In the last four days or so Ridley Scott’s one-time Alien prequel, now titled Prometheus, has made a few headlines. Earlier today the Daily Mail revealed Idris Elba (The Losers), Sean Harris (The Red Riding Trilogy) and Kate Dickie (“The Pillars of the Earth”) have joined previously cast Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender in the film.
The “Mail” story also carries a quote from Scott saying, “I was insistent that the script not leak onto the internet, where it gets dissected out of context, which spoils it for everyone.” Of course, details have slipped out, some by Scott himself back when the film was originally labeled an Alien prequel.
“It’s set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley],” Scott told Empire. “It’s fundamentally about going out to find out ‘Who the hell was that Space Jockey?'” The “Space Jockey” he’s referring to is the giant being seen in the original film just prior to John Hurt being attacked (get more on that here).
However, that storyline was a bit up in the air as the film went from being an Alien prequel to being titled Prometheus (unless this is all a bit of misdirection), but since then Sky.com had a report from a source saying, “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.”
I never heard if this was confirmed or not, but Scott also said in the “Daily Mail” report, “[Prometheus is] the story of creation, the gods and the man who stood against them. It’s not a small film. I’m using the giant James Bond 007 stage at Pinewood and six other sound stages to film it.”
Scott has always said Prometheus had “strands of Alien‘s DNA” and recently Michael Fassbender, who plays an android in the film, told MTV “there’s a definite connecting vein” and Fassbender isn’t done talking.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly Fassbender adds, “It’s a different story, but it’s also got the traditional roots. Alien fans will recognize things in it. It’s not ignoring Alien, there’s still a link to that world. But it’s a different story. It’s definitely connected, though.”
Elsewhere, the talk of the alien species continues with Sky Movies saying the aforementioned Space Jockey has been built as an eight foot animatronic and that original alien creature designer, HR Giger, “is working on the project but only in an advisory capacity.”
