Ridley Scott Dishes the Dirt on the Upcoming Alien Prequel
It’s been nearly two entire months since last we spoke about director Ridley Scott’s upcoming prequel to Alien, but wow are we about to make up for lost time. Pull up a chair, folks! There’s lots to tell.
Recently the man himself sat down with MTV with a whole lot to say. Click the link for the entire interview and dig on some highlights below.
First off a status update —
“As we speak, I’ve got a pile of pages next to me; it’s like the fourth draft,” Scott tells MTV. “It’s a work in progress, but we’re not dreaming it up anymore. We know what the story is. We’re now actually trying to improve the three acts and make the characters better, build it up to something [we can shoot]. It’s a work in progress, but we’re actually making the film. There’s no question about it, we’re going to make the film.”
Given that they have a clear picture of what the plot will be like, what can we expect? There are spoilers ahead so if you really want to be kept in the dark plot-wise you may want to skip the next three paragraphs.
“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?’ The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer’s chair. Remember that?”
“And our man [Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas] climbs up and says “There’s been an explosion in his chest from the inside out — what was that?” I’m basically explaining who that Space Jockey — we call him the Space Jockey — I’m explaining who the space jockeys were.”
“It’s Weyland. Weyland hasn’t joined Yutani yet, so they go and see Weyland. [The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life.”
Obviously Weaver will not be in the film as her character was not born yet but Scott is going with a similar type star for the film’s lead.
“The main character will be a woman, yeah. We’re thinking it could go down that route, yeah. When I started the original “Alien,” Ripley wasn’t a woman, it was a guy. During casting, we thought, “Why don’t we make it a woman?”
And what about the look of the creature? Could the prequel be home to an early stage of the Xenomorphs evolution?
“I have to design — or redesign — earlier versions of what these elements are that led to the thing you finally see in “Alien,” which is the thing that catapults out of the egg, the face-hugger.” He continues, “[Giger is] still around. Once I get more serious and get going, and the big wheels start turning, we’ll certainly talk. And maybe we’ll come up with something completely different.”
Lot’s of food for thought there no? Scott also confirmed that they want to “have it in theaters in late 2011, or maybe the best date in 2012.”
Okay, kids! Digest and let us know what you think below.
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