Prometheus

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'Alien' prequel takes off
Ridley Scott attached to return as director
Source: Variety

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.

[MacGuffin]

Ridley Scott Talks Alien Prequel
Source: ShockTillYouDrop

Empire magazine got a chance to talk to director Ridley Scott about the planned Alien prequel.

"It's a brand new box of tricks," said Scott. "We know what the road map is, and the screenplay is now being put on paper. The prequel will be a while ago. It's very difficult to put a year on 'Alien,' but [for example] if 'Alien' was towards the end of this century, then the prequel story will take place thirty years prior."

It was announced this summer that Jon Spaihts was writing the script for the prequel.

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Ridley Scott's Alien will be 3-D and—a trilogy, too?
Source: SciFi Wire

All the Alien reboot news that's slowly been coming out over the past year has been exciting, but now we're really starting to salivate.

First we learned there was going be a prequel, and that Tony and Ridley Scott would be involved, though neither would direct. Then we found out that Ridley Scott was stepping in to direct after all. And a few months ago, he let slip a few details about the plot—that the film wouldn't deal with the backstory to that giant alien ship the crew of the Nostromo discovered in his 1979 original movie.

But now it all gets even more interesting, because Roger Christian, art director for the original Alien, spilled big news over at shadowlocked: "Ridley's doing the next Alien in 3D."

And in even bigger news than that, the film may turn out to be the first of a trilogy:

Ridley told me some of his ideas when we were here in Toronto. He has a very clear understanding of where this should go. They kind of stopped dead one of the greatest horror franchises there's ever been, and it had legs to go on. So I'm hoping he'll revive another three. The world certainly wants it, and the fans want it—everybody.
Now, perhaps Christian is only speaking for himself and not Scott with his talk of a three-quel. But it does make us wonder whether the two have discussed the possibility, and whether it could be more than just idle speculation.

In any case, even if the trilogy talk is just a rumor, the 3-D sounds solid, so—can you think of any scene better suited for 3-D than an Alien chestburster? Not us!

[MacGuffin]

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.
Source: MTV

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: 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.

[Pubrick]

RIDLEY SCOTT, everybody:

MTV: 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.

and then later..

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

haha ridley you are the man. i always imagine him wearing beach shorts and a shirt like he's in hawaii or something..

these quotes make perfect sense for that image. what a funny old man..

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Next Hot Female Role: Noomi Rapace In Hunt For Ridley Scott's 3D 'Alien' Prequel
By MIKE FLEMING; Deadline Hollywood
 
Now that Rooney Mara got the Lisbeth Salander role in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Emma Stone got the Gwen Stacy role in Spider-Man and Sandra Bullock is in talks for Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, the next juicy female role is the lead in the Ridley Scott-directed 3D Alien prequel at 20th Century Fox. I'm told that the studio and Scott have had general meetings with a number of actresses. I've heard that list includes the studio's Wall Street 2 star Carey Mulligan and Abbie Cornish (Scott directed her in A Good Year). But another intriguing possibility I've heard more than once today is that Noomi Rapace also met and left a strong impression.

The actress, who played Lisbeth Salander in the original Swedish adaptation, met Scott and Fox before she signed on to co-star in the Sherlock Holmes sequel. I'm told that meetings are ongoing with cast and no decisions have been made, but I could see Rapace taking a Ripley-esque turn in space.

[squints]

Ridley Scott's "Alien Prequel"
Trailer

[Stefen]

That trailer was pretty fucking awesome. Except for Fassbenders blond hair. wtf. But the rest of it was good. It was just like the Alien trailer. Same font and title card and editing. 

[Just Withnail]

Same font and title card and editing

and music!

[Alexandro]

That was exciting.

[squints]

is a pretty awesome trailer.

[diggler]

This trailer played before Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I liked that not one audience member put together that it had anything to do with the Alien franchise.  That was a bold choice, and my audience must not have seen Alien.

[Tictacbk]

This trailer played before Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I liked that not one audience member put together that it had anything to do with the Alien franchise.  That was a bold choice, and my audience must not have seen Alien.

How nice of everyone in the audience to fill out your post-trailers poll.

[diggler]

This trailer played before Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I liked that not one audience member put together that it had anything to do with the Alien franchise.  That was a bold choice, and my audience must not have seen Alien.

How nice of everyone in the audience to fill out your post-trailers poll.

They didn't have to with how loud their reactions were.

[MacGuffin]

Maybe they did know but hated the last four Alien films.