For a movie that is allegedly a prequel to the mega popular and for the most part amazing Alien saga, the amount of news we’ve seen is scarce. Compared to the daily updates from movies like The Dark Knight Rises, its surprising that Prometheus has largely stayed off the radar, with the exception of a few pieces of news here and there.
For those of you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, Prometheus started its life as the next installment in the Alien saga, but it grew in the development stage into its very own movie. While still maintaining close ties to the Alien world, it turned into… well… we don’t really know yet. An origin story that needed an origin story, basically. And it all started because of this guy.
Say hello to the Space Jockey, a small but powerful part of Alien. Next to nothing is known about these giant alien creatures, except they are responsible for introducing the xenomorphs (those are the aliens) to the crew of the spaceship Nostromo. Now Space Jockey isn’t the official name, just what members of the cast and crew started calling it.
Anyways, Ridley Scott (who directed Alien) began crafting a story that covered a bit more of their history, which then mutated into Prometheus. The movie started building steam and casting some big names, and even spawned talked of a whole new trilogy. Here’s the official synopsis:
Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Still quite vague, but definitely intriguing. So this team of explorers piloting their ship the Prometheus head to the end of the universe and fight for the fate of humanity. Sounds legit. Let’s take a look at some Hi-Res pictures from CinemaBlend, maybe that will give us a better idea.
There’s a few more pics at the link above. Still doesn’t leave us with a whole lot, except it almost looks like it could be the Mass Effect movie, right? Logan Marshall-Green up there looks like the spitting image of Commander Shepard. Anyways, here’s some speculation from Screen Rant on where this movie might be taking us:
One of the longstanding rumors surroundings Prometheus is that the film will not only feature the giant skeletal creature known as the Space Jockey – first glimpsed in Scott’s 1979 Alien movie – but that the race to which that extraterrestrial belongs will ultimately be connected somehow to the creation of humankind. For more about what exactly that could entail, read this rumored Prometheus plot outline (which, for the record, Fox officials claims is inaccurate).
Point being: if it wasn’t obvious before, it should be clear now that Prometheus will indeed examine the very meaning of human existence – and the purpose behind the creation of life in general – through the lens of a fantastical sci-fi storyline. The film is also poised to toy with the idea that what think people of as “gods” are, in actuality, members of a highly-advanced alien race – be it that of the Space Jockeys or an entirely different organism.
That’s heavy, man. Very heavy. Prometheus-movie.com has an interview with Scott that discusses the connection between Prometheus and Alien.
The Wall Street Journal have posted up a new short interview with Ridley Scott which has gained some incredible popularity through out today. Even though the interview doesn’t reveal too much “new” information, it does once and for all confirm that Prometheus will tie into Alien, making it an official prequel to Ridley Scott’s original masterpiece from 1979.
“Scott is especially excited about the story of “Prometheus” — you can hear the enthusiasm in his voice when he discusses the film. The screenplay was written by Damon Lindelof and Jon Spaihts. “I think the reason why I haven’t attempted science fiction in a number of years is because I haven’t really come across a script that I really liked,” Scott says. “This developed and came out extremely well.” – WallStreet and Ridley Scott.
Scott also says this regarding the ultimate tie-in with Alien:
The last eight minutes of the “Prometheus” story evolve into “a pretty good DNA of the ‘Alien’ one.”
While we aren’t learning too much new information it certainly lets us in on his plans to bridge the movies together. Word is that we will see the first official trailer soon, but until that time here’s a look at the very brief and incredibly vague teaser trailer, which may not be authentic.
[Update: Teaser was not authentic, and has been removed]
The cast includes Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Patrick Wilson, and Guy Pearce just to name a few. We’ll keep you updated with news and trailers as we see them.
Prometheus launches June 8, 2012.
What do you think of a prequel to Alien? Interested? Couldn’t care less? Sound off in the comments section below!
Grizzly Bomb 