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More on Alien prequel from Sir Ridley Scott

killswitch, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

Article Link: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=28116

More On Alien Prequels From Ridley Scott

The LA Times' Hero Complex festival has been taking place over the weekend, at which Ridley Scott turned up to screen Blade Runner and Alien, and do some Q&A business. Oddly, Hero Complex haven't blogged the results so far, so the news comes from the quick-off-the-mark Collider that Sir Ridley has confirmed the Space Jockey angle for the new Alien prequels, as well as teasing some further details.

This is no great surprise, as it's been largely assumed since the project was announced that the elephantine, crashed, calcified creature glimpsed in the first Alien was a likely subject for attention. Scott says he was always "amazed that nobody explored the back story of the 'Space Jockey' in the sequels", and that he always wondered about it.*

On the question of the project being a pair of films, Scott explains that the timeline takes place long before the first movie, so there's plenty of space for new history. He also says that, "Once you learn how the Jockey encountered the aliens, you’ll also want to learn about how he got there..." Does that mean the films' chronologies will be backwards? A prequel, followed by a prequel to the prequel? Our heads hurt.

Finally, Scott reveals a wealth of knowledge on the practicalities of terraforming (taking mankind to the stars!), and says the new films have involved "a lot of underwater research". So what does that mean? An ocean planet origin for the jockeys? Extended sequences like the rather good one in the flooded kitchen in Alien: Resurrection?

More questions than answers then: clearly the slow-drip of Alien intel will continue for a long time to come. John Spaihts has written the screenplays, and the current due date for part one is late 2011.

*Mark Verheiden's 1990s comics (the adventures of Newt and Hicks after Aliens, before Alien 3 arrived and killed them off) did just this, suggesting that the Jockeys are badass warriors who intend to enslave humanity once they've finished with the Xenomorphs.

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

Underwater sounds pretty interesting. With all the talk of terraforming, it seems like he's going for a "Book of Genesis... in space!" kind of vibe.

Shadowwall, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

nice the more prequels to the prequel xD

I like this underwater idea alot thx for the information :)

killswitch, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

Does anyone actually have any faith in the project? Does that stuff really need to be fleshed out on screen? Alien thrived off the unexplored , not exactly a concept that will exists pretty soon.

DeathWraith, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

"Once you learn how the Jockey encountered the aliens, you’ll also want to learn about how he got there..."

So this means the Jockeys DIDN'T make the aliens? In a previous interview he was hinting that they did... Well son, now i am disappoint again.

But yea, i have faith in the project. We've been discussing the unexplored for years... The newer generations aren't that interested in the unexplored anymore. I think it's time to see who was right. I still have the Cube Zero trauma that makes me think the prequel will be horrible. But whatever...

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

They don't have to explain everything, just some details about the Jockies. With any luck, they'll be presented in a way that keeps them mysterious while still showing some details of who/what they are.

The terraforming is what interests me.

Survivor88, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

Im excited about the alien prequel because Ridley Scott is directing it and not some crappy director that no one has heard like the director of Alien Resurrection.

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

^ I don;t think it's fair to call a crappy director; it's not like he wrote it or anything.

But more on point: Having Ridley Scott back on it at least means it'll look good. We'll see about the story, but the few details released have me interested.

Survivor88, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

I know that it is a little harsh but the newborn alien was a really stupid idea.

DeathWraith, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

The newborn wasn't a bad idea, it was a good idea given the context, but it was poorly executed, just like the predalien in AvPR. And it is indeed the director's fault for accepting something that looks like an old lady with an oversized vagina as one of the main characters of the movie. Everything else with Alien Rez was quite alright. I hope Ridley Scott still has it in him to make something extraordinary out of just a vague concept.

killswitch, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

Its not really a case of seeing who was correct, the fans could only speculate and the film makers will generally chose the path which best translates to film.

Is Ridley actually Directing this one? Last I heard he wasn't. Something about his brother Tony Scott. The IMDB page lists Ridley as directing it, but I gather its slightly out of date since Dan O'Bannon (deceased 7 months) is also writing. As I say though, you guys will no more about this than me.

In another reporters take on the same interview, Ridley also pointed to the possibility of 3-D filming techniques.

PREDATORv2, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

I just hope they don't go for an "Avatar" type movie and make just about everything in CGI.

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

I can't picture Ridley Scott doing that. He's big on realistic scenery.

Angus_Alien, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

I was at this Hero Complex showing. Sir Scott seemed very enthusiastic about his eagerness to return to ALIEN.

PREDATORv2, Xenomorph, 14 years ago

Good to hear (welcome back angus!). If anyone can do good for the alien franchize its Ridley Scott.