They're Remaking 'Alien' -- the 'Prometheus' thread

That's actually pretty great to hear.

interesting, is there anything known about this new flick?

Weird
Of interest, however, is that Prometheus may not be a total departure from the Alien series, as Sky Movies is reporting that the classic alien creatures actually play a major role in the film’s plot. A source close to them even went so far as to say that the film “definitely takes place in the same world as Alien.” How the two mix into each other remains to be seen.
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/01/27/michael-fassbender-lands-high-profile-role-in-prometheus-but-is-it-actually-a-new-alien-movie-afterall/

eh, seems like typical rumor mill echo chamber bullshit

has already gone to my most anticipated movie of the next xx years (do i have low standards?)

i'm gonna guess it has to do with one alien race and the aliens from...alien... are all exiled or whatev after a big battle at the end of the movie, and their last surviving ship is the one that crashes on the planet seen in the original alien. it would be a prequel w/out not really being so - a prequel would have to retain certain characters or themes from the orig. alien series. i'll just toss out that i think ridley has the guts to craft a sci-fi that doesn't involve "man meets alien"

of course there was also rumor that the girl from the dragon tattoo series would play star role? ffs i hope they don't implement any alternate universes/time travel

It's not a rumor, she's been cast.

http://movies.sky.com/exclusive-prometheus-plot-reveal-aliens-are-in-it

It turns out that Ridley Scott's recent comments that Prometheus would be a departure from the Aliens series are somewhat misleading.

An exclusive source has told us that not only are HR Giger's classic aliens in it, but that they're integral to the plot.

Mere hours after the announcement that Michael Fassbender is locked in to play an android with rumoured links to Aliens' Bishop series, our insider sources have revealed that he's not the only one with strong links to the series' past.

Alien 27This is back too...."They’ve built the ‘space jockey’ cockpit at Pinewood as seen in the original Alien film, so it definitely takes place in the same world as Alien", they told us.

"Despite that press release that seemed to indicate there were no aliens in the movie, the familiar HR Giger-style aliens do appear. Big ones apparently."

And as for Scott's comments noting that "keen fans will recognise strands of Alien's DNA"?

It turns out there was the slightest hint of misdirection - apparently the actual DNA of the xenomorphs is integral to the plot - and will see the cast jet off to the alien homeworld itself.

"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.

It gets weirder too, with Damon Lindelof's script set to crank up the sci-fi angle to maximum effect.

"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."

O_o

there are so many rumors and conflicting info on this movie all over the internet right now it's kind of ridiculous

blahhh sounds like transformers 2

anyone got any clever ideas of food/drink for an alien viewing party?

the invitation should be something along the lines of "gut-busting good"

I dunno, squid is the closest thing to a facehugger i can think of

facehugger looks more like a crab. there's a method - i've never done it, but witnessed - where you boil a shelled fish to such intensity that it's shell dissolves right off it. it was actually my godfather who did it, when i was a kid, and involved some restaurant equipment. but anyways: crab/lobster solely in the flesh would def look pretty cool upon a mannequin lying around.

with Damon Lindelof's script

I had forgotten this part and now I have no interest in the movie at all.

Yeah I was going to say

"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.

L O S T

please tell me the main alien is played by James Carville

(the rumours might be rubbish but) hate the way they try to drag earth into this shit - some of the best scifi involves getting away from the assumption that the universe revolves around our poky little planet. Original story of stumbling across alien horror light years from earth was brilliant, AvP sekret antarctic alien hunting ground pyramid was grade A bullshit.

yea i'm sure the Martians are ticked about the way we depict them generally

Prometheus plot influenced by Chariots of the Gods!

Scott acknowledged that Prometheus, while not a direct prequel to Alien, occupies the same general universe, saying the picture was inspired by a desire to explore the mystery of the "space jockey" the giant fossilized creature with the burst-open chest seen in the first Alien movie but never explained. "The (space) journey, metaphorically, is about a challenge to the gods," Scott said. But Scott's ambitions with Prometheus go far beyond simply restarting a hit franchise. The British director said the film's storyline, and script by David Lindelof, was partially inspired by the writings of legendary Swiss sci-fi writer Eric van Daniken.
Van Daniken, author of 1968 bestseller Chariot of the Gods, is best known as the first proponent of the so-called ancient astronaut theory, which holds that aliens kick-started civilization on earth. "NASA and the Vatican agree that is almost mathematically impossible that we can be where we are today without there being a little help along the way," Scott said. "That's what we're looking at (in the film), at some of Eric van Daniken's ideas of how did we humans come about."
The Washington Reporter.

So was Alien vs Predator iirc...

Is there any sci-fi franchise involving aliens that isn't Von Daniken-influenced at this point? "Ancient astronauts" is a durable idea that's been around since Lovecraft, at the very least.

The real news with this is the confirmation that the movie takes place within the "alien" universe. When they announced the movie as "Prometheus" back in January the press release was worded to make it sound as if wasn't connected any longer to the series. But now it's apparent that it is a spinoff, if not exactly a direct prequel.

(the rumours might be rubbish but) hate the way they try to drag earth into this shit - some of the best scifi involves getting away from the assumption that the universe revolves around our poky little planet. Original story of stumbling across alien horror light years from earth was brilliant, AvP sekret antarctic alien hunting ground pyramid was grade A bullshit.

― nanoflymo (ledge), Saturday, January 29, 2011 6:09 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark

kinda agree w/this

Nah, they admitted it was in the Alien universe ages ago Latebloomer

"saying the picture was inspired by a desire to explore the mystery of the "space jockey" the giant fossilized creature with the burst-open chest seen in the first Alien movie but never explained"

=

"we realised the space jockey was the one last thing that hadn't been raped to death by the rest of the franchise, so we thought let's grab a piece of that action"

Nah, they admitted it was in the Alien universe ages ago Latebloomer

― Number None, Wednesday, June 29, 2011 10:24 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

they didn't! i've been following this, dude.

fassbender basically confirmed it in an interview a few months ago, and there have been constant rumors but all the statements from the actual filmmakers have been pretty vague until recently.

"we realised the space jockey was the one last thing that hadn't been raped to death by the rest of the franchise, so we thought let's grab a piece of that action"

haha otm

Yeah i guess i just read the Fassbender thing and assumed it was out in the open

x-post

The cynicism is warranted (it's Hollywood), but I do admit that I'm excited that they're taking this in a different direction, and not just doing an "Alien 5". Of course, it could easily just end up being Mission to Mars with Giger-beasts, so my optimism is cautious at best.

"we realised the space jockey was the one last thing that hadn't been raped to death by the rest of the franchise, so we thought let's grab a piece of that action"

The space jockey was actually given a backstory in the original Dark Horse Aliens comic book, which was one of the first spin-offs of the movies (it was released after Aliens but before Alien 3, and thus features Hicks and the grown-up Newt as the main characters).

they made the space jockey look really dorky in that comic. they even gave him a cape! seriously!

yeah i had that comic too, always preferred the AVP story instead though (which was great)

NASA and the Vatican agree

reliable

embarrassingly, I'm horribly excited about all this. I know it's going to let me down so hard.

i think it's ok to be cautiously excited. it's ridley scott returning to sci-fi! but then again...it's ridley scott returning to sci-fi.

Having just rewatched Blade Runner for the first time in a while (and this time via my new BluRay/plasma TV setup) I hear you there.

i watched alien for the first time yesterday. i'd seen pretty much all of it, but never just sat down through it. the space jockey is probably the best part of the film, apart from ripley's tiny panties, and i really don't want its backstory to be explained :/

slanty knickers ftw!

Alien on blu-ray is transformed; so much more detail and colour. It might be the one blu-ray that has really wowed me. Blade Runner looks great too.

Prometheus plot spoilers, if true (and it doesn't sound that bad):
http://io9.com/5816884/if-this-is-actually-the-real-plot-for-ridley-scotts-prometheus-just-shoot-us-now

Reminds me of how the spaceship in Danny Boyle's Sunshine was called Icarus II (cos the first Icarus had already flown too close to the sun). It's like they want these missions to fail!

i think it's ok to be cautiously excited. it's ridley scott returning to sci-fi! but then again...it's ridley scott returning to sci-fi.

― this guy is straight solondz (latebloomer), Wednesday, June 29, 2011 3:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

el riddo hasn't made a decent movie in about three decades iirc, but t'll be good to have the pred ships controversy nailed once and for all

Matchstick Men was pretty decent, IMO.

story outline is promising, but there's no way to tell how it'll play out. have some (small) faith in ridley scott due to alien and blade runner, no matter how much he's done to tarnish that legacy since. at the very least this sounds like it will be a prestige picture with the budget to accomplish its ambitions, and for an original, galaxy-spanning sci-fi story, that's something to cheer about.

"it'll be good to have the pred ships controversy nailed once and for all"

I would think that this is the main, perhaps the only, reason that this film is being made

What does that sentence about pred ships mean?

you don't want to know, James

it's even worse than sleep vikings

well at least with the pred ship there really was only 'right' answer and the people on the other side were intentionally trolling the IGN board

Morrison: the Most hilarious fanboy message board debate of all time

the thin line between intentional trolling and shameless challoping

blimey--thanks!