Prometheus *SPOILERS FROM POST 1538*

Duggy747

Galvasean wrote: »

I can't help but feel that we've been had. Scott talks about an Alien prequel, gets funding for an Alien prequel, starts pre-production for an Alien prequel, gets the fans excited about an Alien prequel.... Then decides he's not gonna make an Alien prequel. Free publicity for a different movie altogether.

Yea, I thought that too when I first heard the news. I was confused as to what this project had become but then I started thinking did Ridley use the Alien franchise to steer Fox and us in another direction for his own "original" movie?

It's just left a sour taste considering he had been banging on about this film for years and it had finally become a reality but then.................no, he's decided to transform it into another project.

Ah, who knows, no Alien prequel is better than a shìt Alien prequel.

At least this way the Space Jockey stays a mystery............or maybe it won't.

red dave

Galvasean wrote: »

I can't help but feel that we've been had. Scott talks about an Alien prequel, gets funding for an Alien prequel, starts pre-production for an Alien prequel, gets the fans excited about an Alien prequel.... Then decides he's not gonna make an Alien prequel. Free publicity for a different movie altogether.

Summed up my feeling about it also but I guess will see how this thing pans out.

Handsome Bob

I'd be amazed if Fox just rolled over and were cool with the direction Scott's taking the film.

Galvasean

LZ5by5 wrote: »

I'd be amazed if Fox just rolled over and were cool with the direction Scott's taking the film.

Ditto. If I was the guy handing out the cheques I'd be well pissed off if I green-lit a project only for the director to change his mind soon after and see the money I was stumping up used for an entirely different film. I'd slash the guy's budget.

Duggy747

Well, given that there were rumours aplenty with Fox and Scott not agreeing on the budget / rating / casting / etc of the film I wouldn't be suprised if they came to some sort of agreement to allow this project to change like that.

Sad Professor

The way I look at it, Alien fans have just been spared another potentially embarrassing entry in the franchise. Either that or they've been spared an excellent addition to the franchise that they would have hated for being too different or not matching their expectations.

I'm just speculating here, but I suspect that Scott came up with an excellent idea for a prequel, started developing it as such, but at a certain point encountered issues trying to make it fit in with the existing continuity, most of which he wasn't responsible for. Lindelof came in, said this is too good for a prequel, make it an original film. They sent him away and he came back with a script that Scott and the studio are happy enough to go ahead with.

That in itself is impressive. Studios view sequels as money-making exercises, nothing more. I mean, look at Transformers 2 - the fact that a script that bad can get greenlit says a lot about how Hollywood treats sequels. As long as they think they can sell it, they don't care about the script. Original films, especially expensive ones like this, are much harder to get made.

Overall I couldn't be happier about this. The fact that they were able to transform a prequel into an original film says a lot about the quality of the concept. And like I said at the start of the thread, I'd rather see Scott do something original than revisit the Alien franchise. He's getting old and I really want to see him make one more great sci-fi film before he kicks the bucket or retires than waste his time making another sequel to a franchise that should have stopped after Alien 3.

jaykhunter

For some reason this made me think of the situation about the (Videogame) Resident-Evil-sequel-turned-Devil-May-Cry game, where a much different movie than previous iterations of Aliens was being made, but Ridley Scott knows he's on to something. Initially execs etc are displeased he's going in a different direction. So he pulls the producer aside and explains that if he makes this a not-alien prequel then they can have two franchises, more movies, and much more money; while he can keep this vision intact. The studio execs agree and we have a new film.

uncleoswald

Promising. They are actually building an enormous animatronic space jockey and not entirely going down the CGI route. And H. R. Giger will be involved with the design to some degree.

I'm feeling better about this film all the time, sounds genuinely different and unsettling.

http://movies.sky.com/prometheus-latest-space-jockey-and-giant-head-pilot-confirmed

Sad Professor

So it would seem then that this is set in the Alien universe, but still isn't a prequel.

uncleoswald

Sad Professor wrote: »

So it would seem then that this is set in the Alien universe, but still isn't a prequel.

I know, it all seems quite muddled. Of course I'm not entirely sure how reliable and up-to-date Sky Movies website is so it could be another creature and not the space-jockey that is been built.

Strange that they haven't conclusively come out and said either way yet so I'm guessing they haven't really decided themselves. My money is on it been set in the same universe but not a direct prequel.

Spunge

I want to see some space jockeys

Kess73

Sad Professor wrote: »

So it would seem then that this is set in the Alien universe, but still isn't a prequel.

yeah he keeps saying that it will be containing strands of DNA from the Alien universe but not the xenomorphs.

I wonder if he will go back to the idea of the xenomorphs being 3 inch long ant like creatures before they get genitically engineered by a combination of the Jockeys and the two humans on the Jockey planet.

JP Liz V1

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a309525/idris-elba-teases-prometheus.html

^ Idris Elba talks about his role in the film

Galvasean

So... we still know nothing

pixelburp

Galvasean wrote: »

So... we still know nothing

Reading between the lines of all the hints and interviews, I still think it could be set in the Alien universe, it's just not going to be about the Xenomorphs per se.

Galvasean

That's what i'm reading too. However, this whole idea of 'extended universe' really strikes me as a cynical way of getting extra interest in a film based off the success of another film. Segway a few references in there and make a few extra million from the fans.

pixelburp

True, but better than an equally cynical new Alien movie, stretching out a franchise already fairly moribund.

Sad Professor

Galvasean wrote: »

That's what i'm reading too. However, this whole idea of 'extended universe' really strikes me as a cynical way of getting extra interest in a film based off the success of another film. Segway a few references in there and make a few extra million from the fans.

In fairness though it start off as a straight-forward Alien prequel. As bad as the Alien franchise may have become, it still has a built-in audience. Even if they only throw in a few references, they are still clearly distancing themselves from Alien. And when it comes to the box office, they have little to gain and potentially everything to lose by doing so.

Fassbender's comments last month would seem to confirm that it is set in the same universe as Alien. The other actors and filmmakers are dancing around it though. There's probably a plot-related reason for this.

Galvasean

I'm going to hazard a guess that the title Prometheus refers to an early attempt by 'the company' to create some sort of bio-weapon with enchanced healing abilities.

JP Liz V1

http://collider.com/guy-pearce-prometheus-ridley-scott/88518/

Guy Pearce has joined the cast

Bullseye1

Some excellent casting on this movie.

Mickeroo

Pretty sure I read somewhere(probably ain't it cool) that people were spotted milling around the set in Xenomorph costumes recently.

Sad Professor

Mickeroo wrote: »

Pretty sure I read somewhere(probably ain't it cool) that people were spotted milling around the set in Xenomorph costumes recently.

Yeah, which I have trouble believing as stuff like that would almost certainly be all cgi.

Mickeroo

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, which I have trouble believing as stuff like that would almost certainly be all cgi.

True, although it did say that the costumes were partly prosthetic looking and partly motion-capture add CG to later type things(don't know technical term). Still a pretty weak story though, you'd think someone would have confirmed or denied if there was anything to it.

senordingdong

Maybe Scott is not an advocate of CGI and wants to continue using prosthetics.

Sad Professor

Alright, I think we finally have some clarification from Lindelof about this film's prequel-or-not status. According to Lindelof, it IS set in the same universe as Alien and precedes the events of that film, but it is not a direct prequel. In other words, aside from being set in the same universe, it may have nothing in common with the previous films.

Here's what he said:

“It started as an Alien prequel. That is what everybody wanted it to be. Obviously, Ridley Scott has not made a science fiction movie in 25 years, since Blade Runner, so the idea that he’s returning to this genre is huge. But there is a real issue which is — what is the state of the Alien franchise at this point in our lives? There has been Alien vs. Predator and all these things, and its been completely and totally diluted.

I’ve always felt that really good prequels should be original movies. And the sequels to those prequels should not be the movie which already exists because, with all due respect to anyone who makes a prequel, but why would you ruin the greatest twist in the history of cinema, “Luke, I am your father”, by showing me three movies which basically spoil that surprise. You can do movies which take place before Star Wars, but I don’t need to see the story of the Skywalker clan. Show me something else which I can’t guess the possible outcome of. There is no suspense in inevitability.

So a true prequel should essentially proceed the events of the original film, but be about something entirely different, feature different characters , have an entirely different theme, although it takes place in that same world. That was my fundamental feeling about what this movie wanted to be.
[...]
But I also do feel that this movie is the movie I would want to see as a fanboy, take place in that Alien universe, which precedes the events of the original Alien, but is not necessarily burdened by all the tropes of that franchise with Facehuggers and Chestbursters, and all that stuff that I love…but its sorta like, we’ve seen it before, can we do something different this time?”

http://collider.com/damon-lindelof-prometheus/99247/

Sounds like the best of both worlds to me. Lindelof has the right idea.

Potato Man Donut Version 4.0

This should be good (hopefully!) I hope the prequel traces the origins of the 'Aliens' in some way before they landed on LB426. Obviously there will be humans in the prequel, I would have preferred a total Alien movie, perhaps with some other intelligent humanoid the Aliens infected, like the ones/corpses you see at the start of Alien.

pixelburp

Finally some concrete information on what exactly this movie is - so it's set in the Alien universe afterall, despite all the rumours to the contrary, just not involving the xenomorphs we know and love.

Then I guess the next topic for discussions is what precisely (from the Alien franchise) will appear, that will at least tacitly link this as a prequel? I'm guessing Weyland-Yutani will feature in some form. There was another rumour knocking about that the fabled Space Jockeys were seen on set. Gah; the sooner some actual details & press releases appear about this movie the better.

sprinkles

Sad Professor wrote: »

Alright, I think we finally have some clarification from Lindelof about this film's prequel-or-not status. According to Lindelof, it IS set in the same universe as Alien and precedes the events of that film, but it is not a direct prequel. In other words, aside from being set in the same universe, it may have nothing in common with the previous films.

Here's what he said:


http://collider.com/damon-lindelof-prometheus/99247/

Sounds like the best of both worlds to me. Lindelof has the right idea.

Sounds great! Has the script been finished?

Oops didn't realise it was already filming! Never mind..

uncleoswald

So if we take Lindelof at his word (and from Lost I know not to do this,) he has pretty much ruled out that it will be about the Space Jocky craft, as we know how that one ends. Also likewise it probably won't be about how Weyland-Yutani sent the Nostromo to the planet.

I liked how Alien may have been about a small group of people in a confined space but you always had the sense there was a whole world out there beyond the Nostromo that the characters wanted to get back to. But I can't say is I ever wanted to see other unrelated stories set in the same universe...

But Scott doing gritty sci-fi... I still have to be in.