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[Ether_Snake]

The problem with hard (space based) sci-fi is that it's expensive to produce and it doesn't tend to attract a larger audience that would be needed to offset the budget etc.

District 9 proved you can make a sci-fi with lots of special effects for cheap. 30 million.

 

[strafer]

That Theron face is something you wouldn't mind seeing

Spoiler

under your bed sheets

every morning.

What about this? ;P

Okay I'll stop now.

 

[pringles]

Guy Pearce?



My reaction.

I don't see him :-( Only way I could be more hyped for this movie is if it somehow turned out he has a significant role in the movie.

 

[Erigu]

The problem with hard (space based) sci-fi is that it's expensive to produce and it doesn't tend to attract a larger audience that would be needed to offset the budget etc.

I know, I know... But with CGI getting cheaper...

But if Prometheus is a hit it would be a step in the right direction.

Also depends on what the movie ends up being exactly...

And I think something like Inception's success could be considered a step in the right direction already: "look, movie audiences might not be completely retarded after all!" (not that I love the movie myself, but there's the weird Nolan structure, at least). Not sure Hollywood is interested in getting that particular message at all though...

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

What about this? ;P

Okay I'll stop now.

Clicking on the pic to resize it is fun.

 

[3N16MA]

What about this? ;P

Okay I'll stop now.

All day.

Clicking on the pic to resize it is fun.

I can't breathe.

 

[StuBurns]

I don't want to weight down the thread with anything too side tracking, but I was wondering if they've discussed why they aren't using the Alien branding in the name. It seems a little bizarre.

 

[3N16MA]

I don't want to weight down the thread with anything too side tracking, but I was wondering if they've discussed why they aren't using the Alien branding in the name. It seems a little bizarre.

It's not a direct Alien prequel like originally planned.

 

[nomis]

You said the movie couldn't possibly disappoint, "not in any way that isn't minor quibbles".

Couldn't possibly disappoint me. The "minor quibbles" would be something like slightly over-expository dialogue. If the story wasn't at least competent, Ridley Scott wouldn't be using it to mark his return from a quarter century sci fi absence.

I don't want to weight down the thread with anything too side tracking, but I was wondering if they've discussed why they aren't using the Alien branding in the name. It seems a little bizarre.

The Alien brand has been dragged through the mud by AvP.

The fact that not only is the name not in the title, but in the UK trailer it says "From the director of Blade Runner and Gladiator" shows me that they are even consciously avoiding using the Alien name in any of the production materials. Not because they think it would be disingenuous to the audience, as it is 100% in the same universe, but as some kind of test. CAN they stir up broad interest for this movie with pedigree and atmosphere alone? DO they need the crutch of the Alien brand name? I think they want to find out if they can make the name "Prometheus" as household as "Alien" was. Also, for most people Alien=Xenomorph. Even if they make a cameo, they are not the stars of this movie.

 

[IC_Champion]

Yeah, that was a dumb list.

The real potential owners of this year will be one of the following:

Ridley Scott
Peter Jackson
Alfonso Cuaron
The Wachowski Bros
Quentin Tarantino
Steven Spielberg
Christopher Nolan
Paul Thomas Anderson
Wes Anderson

I mean with the Wachowskis, I can understand them trying to recuperate from Speed Racer, but Wes Anderson? Really?

 

[Zeliard]

Ridley Scott doesn't want it to be perceived as having anything to do with Alien.

 

[FoneBone]

The 'spine' of the original story for Prometheus was a script called 'Alien Harvest' by a writer named Jon Spaihts who wrote an awesome script called Shadow 19. If you can find a PDF of Shadow 19 online I recommend reading it.

Alien Harvest was leaked onto the Internet years ago and was a 'hard sci-fi' tale that told the story of the space jockeys. IIRC it featured some pretty out there concept including

Spoiler

(apparently) two captured male humans who the Space Jockeys made have sex with each other

which I assume didn't make it to Prometheus.

Obviously FOX was never going to go for that so Lindelof was brought in to rewrite the story into something more palatable. I wouldn't be surprised if what is on screen in Prometheus is Spaihts original concept but heavily rewritten by Lindelof.

Alien Harvest is a confirmed fake; Spaihts had nothing to do with it.

 

[Busty]

District 9 proved you can make a sci-fi with lots of special effects for cheap. 30 million.

I know. That's why I wrote 'space based' as a qualifier.

Ridley Scott wouldn't be using it to mark his return from a quarter century sci fi absence.

This is the Ridley Scott that wants to make a film based on the board game Monopoly. NOT the Ridley Scott who made Alien and Blade Runner.

Alien Harvest is a confirmed fake; Spaihts had nothing to do with it.

Really? I have to admit that I didn't know that. Though apparently Spaihts take did feature some 'out there' concepts even for a sci-fi movie.

 

[Erigu]

I don't want to weight down the thread with anything too side tracking, but I was wondering if they've discussed why they aren't using the Alien branding in the name. It seems a little bizarre.

I think that if it had "Alien" in the title and said creatures ended up not showing up at all (or just barely), there might be some backlash... Sounds like the kind of easy criticism that could quickly spread: "it didn't even have aliens in it lolol"

Couldn't possibly disappoint me.

All right, thanks for the clarification.

If the story wasn't at least competent, Ridley Scott wouldn't be using it to mark his return from a quarter century sci fi absence.

See? You appear to be fairly confident that Scott won't let you down, just like I'm fairly confident Lindelof will fuck things up. Same thing, really!

This is the Ridley Scott that wants to make a film based on the board game Monopoly.

Ouch.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Has this been posted yet?

Director Ridley Scott, Writer Damon Lindelof and Michael Fassbender Talk PROMETHEUS at WonderCon 2012

Just the first part:

Great interview. Adding to a conversation with Duckroll a while back:

I would personally prefer the story to have a looser connection to Alien. The Space Jockeys are a race, not an individual being. There should be more than one ship, and more than one of their kind. Prometheus could well be a film which simply shows one group of humans making contact with one such ship and encountering a living member of that alien race, and in doing so we learn through them the nature of this alien race, their motivations in space, and the purpose of their ships.

By doing that, Prometheus can tell a complete and self contained story without being held to the timeline and details of Alien, while also giving us additional context as to why the ship on LV-426 might have been there, and why it was carrying Xenomorph eggs.

From the interview, it sounds like that's the direction they went in.

Since you’re leaving this film open with these bigger ideas that could lead to another film, would you take that film closer to the Alien franchise, or would it be its own different storyline?

LINDELOF: I think that’s actually a really insightful question. This word “prequel” was on the table. It was the elephant in the room and had to be discussed. When I had first heard that Ridley was going to direct an Alien prequel, and then six months later my phone rang and the voice on the other end said, “Are you available to talk to Ridley Scott?,” and then I crashed into a telephone pole, I answered the call and Ridley was like, “Hey, man, I’m going to send you a script tonight.” And, he doesn’t know he’s Ridley Scott. So, I read this thing and we had a meeting, and he was already very clearly saying, “I want to come back to this genre. I want to do sci-fi again. I feel like this movie is just a little bit too close to Alien. I’ve done this stuff before. But, there are big ideas in it that are unique, in and of themselves. Is there a way to do that?”

I said, “I think that that’s what we have to do.” If there were a sequel to this movie, it would not be Alien. Normally, that’s the definition of a prequel. It precedes the other movies. The Star Wars prequels are going to end with Darth Vader going, “Noooo!,” unfortunately. There’s an inevitability, in watching a prequel, where you’re like, “Okay, if the ending of this movie is just going to be the room that John Hurt walks into, that’s full of eggs, there’s nothing interesting in that because we know where it’s going to end. With really good stories, you don’t know where it’s going to end. So, this movie, hopefully, will contextualize the original Alien, so that when you watch it again, maybe you know a little bit more. But, you don’t fuck around with that movie. It has to stand on its own.​

 

[Jackpot]

I really hope the Space Jockey ship trying to take off and then crashing isn't the climax of the film because they've just spoiled it totally.

 

[Busty]

I really hope the Space Jockey ship trying to take off and then crashing isn't the climax of the film because they've just spoiled it totally.

This is the problem I had with the trailer too. For all we know it could all happen in the first twenty minutes but it if not it does seem to give away the whole third act.

 

[MYE]

Yeah, that's just Cock Valley.

I think they are supposed to look like bones, not dicks

 

[3N16MA]

I think they are supposed to look like bones, not dicks

Boners?

 

[Zeliard]

NOT the Ridley Scott who made Alien and Blade Runner.

Obviously he's lost the ability to make good sci-fi films. Based on all the sci-fi films he's made since then.

 

[nomis]

This is the problem I had with the trailer too. For all we know it could all happen in the first twenty minutes but it if not it does seem to give away the whole third act.

At the very least I don't feel so bad about watching this trailer even if that's the case, because we saw the ship crashing in the first teaser to the very first teaser. Noomi in the globe helmet running away from debris is the predominant first image from this movie that I have in my head. I'm confident that if seeing it would have spoiled the entire movie, they would not have shown it. Sure, SOME trailers ruin movies, but if there's one thing this marketing campaign has appeared to be, it's clever.

 

[Simo]

I don't see him :-( Only way I could be more hyped for this movie is if it somehow turned out he has a significant role in the movie.

Did you guys see the AMC interview last night? The mentioned the film takes place in 2083, 50 years after that TED presentation so Weyland would be pretty old....

 

[Joel Was Right]

Ancient civilisations having ET contact? Tsoukalos was a co-producer for this film? :lol

Amazing trailer

 

[Ether_Snake]

I'm pretty sure that the alien ship crashing is in the middle of the movie, if not even before that.

Spoiler

It likely contains the "weapon" meant to destroy humans, which is why they say if they don't stop it there won't be a home to go back to. After the ship crashes, we find out what the weapon was, and the crew has to survive because it's now "spilled" on the planet.

 

[rikichi]

fuk yeah son, uk trailer much better

 

[Erigu]

if there's one thing this marketing campaign has appeared to be, it's clever.

Errrr...

 

[nomis]

Errrr...

I did NOT say that the marketing makes the MOVIE look clever (smart, high-brow, whatever). I meant that the marketing materials have been cleverly executed.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Ancient civilisations having ET contact? Tsoukalos was a co-producer for this film? :lol

Amazing trailer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Aliens

Ancient Aliens is an American television series that premiered on April 20, 2010 on the History channel.[1] Produced by Prometheus Entertainment, the program presents theories of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial contact.

[...]

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos serves as consulting producer and appeared on screen in the pilot.

lol

 

[Zeliard]

I did NOT say that the marketing makes the MOVIE look clever. I meant that the marketing materials have been cleverly executed.

This is the guy who was bawling about the TED viral video. Because Lindelof, of course. What do you expect?

lol

THE PLOT THICKENS

 

[Erigu]

I did NOT say that the marketing makes the MOVIE look clever (smart, high-brow, whatever). I meant that the marketing materials have been cleverly executed.

Yes, that's also what I understood, and I disagree. That TED video certainly tried very hard to appear clever and was anything but...

This is the guy who was bawling about the TED viral video. Because Lindelof, of course.

I criticized it because it was dumb.
Now, was it dumb because of Lindelof? Probably!

 

[Ether_Snake]

This is the guy who was bawling about the TED viral video. Because Lindelof, of course. What do you expect?



THE PLOT THICKENS

Prometheus Entertainment, founded by Kevin Burns, producer at Fox!

 

[Joel Was Right]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Aliens

lol

It all makes sense now. Ancient Aliens was Phase 1. Full blown movie is Phase 2. December 21st Phase 3? Believe.

It's basically all ancient-astronaut stuff. The second one is this:

That was pretty goofy. Ancient Aliens: The Movie.

Didn't realise so many on GAF were fans of the show

 

[strafer]

 

[Blader]

I'm pretty sure that the alien ship crashing is in the middle of the movie, if not even before that.

Spoiler

It likely contains the "weapon" meant to destroy humans, which is why they say if they don't stop it there won't be a home to go back to. After the ship crashes, we find out what the weapon was, and the crew has to survive because it's now "spilled" on the planet.

Yeah, I agree.

Also looks like

Spoiler

the ship crashes by having Elba's character ram the Prometheus into it, and Theron runs away into an escape pod to get out of it.

 

[jett]

And Apple will announce tomorrow that they're reviving NASA's Project Prometheus with their 100 billion in cash reserves.

COINCIDENCE? I think not.

 

[duckroll]

And Apple will announce tomorrow that they're reviving NASA's Project Prometheus with their 100 billion in cash reserves.

COINCIDENCE? I think not.

The search for our beginning could lead to our end.

 

[Joel Was Right]

Was Tsoukalos was a co-producer for this film?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Aliens

Ancient Aliens is an American television series that premiered on April 20, 2010 on the History channel.[1] Produced by Prometheus Entertainment, the program presents theories of ancient astronauts and proposes that historical texts, archaeology and legends contain evidence of past human-extraterrestrial contact.[...]

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos serves as consulting producer and appeared on screen in the pilot.lol

Prometheus Entertainment, founded by Kevin Burns, producer at Fox!

 

[Zeliard]

You guys are nuts with your analysis of plot points in a trailer ;b

I criticized it because it was dumb.

Mmhmm

Do you think you can even possibly like a movie - or anything - with Lindelof ever involved, given your biases towards him?

IS SUCH A THING EVEN POSSIBLE?!

And Apple will announce tomorrow that they're reviving NASA's Project Prometheus with their 100 billion in cash reserves.

COINCIDENCE? I think not.

Clearly that and Prometheus the movie are all bits of viral marketing for Ancient Aliens.

 

[Erigu]

Do you think you can even possibly like a movie - or anything - with Lindelof ever involved, given your biases towards him?

Too bad it's not a matter of personal biases: the guy is a hack, simple as that.
(I mostly enjoyed the recent Star Trek movie, for the record)

 

[TheKaeptain]

And Apple will announce tomorrow that they're reviving NASA's Project Prometheus with their 100 billion in cash reserves.

COINCIDENCE? I think not.

If only they had the balls to do it.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

If only they had the balls to do it.

My name is Peter Weyland. And if you'll indulge me, I'd like to change the world.

 

[nomis]

Too bad it's not a matter of personal biases: the guy is a hack, simple as that.

It's your personal biases that are labeling him as such.

Simple as that.

 

[jett]

My name is Peter Weyland. And if you'll indulge me, I'd like to change the world.

Too bad Steve Jobs' idea of changing the world was to put useless gadgets in people's hands.

I wish Peter Weyland was real. :|

 

[Souldriver]

Oh my goodness.


That trailer... that is something else. Wow. I rarely get hyped like that from a trailer. Especially considering I know nothing about this film, and it wasn't on my radar.

(only critique: I'm not a fan of one-liners in trailers, so the "A king has his reign..." and "big things have small beginnings" lines fell flat for me.)

 

[Erigu]

It's your personal biases that are labeling him as such.
Simple as that.

I explained myself at lengths, I believe. Ignoring all that to simply chalk it all up to "personal biases" is quite disingenuous.
But then again, you seem to be on a roll with the double standards...

(only critique: I'm not a fan of one-liners in trailers, so the "A king has his reign..." and "big things have small beginnings" lines fell flat for me.)

Shhhh!

 

[Sickboy007]

I didn't like that viral video either, it felt overactacted and stereotypical. Not what i'd expect from what i hope this movie to be.

But that's what it was, just a viral video.

 

[Discotheque]

TED video sucked ass, I don't know who's to blame on that. Trailer's great though.

Kinda disappointed that they gave Idris a southern accent. I know they're going with a space trucker vibe for him but you can't just mask that sexiness with something so...harsh haha.

 

[duckroll]

I wonder if the line about kings is a reference to The Golden Bough. It was definitely the first thing I thought of when the trailer opened with that quote.

 

[Zeliard]

TED video sucked ass, I don't know who's to blame on that. Trailer's great though.

Kinda disappointed that they gave Idris a southern accent. I know they're going with a space trucker vibe for him but you can't just mask that sexiness with something so...harsh haha.

Isn't that part of the tagline this time around? In space no one can hear you scream with a Southern accent.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Too bad Steve Jobs' idea of changing the world was to put useless gadgets in people's hands.

I wish Peter Weyland was real. :|

Peter Weyland would've put Steve Jobs in a headlock at a public gala event just to show everyone who's boss.