Ridley Scott Brings the Fire to "Prometheus"

Ridley Scott Brings the Fire to "Prometheus"

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Nick Hanover

Hotshot director Ridley Scott has let it be known that his planned "Alien" prequel has morphed into a different project altogether, according to Deadline and others. The "Blade Runner" director had been brought on to helm a film that would be his return to the "Alien" franchise that he helped create but he has since confirmed that the project has taken on a life of its own and will now be known as "Prometheus."

When it was still an "Alien" prequel, the film was scripted by Jon Spaihts, who has yet to have a screenplay make it to the screen despite his attachment to various high-profile projects, the most notable of which was the Keanu Reeves' vehicle "Passengers." Spaihts' "Passengers" involvement brought him to Ridley Scott's attention and the director hired him to write two "Alien" prequels. But now Scott is working with "Lost" mastermind Damon Lindelof.

Lindelof and Scott have apparently turned "Prometheus" into its own unique story, set in a separate reality from the "Alien" films, though they say it shares DNA with that franchise, whatever that means (I suppose it's like saying "Alien" shares DNA with "Dark Star"?). There are very few details about the project outside of the involvement of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" star Noomi Rapace, who is said to play one of the female leads. Also said to be interested in the project but not yet attached are Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron, who are vying for one of the other lead roles.

However, Collider has done some investigating and they've discovered some interesting correlations between "Prometheus" and one of Spaihts' other projects, "Shadow 19." In that unproduced screenplay of Spaihts', a terraforming ship plays an integral role and it just so happens to be named "Prometheus." "Shadow 19" is described by Scriptflags as a film about the attempts to terraform an otherwise uninhabitable planet so that it can sustain human life, since the Earth has been basically ravaged due to a massive war between the two remaining superpowers. Things go wrong and a group of scientists and Marine Corps members have to get involved and save the day.

At the moment it's unclear if Spaihts had turned his "Shadow 19" script into an "Alien" prequel and hence the creation of "Prometheus," or if Lindelof and Scott just liked the idea so much they decided to run with it as its own film. Whatever the case, Scott's return to sci-fi should be enough to get everyone paying attention and eagerly awaiting more scraps of information.