spells out much of the plot of Ridley Scott's upcoming sci-fi epic "Prometheus".

 

It explains how the whole thing serves as a prequel to "Alien" (namely the origin of the derelict alien spacecraft) and incorporates the "Chariot of the Gods" mythology Scott himself confirmed as a big influence this week.

 

The site does warn that "We're fairly dubious that this is the actual plot. And not only are we skeptical about the authenticity of this outline, but we're really hoping that our skepticism is justified". Here's the possible synopsis in full:

 

"Archaeological digs in Africa reveal alien artifacts that humans were genetically engineered by a advanced alien race (space jockeys). These "Alien Gods" also terraformed Earth in order to make it habitable for their human creations. Amongst finds are coordinates to the Alien God's home-world, to Paradise. Months later the Weyland Corp launch the spaceship PROMETHEUS and his crew, into deep space to make first contact.

 

Thanks to faster than light travel a few years later the PROMETHEUS enters the Zeta Riticuli star system. Humans are greeted by their makers, then transported further into space to a scary yet fascinating world. The Alien Gods are proud of their "children", their first creation to reach such levels of intelligence.

 

As a reward they share bits of their astonishing bio-based technologies with the humans. But for one crew member of the Prometheus it's not enough. In a treacherous act he steals the "bio-source code" to Terraforming, a technology at the origin of all Gods' power, that could make humans equal to the gods. The Alien Gods may be scientists but are also ruthless conquerors, destroyers of worlds who will not accept humans as equals.

 

They unleash on the escaping human crew their favorite bio-weapon, a creature used to "clean up" worlds before colonization. But something goes wrong in the process and humans manage to turn the bio-weapon against their makers. Giving birth to a smarter, nastier, bigger breed of gut eating creatures. Creatures that will be the demise of Paradise. What's left of the Prometheus crew manages to escape the doomed planet.

 

On their trail a survivor Alien God in very familiar ship with one ultimate mission. Bring the wrath of the Gods to Earth."

[Krakalakachkn]

COMIC CON Update

 

 

 

It was a big day for Fox and Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" yesterday, the film that started as prequel to his original 1979 classic "Alien" and has turned into its own sci-fi epic with connections to "Alien". It also marks Scott's first sci-fi film since 1982's "Blade Runner".

 

At a presentation in Hall H at the San Diego Comic Con, the film's writer and "Lost" showrunner Damon Lindelof appeared alongside actress Charlize Theron and Scott himself who joined the fray via satellite from Iceland where the project is currently shooting. Scott is reportedly in the final stages of filming right now, but the sequence being shot will be for the very beginning of the film.

 

Footage was screened giving us glimpses of scenes including Theron performing near naked pushups, walls with very HR Giger Alien-esque designs on them, and various shots of the cast members. No xenomorphs were on display however and the footage is more concerned with drama, pure sci-fi and horror rather than action as such.

 

In the Q&A afterwards, Scott revealed he's shooting both PG-13 and R-rated cuts of the film - "I have a responsibility to my studio, but I always make sure we have both options. You’re crazy not to. Tom and I will both look at it and decide what the best way of going. I’ve fundamentally covered our ass. But there will still be naked push-ups.”

 

Tone wise Scott says "what I want to do is scare the living sh** of out you" and has reportedly enjoyed himself so much shooting the film that he joked about buttering Lindelof up in an attempt to get him to get started on writing a sequel. He also revealed he's a huge fan of the Swedish-language "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and watched it repeatedly - that lead to him casting Noomi Rapace.

 

Of the film's "Alien" connection he said that "the DNA" of "Alien" is there but "everything else is original". What in the world does that mean? Scott says "in the last few minutes of the movie you'll understand what we're talking about." He went onto say "I never thought about science fiction until I started to realise that there was something in the first Alien that no one ever asked questions about. I thought, well, that could be the centrepiece of what we've just completed." Asked to confirm if we'll see a robot character, Scott says there "might be two".

 

Speaking about the project with The Playlist during press rounds before the panel, Theron revealed she will be playing the head of the Weyland-Yutani company, "she's a character that Lindelof fleshed out more once Theron signed on. Her character is "the machine that runs the machine that takes this mission into space."

 

One great bit of news - little to no green screen in the film. Scott was very detailed and careful with set construction to try and make the production as practical as possible, so much so that after three weeks of filming Theron asked the director where is the green screen to which he responded "‘I’m not doing green screen. What are you talking about?’." She added that "Everything was built and if it wasn’t built and you were looking out a window ship, he would have computerized this CG imaging that would play out the scene of what was happening outside. It just kind of grounds everything so much for actors. It’s all there and it’s all physically being lit.”

 

Scott is also both designing and shooting the film in 3D, not converting it. Lindelof said there were massive HD screens on set with glasses which showed the 3D in use as they were filming it. In the Hall H presentation, Scott said that now that he has worked in 3D, he will "never work without 3D again, even for small dialogue scenes. It opens up the whole universe."

 

When will we see a trailer? Lindelof says "You’re going to see some things in the late fall and certainly in January and February of next year that are going to start overtly declaring what 'Prometheus'." He adds that the mystery surrounding it right now is something they aim to keep up for the rest of the year - "we do want to keep that fun interplay alive. I think a lot of what’s driving interest in this movie is this idea of, ‘Just what the f*** is it?’.”

[Emperor]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52085

 

trailer for the new movie that was taken on shaky cam. WAtch it before it goes away :P

[Emperor]

[Nolder]

neat poster

[Emperor]

Talking with Filmophilia, Ridley Scott has said a few key quotes about his much anticipated sci-fi prequel "Prometheus", and gives us some answers to some long standing questions - only to raise more questions in the process.

 

Asked straight up if he's linking this directly with the "Alien" film, Scott says "Not at all…no… I mean, you could actually say, and there’s a quote I did, a pretty good quote: By the end of the third act you start to realize there’s a DNA of the very first 'Alien', but none of the subsequent ones. To tell you what that is is a pity, and I’m not going to tell you, because it’s actually pretty good, pretty organic to the process and to the original. But we go back, we don’t go forward."

 

The fossilised pilot of the crashed ship glimpsed briefly in the first "Alien" does come into it - "I was always amazed that no one asked who the hell the Space Jockey was. He wasn’t even called the Space Jockey. During the film they started to call it the Space Jockey. I don’t know who started that one off. I always thought it was amazing that no one ever asked who he was, and why was he there? What was all that about? I sat thinking about this for a while and thought, well, there’s a story! And the other four [films] missed it! So, here it is."

 

Later in the interview it was asked if we see the original xenomorph in the film. Scott says "No. Absolutely not. They squeezed it dry. He (the xenomorph) did very well. (He laughs) He survived, he’s now in Disneyland in Orlando, and no way am I going back there. How did he end up in Disneyland? I saw him in Disneyland, Jesus Christ!". Scott also confirmed that original "Alien" designer H.R. Giger is "doing a little bit of work for me. He’s been doing some murals, big murals, which we’ll see in almost one of the first chambers we encounter when we land where we’re gonna go."

 

Asked about the tone of the film being more mythological than the streamlined style of his 1979 film, Scott says "The original Alien was a pretty savage engine. I’ve always said it was a C-movie done in an A-way… I think one of the reasons why I’ve never gone back to science-fiction, even though I’ve often noodled around, thought about it, looked for story, looked for material, is that there’s a nice purity to the original Alien. It’s fairly pure. And this one does actually raise all kinds of other questions, because if someone could, a being, could be as monstrously clever to create something like we experienced in the very first one – I always figured it’s a weapon, and I always figured that [the ship in the first Alien] was a carrier of weapons. Therefore, who is that, inside that suit? That wasn’t a skeleton, that was a suit. And if you open up the suit, what do you get inside it? And why were they going, where were they going?"

[reyler]

You know for months I've been wondering why they're all walking around a 50-foot sculpture of Marlon Brando's head.

 

Oh also here's a trailer

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sftuxbvGwiU&feature=player_embedded

[SinisterDeath]

Is there a word to describe my sense of glee, hype, and undying devotion to this mans sci-fi creations?

[Majsju]

Is there a word to describe my sense of glee, hype, and undying devotion to this mans sci-fi creations?

 

Nerdgasm kinda sums up the most important points.

[Krakalakachkn]

sploosh

[number13]

You know for months I've been wondering why they're all walking around a 50-foot sculpture of Marlon Brando's head.

 

Oh also here's a trailer

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sftuxbvGwiU&feature=player_embedded

 

That trailer alone is better than a good portion of the movies I've seen in the last year or so.

 

I'm so excited about this film that it's almost sad.

[fearless-freak]

there are four films i'm gonna definatley see this year, Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit part 1 and The Expendables 2

[Nolder]

 

full trailer

[Emperor]

Fox has confirmed that Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" has officially scored an R-rating.

An IMDb posting over the weekend showed a pre-sales ticket for the film listed it as having an 'R' rating, though no announcement had been made by the MPAA.

Now it has been confirmed to be an 'R' for "sci-fi violence including intense images, and brief language".

[Emperor]

Quite a lot of people mourned when word came last year that Universal had scrapped plans for Guillermo del Toro's life-long dream project, his adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "At The Mountains Of Madness".

 

del Toro's determination to stick with an R-rating and the hefty budget (around $150M) made it a tough sell, but he (and many of us) held out hope that it would be resurrected someday.

 

Sadly even the filmmaker himself seems to have given up hope and for one very specific reason - Ridley Scott's upcoming sci-fi saga "Prometheus". Seems the similarities between the two stories are too much to ignore.

 

In postings on Del Toro Films (via WP), the director posted the following message on this issue which has apparently come up in interviews:

 

"Prometheus started filming a while ago - right at the time we were in preproduction on 'Pacific Rim'. The title itself gave me pause- knowing that 'Alien' was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella.

 

This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book.

 

I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause -if not the demise- of 'At the Mountains of Madness'.

 

The sad part is- I have been pursuing 'At the Mountains of Madness' for over a decade now - and, well, after Hellboy II two projects I dearly loved were not brought to fruition for me.

 

The good part is: One project did... And I am loving it and grateful for the blessings I have received."

 

When people went on to ask him about the similarities he said:

 

 

 

 

"Same premise. Scenes that would be almost identical. Both movies seem to share identical set pieces and the exact same big revelation (twist) at the end. I won't spoil it."

 

 

[Twiggy]

Ahck can't wait for this! Just did a run of the 4 Alien movies on my theatre recently :)