It’s fair to say that the making of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece Alien has been pretty well documented. Whether it’s books about the making of the film, HR Giger’s work, or epic documentaries on DVD & Blu-Ray, pretty much everything seems to have been covered.
And so along comes Alien Vault, from Ian Nathan, executive editor of the UK’s Empire magazine, raising the question of what on earth else can possibly be added to the story.
Beginnning with a personal and heartfelt introduction from Nathan, Alien Vault dives back into the story behind the film with new energy. To be fair, there’s little in the way of ‘well I never knew that’ revelations, but several things lift the book above what has come before.
Written with full co-operation from Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox, there are certainly plenty of previously unseen photos and production images, from publicity shots to quickly snapped continuity Polaroids, complete with quickly scribbled annotations.
All the familiar ground is covered, but it’s never dull, and Nathan’s obvious passion for the subject drives the book forwards at a cracking pace, and it’s the little details he covers that really add some depth to story of the film.
Unique to this book are several pull-out ‘enclosures’, which include reproductions of Giger images, early poster designs, Nostromo blueprints, Scott’s ‘Ridelygram’ storyboards, a hand-annotated script page and lots more.
After pulling together all the behind the scenes tales from Alien, Nathan also spends a little time looking at the film’s legacy, including the sequels and publishing spin-offs.
The whole package is beautifully presented in hardback and good quality, glossy paper, and sits in a sturdy slipcase.
So, is it worth a purchase? If you’re a fan who is so far largely unfamiliar with the behind-the-scenes story of Alien, then without hesitation I can say that this is an essential purchase. For those (like me) whose book-cases are already straining with Alien literature, I would say it’s still worth checking out; yes it’s a familiar story, but it’s well told with a fresh eye, and immaculately presented.
You can win one of 6 copies of the book here, or you can also order the book for £19.49 & free UK delivery here, or if you are in North America, you can get it for US $23.10 here.
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The chaps at Alien Prequel News have scored a couple of exclusive photos showing a vehicle and set piece from Prometheus.
Below you can see some kind of truck, that could be glimpsed in the leaked screengrabs from the Comic-Con reel, part of a so-called ‘lifter’ machine, as seen on the edge of the only official still so far released, and another photo of the previously seen tunnel sets.
images removed by request of 20th Century Fox
Prometheus is directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Damon Lindelof, based on an earlier, abandoned Alien prequel script by Jon Spaihts. The film also stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Ben Foster, Patrick Wilson and Kate Dickie, and is due for release on June 8th 2012.
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UPDATE – it seems that Scriptflags was hoodwinked; this actually a piece of fan made art. And a nice one at that. Hopefully the genuine article will be as atmospheric!
There have been no shortage of fan-made posters for Prometheus, but the fine folks st ScriptFlags have been sent what could well be the first legit one.
The fact it focusses on the ‘canisters’ seen in some leaked set photos as Comic-Con reel screen grabs does lend it some credibility. What do you think?
Prometheus is directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Damon Lindelof, based on an earlier, abandoned Alien prequel script by Jon Spaihts. The film also stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Ben Foster, Patrick Wilson and Kate Dickie, and is due for release on June 8th 2012.
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After possibly spoiling his character’s fate with an interview with the Guardian, Rafe Spall has given the Independant a little nugget about his Prometheus character, as well as an indication of the tight security surrounding the production
I play a scientist… I got given an e-mail about what I’m allowed to say about this and what I’m. not allowed to say, but I haven’t. read it yet so I’d better be careful.
You can read the (very interesting) full interview here.
Prometheus is directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Damon Lindelof, based on an earlier, abandoned Alien prequel script by Jon Spaihts. The film also stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Ben Foster, Patrick Wilson and Kate Dickie, and is due for release on June 8th 2012.
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Rafe Spall
Today’s Guardian features an interview with actor Rafe Spall. While the piece covers his whole career, it naturally touches on his current work on Prometheus.
“Doing Prometheus was what you imagine being an actor is like when you’re five. In a spacesuit, on another planet, getting killed by an alien.
It was a real treat, it felt like being a part of movie history. As an actor, you try and be cool, but one of the reasons you become an actor is because you’re a film fan. And then you’re like, ‘Oh my god, Ridley Scott just spoke to me!’ I did this screen test for him once before, for a part I didn’t get in the end, but I went to his office and it was the most nervous I’ve ever been.
He’s got every clapperboard of every film he’s ever done, he’s got the original Alien spacesuit, and he’s got all these stills and photographs of his life, a photo of him and his brother, Tony. I was like, ‘This is fucking mental!’ “
The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that Spall may have dropped a bit of a bollock by spoiling the fate of his character…
Prometheus is directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Damon Lindelof, based on an earlier, abandoned Alien prequel script by Jon Spaihts. The film also stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Ben Foster, Patrick Wilson and Kate Dickie, and is due for release on June 8th 2012.
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After what seems like the end of production at Pinewood, and a spell in the tropics of Iceland, it seems that Prometheus is now heading for a spell in Spain. The folks at AvP Galaxy spotted this report on a local Spanish website.
With the help of Google’s translation tool:
Filming will take place at studios in Alicante, Spain, and Prometheus will be the 59th project to shoot there. The production has the studio booked from August 22th to December 10th, and set construction begins next week, with filming due to start at the end of September. The studios feature a large water tank, which will be used to film a scene involving a yacht caught in a storm. Additional filming will take place at a local beach, the location of which is understandably being kept under wraps.
It seems that of the main cast, only Guy Pearce and Micheal Fassbender will be on set, though the report says they and may be joined by Charlize Theron.
In terms of boosting the local economy, it seems the production will bring work for nearly 250 local contractors, and bring in over 1 million euros to the region.
So it goes without saying that if you live in the area, or are involved in the Alicante leg of filming, we would love to hear from you with any information or photos you can provide, anonymously of course. If you can share anything, please get in touch!
Prometheus is directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Damon Lindelof, based on an earlier, abandoned Alien prequel script by Jon Spaihts. The film also stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Ben Foster, Patrick Wilson and Kate Dickie, and is due for release on June 8th 2012.
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While our main focus here is on Prometheus and the related Alien and Predator franchises, it goes without saying that we are extremely excited about the possibilities of Ridley Scott’s new Blade Runner project, and we will be closely following the project’s path to the big screen.
If you work within Warner Bros or Alcon, or are otherwise connected to the project, please contact us – anonymously of course – with what you know.
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After yesterday’s… unexptected announcment that Ridley Scott has signed on to direct a new Blade Runner project, more details are now emerign on how the project came about.
The LA Times provides some background on producer Andrew Kosove’s efforts to snag the legendary filmmaker.
“Here’s how it went down. As Kosove and his partners were locking down rights to the movie about replicants in 2019 Los Angeles along with the Philip K. Dick novel on which it was based, they called an executive at Scott Free, Ridley and Tony Scott’s production company. The Alcon people simply wanted to see if Ridley would sit down with them.
The filmmaker agreed, and shortly after the rights deal closed in March, Kosove and his partner Broderick Johnson flew to London to meet with the director.
Over the course of one meeting, they hashed out how a new film would look, how it could avoid seeming too similar to the many movies that have since paid homage to the original, and how different the new film should be from the original itself. They eventually decided it should stand as separately as possible.”
So, it would seem that Scott is taking an approach similar to that of Prometheus; not a direct sequel or prequel as such, but more a ‘companion piece’, inhabiting the same cinematic universe as Blade Runner.
In terms of schedule, while the film is on what might be classed as a fast-track in Hollywood terms, Kosove reckons that with the amount of work needed – getting a script that everyone is happy with, casting and a no doubt heroic bout of pre-production design work – the film is unlikely to begin filming before early 2013, giving us a release sometime in 2014 at the earliest.
As for the big question of Harrison Ford’s involvement, according to Kosove:
“In no way do I speak for Ridley Scott, but if you’re asking me will this movie have anything to do with Harrison Ford, the answer is no. This is a total reinvention, and in my mind that means doing everything fresh, including casting”
Finally, Kosove addresses fan concerns on returning to such a well-loved film:
“When we made the first announcement there was a lot of skepticism, understandably. And now with Ridley coming back there’s a greater level of comfort. And once we have the writer, I think fans will feel even more comfortable. We want people to know that we’re very serious about doing this in an artistic way. This isn’t just commercial fodder”
Well, Kosove is certainly making all the right noises here, and, as with Prometheus, I don’t think Scott would risk his reputation on this project if he didn’t think it was worth doing. Time will tell of course, but for now at least it seems like this could turn out to be another worthy return to past glories for Scott
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Ridley Scott
Back in 2009 the New York Times reported that Ridley Scott was working on a web video series set in the universe established in Blade Runner.
Then, in March 2011 it was reported that Warner Bros-based Alcon Entertainment were working on securing the rights to make prequels and/or sequels to Scott’s seminal sci-fi film.
Now it seems that things have finally fallen into place, as it’s being reported that not only have those rights been secured, but Scott is onboard to direct a new Blade Runner movie!
It’s not known at this stage whether the film will be a direct prequel or sequel, or, in the the style of Prometheus, simply set in the same ‘universe’. All we do know at the moment is that the film WON’T be a remake; Alcon’s rights don’t cover that.
While, as with another Alien movie, the merits of Blade Runner film are a matter of personal opinion, the fact that Scott is onboard is enough to calm the nerves; after all, what’s been seen so far of Prometheus has pretty much universally silenced those who were originally against another entry in the Alien franchise.
While there may not be a script yet, one can imagine that story ideas must be far enough advanced to grab Scott’s interest and get him onboard. We may well see this project go the way of the original plans for an Alien prequel, which eventually became Prometheus. Will we now be teased by Scott’s indication of a new film containing Blade Runner DNA?
Stay tuned and hopefully all will be revealed as work on Prometheus comes to a close.
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