Ridley Scott Reveals 'Alien' Prequel Plot Points

Sir Ridley Scott hatched the idea a while back that he should reclaim Alien from whatever the hell it had become in the past 20-plus years. Probably the best sci-fi/horror movie ever led to what is one of the best sequels ever devolved into fighting the effing Predator. Suck-o. But at first, Scott wasn't going to direct the prequel, which he is now. That's not news. neither is the fact that it's going to be in 3-D. But there are some story developments that might interest you, so here you go: "The film will be really tough, really nasty," Ridley tells The Independent. "It's the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?" See, on the one hand, I love the idea of the manmade advancement gone horribly awry; science fiction is chock full of cautionary tales like this. On the other, there is a kind of Greedo-shot-first revisionism going on in that setup. It's as if the aliens can't be evil on their own; they're only created that way by man's greed or stupidity. I get it, and the overriding concept is a good one, but I'm not in love with the bad guy being some scheming scientist or something. We'll see how it plays out, of course, but that's what it sounds like, with all that "gods and engineers" business.

Comments

[Grey Hunter]

I think the "Engineers" are supposed to be the same aliens that we saw in the chair in the first film, not the humans.

[Orinn]

God dont let humans have a hand in them. Its made very clear in the good sequels and the bad, that corporation both wants it, and wants to study it. Its better if its just left alone as someone other aliens pet project, or just some bad ass evolution. The fanboy would love to see an Alien home world, and some of the other species that can even begin to survive against them.

[Kaveh]

I hope they get some better production than the last two, but can't wait for the new movie.

[J.Bradley]

In the preproduction of the original "Alien" there was a scene where the Nostromo crew discover, inside the alien derelict, a heiroglyphic that sort of tells the creation story of the "Xenomorph". This has been published before, it's in books on the making of Alien and in books of H.R. Giger's art. So, I've always seen the Alien as something that was CREATED rather than something that is a product of nature. I'm thinking Scott's new iteration will be sort of a Pandora's Box type story done with an alien race that maybe/kinda' looks like the race that David Bowie came from in "The Man Who Fell To Earth". The Space Jockey - found in the original movie - is their organic technology space suits. I like the direction Scott is talking for this, I hope he surprises me.

[Jeremy]

why the hell hasn't the book The Forever War been made into a movie yet?

[J.Bradley]

As big an effect as Cameron had on the Alien series, and on sci fi and action movies in general, I really think Scott is going to take this back to the tone of the first movie. They were talking about a prequel that took place with the ancient race that created the Alien, back when the first movie came out. Scott was going to do a version of Dune back in the late 70's and I wonder - since he's saying this new iteration of Alien could be a trilogy - if this is his chance to do a big space opera like what he may have done with Dune. Yes, Alien is thought of as a horror movie, but over the years It's transcended it's similarity to the slasher movies of the time of it's debut, to where it's like this dark , Joseph Conrad-like adventure story. I'm wondering if maybe the aim is to make the dark, gritty original complement the new version in some interesting way.

[Hunchback]

If it turns out, that the aliens are made by men, wouldn't that make them 'monsters' instead of 'aliens'? I agree with the article, that this outcome would pretty much suck ^^

[kennethashue@yahoo.com]

THE GREAT MR. SCOTT should put star maps from a galaxey about 20 light years away.. the space jockey is trying to send a message back home but is unable to thats why he died in his chair the aliens were getting hunger and got out and killed the space jockey, the main computer in the ship should look damage along with the alien holding tanks.. The jockey is some how lost in are part of the universe, not just maps of planets should be shown but maps of galaxeys as well..... the space jockey and the aliens are the same kind and are from the same SOLAR SYSTEM in space,thats why the two look alike in away.......this is were the first aliens comes into play "MOTHER PICK UP ON THE STRANGE UNKNOWN SIGNAL AND IS ORDER TO CHECK IN AND REPORT BACK HER FINDINGS" while on her way back to earth with her shippment and GREAT CREW....... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FIRST ALIEN MOVIE MR SCOTT..............