Sky.com has a source claiming they have some insider details on Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi feature Prometheus that alleges the film may have more than just the “strands of Alien‘s DNA” Scott claimed earlier as much as it may have an actual character of sorts. Sky’s source said, “They’ve built the ‘space jockey’ cockpit at Pinewood [Studios] as seen in the original Alien film, so it definitely takes place in the same world as Alien.”
The “space jockey” they are referring to can be seen in the above image as it originally appeared in Alien and it is no surprise he would be a part of the story as his character was the genesis for the whole idea of the Alien prequel that Prometheus became. When the film was described as an Alien prequel Scott told Empire, “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?'”
When the story first hit the Internet I went back and listened to Ridley Scott’s Alien commentary during the scene with the “Space Jockey” and he revealed they didn’t have a specific story for him at the time, but Scott had his own ideas saying, “I think the ‘space jockey’ is somehow the pilot and he’s part of a military operation – if that’s the word you want to apply to his world – and therefore this is probably some kind of carrier, a weapon carrier, a biological or biomechanoid carrier of lethal eggs; inside of which are these small creatures that will actually, fundamentally integrate in a very aggressive way into any society or any place it’s dropped.”
From all of that comes Prometheus and if Sky’s report has any truth to it, Scott along with screenwriters Jon Spaihts (The Darkest Hour) and Damon Lindelof (“Lost,” Star Trek) have come up with a story that goes into deeper corners of unexplored space. The Sky report continues:
“Part of the film will be shot in Morocco. I’ve heard that some sort of archaeological dig where they discover alien DNA takes place there and that DNA gives them the coordinates for an alien world. I’ve also heard Morocco is being used for alien planet landscapes so I’m not sure if it’s an archaeological dig on another planet,” they revealed. […]
“The main spaceship in the film will be piloted by an enormous head which I assume will be CGI. Yep, sounds weird but I assume some of the technology will be sort of biomechanical.”
All of this news seems to weave itself together in some way or another, but the final product still remains unclear.
What is known for sure to this point is Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will play a scientist named Elizabeth Shaw, Michael Fassbender will play an android and Charlize Theron appears to be the front-runner to play a character known only as Vickers. The film is expected to begin shooting later this year for a June 8, 2012 release.
