Director Ridley Scott has revealed even more juicy details about Alien: Paradise Lost in an interview with Empire Magazine. Firstly, he implies that Paradise is the Engineer’s homeworld or at the very least, the origin planet of the Xenomorphs. Most interestingly, he says there will be connections to Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley in Alien: Paradise Lost but he’s keeping quiet on what they may be.
“In a way it is Prometheus 2. It’s exactly the same story. But it was always in the works to be called that [Alien: Paradise Lost]. Is Prometheus actually taking us off course from where I’m going, which is actually backing into the first Alien… I’ve even got connections with Ripley [in this], but I’m not telling you what.”
Xenomorph (H.R. Giger)
It was common belief that we wouldn’t be seeing any of H.R. Giger’s classic Xenomorphs in the Prometheus films – the closest we got was the Deacon in the closing moments of Prometheus but Scott is implying the Giger designs may make an appearance after all: “I think I have to go again… We will see who made it, and why. That’s what’s interesting.” As for Michael Fassbender, we last saw Shaw taking David’s head at the end of Prometheus and Ridley Scott hints at some grand idea that brings him back better than before.
With regards to Neill Blomkamp’s Alien sequel, Scott says it’s still on the cards and will be out after Alien: Paradise Lost. That movie will very much be dealing with Ripley: “I’m producing it… The design is for it to go out next, after this. This will go out first. It’s more associated with Ripley, it’s a completely different angle, it’s more of a sequel. I’m coming in from the back end.”
The full interview with Ridley Scott will be on the Empire Podcast due out next Friday.
This.
Whatever floats your boat.
hee hee hee...
By that rationale, we should call it the "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" franchise instead of the "Bladerunner" franchise?
Shaw never saw it.
(Point taken about the Trilobite, though)
True, but Aliens came from Alien, ergo its the Alien franchise not the Aliens franchise. No matter how much merchandise comes out with the Aliens logo slapped on it.
The origins haven't shifted because of a logo
Anyway, I think it's ridiculous to say that the Aliens logo is somehow junior. I think the ALIEN logo is definitely horror and creepy somehow, but ALIENS is now the epitome of a science fiction logo. How many times has the ALIENS logo been copied whether for spoof or otherwise? The blue color of the ALIENS logo which clearly comes from James Cameron's own color sensibility is what has driven the science fiction aesthetic for decades now.
This.
The merchandise for sure was all branded under the Aliens because it was more marketable in terms of selling to younger audiences, but Alien³ wasn't called Aliens³ or Aliens: Resurrection. It has always been the Alien franchise.
It is the Alien franchise now. Again I guess. But for decades, we've had not just comics, but novels, video games, toys, board games, models, you name it under the aliens banner. I can understand with Ridley picking up the reigns that he is pushing in this direction, but I am just making an observation.
But it is the Alien franchise. Out of all the films, how many have an 's' on the end of the word?
Only the comic books were based exclusively on Aliens.
I for one, among many want alien 3 and alien resurrection to be obsolete. But I am grateful we have whole wack of new alien films coming.
One more thought: be grateful this franchise isn't dead and we're getting new films.
What's most recognizable to me is the full space between the letters. A L I E N S or A L I E N or whatever. I also prefer the I without the light bleeding through it but that's just me. I'm not saying one is better or worse.
I think the Aliens logo is infinitely better and more recognizable with the franchise than the Alien logo.
That was more due to the extreme popularity of the Aliens franchise in the 90s, and the fact that most of the media then reflected the vibe of the second film.
LOL
I am wondering; in the future, I wonder if Prometheus will be renamed Alien: Prometheus, just as First Blood became Rambo: First Blood in response to the sequels.
Pandorum (sorry I couldn't resist).
I'm pretty sure they were talking about Deacon, as that was the creature (its facehugger, anyway) that Shaw encountered on the ship.
My hope is that if he is using the words "Biomechanoid" than that might signal a return to the more heavy duty Giger aesthetics that were sorely missing in Prometheus' sets and most of it's creatures.
Ridley is talking alot about this.
Unless they're talking about the Deacon...which I don't think is the case.
I also think he does some of it on purpose so we are in agreement there as well.
He reminds me of pinochio in shrek. "Do you know where shrek is"... "weeeelll... I don't necessarily not know where he may or may not be at this moment compared to where he isnt". The whole way he does it is just frustrating and comical at the same time. That's why I say it really doesn't bother me at this point.
I can understand why you feel this way. There were two things going on during the rounds fro PROMETHEUS which caused this. First, Ridley is not the most articulate guy. Its taken me a while to get used to his vernacular. This whole 'connection to Ripley' business is an example of the problem with it. He means to say, events in this film link up with Ripley's story somehow. He says he is 'coming at her story through the backdoor.' The man speaks in metaphors. He is vague by default, but this is likely a testament to his creativity.
Second, when Prometheus was about to shoot, they were designing, building sets and even the cast was working from the Spaihts script and Damon Lindelof's rewrite had to work within the parameters of already having a great deal of Preproduction and set building and Production Design already finished, so the info being reported was in flux as it was being asked about by the press. It created confusion.
I think, they realized what trouble this caused. Because they had the script finished long before. They also had the rewrites done, long before they started designing anything.
Also from the gist of what he is describing, Paradise Lost tie-ins and all, I think I finally understand much of what was happening in Prometheus, so it will begin righting wrongs, I believe.
They might be aiming for a March 2017 release for Paradise and a Christmas 2017 release for Alien V. That will give the two films about 9 months separation.
I thought Blonkamp's movie got pushed back by this one.
They can't both be out in the same year.
"I'm actually going to be working again with Michael Fassbender in February on Prometheus 2. It's written, so I'm not chugging along and trying to work out where we're going to do it. With something like that, it's six-month prep. We're going to call it Alien: Paradise Lost. We're getting closer and closer to the creation of the beasts—how and why they were created—and the first Alien film that I made over thirty years ago. And we have Neill Blomkamp's Alien, which will be out in 2017. We just have the first [screenplay] draft in so far but it looks pretty good."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/26/ridley-scott-on-the-martian-his-groundbreaking-1984-apple-commercial-and-prometheus-2.html
Almost sounds like someone literally put it together from pieces of 'something' like lego. Could it be that the alien was a mishmash of body parts? Since the damn engineer's body is literally like an alien anyway.
Ridley tends to get very enthusiastic about very average ideas. I doubt it's something spell-bounding. I bet he thinks the idea of an easter egg is f**king genius and is completely unaware that other film-makers have been having them for years.
I agree with so much of what this guy is saying. They should have stopped at Alien 3, as the tragic finale works as a 3 act structure. I always say its the final scene of Aliens that messed up the continuity. Its the 'Happy' ending of that, that screwed up Alien 3 for me. It doesn't work in Resurrection either. Even Prometheus should have ended when David tell Shaw 'it's not the only ship.' It should have cut to black there.
That said, I think Ridley isn't CONNECTING this the way most people are reading into this. Ripley won't be in the movie. He simply means, there are things in Alien, like maybe the Derelict, or the Space Jockey that flies it away, or the Mining colony which we will see in this film. That's it. I will bet money it's not an explict tie-in the way people are reading into it.
Personally, from what I understand of Paradise Lost, I like the grand idea Ridley is building towards, I just hope it stays 'R' rated and edgy in the process.
Its a good time to be an Alien fan.
Well, globally agreed.
Not liking a movie is a thing. Posting countless times in a hatred manner is another thing. Prometheus doesn't deserve that.
I feel grateful to Damon Lindelof who contributed to widen the Alienverse.
The execution could have been a bit better for Milburn's death. Just a 'humble example' of how it could have been : he backs off from the hammerpede when it clearly threatens him, then it approaches slowly while Milburn starts to regret his act and getting ready to escape but the hammerpede was faster and bites his arm.
Also the goo-worm entered too easily his mouth.
In their defense, Shaw and Vickers changed at least one time their direction. And with all the Prometheus debris falling here and there, and in panic as you say, one could probably not feel inclined to change constantly his escape route...?!
Enthusiasm dampens when you remember what he was saying in interviews during the 'Prometheus' production, like how there were going to be scenes which would surpass Lambert's death and "scare the shit out of" us.
The same guy who felt it would be impossible for the Alien's original design to ever again be portrayed effectively - and gave us the LOL-worthy
DolphinDeacon, instead.The same guy who is on the record as saying he was perfectly happy with the final edit of 'Prometheus' and hasn't shown any hint of acknowledging its flaws, much less remedying them.
Totally. Good point
The only problems is has though are pacing issues and editing issues. Everything else I see people complaining about is stupid. Milbourne did nothing different than what Kane did in the original that lead to his death. The air was established breathable, so don't go there it has nothing to do with anything. As far as why didn't Vickers and Shaw run side ways DOESN'T MATTER! They were going to die anyway! OR maybe in panic they couldn't think straight, have you ever had to run from a giant falling croissant?!?! Even if you have we are not all the same, nor would we react in the same way.
If you didn't like it its because you feel entitled to a certain stereotypical sequel. As for the Blomkamp sequel its going to be garbage too. They already jump the shark with bring back hicks, and that stupid looking alien suit ripley is wearing in concept art. What is this going to devolve into a Kenner alien movie?!?! Hicks and NEwt died rightful, so get over it. These movies should have stopped at the third one. It was the perfect three act play. You had the scary movie, the action movie, and the sad conclusion. It ended with Ripley sacrificing herself so that the beast wouldn't reek havoc on humanity. The fact she lost the only two people in all of deep space she loved, made it that much more powerful. It said to her this beast will take all she loves from her unless she makes the ultimate sacrifice. But none of you can see this because again, you were too bust crying about what your entitled self didn't get. This Blomkamp movie will be a stain on the underwear of this franchise like Resurrection and those god awful AVP movies are. You will never catch lighting in a bottle. There will NEVER be another Alien movie that will have the same impact that the first did when it came out. Appreciate the original for what it is and move on in a fresh direction. Leave well enough alone.
The title "change" (it was always going to be called what it is now according to Scott) is a lucrative move since they may have written the story in a way where seeing Prometheus won't be absolutely necessary. Of course it'll help if one did see it, but I saw Aliens first before I watched Alien without any confusion when I was a young lad (6 or 7 if I remember correctly lol).
I know it's easy to be cynical, but I think there is a solid trajectory being set up here narrative-wise, I'm excited but cautious.
It is weird for including alien in the title. I would have expected then to really go the engineer route and tell us even more about their society ??
Agreed. I just hope he stays the course and does the engineer society thing and shows us some of big boy. With the third movie tieing into alien. And no more xenos just an origin story albeit not spoon fed.
Just stay the course Ridley.
Retconning aliens was something I wanted for along time. Not because I don't like the movie but because it would be nice as you said to see Ridley doing the sequel.
I agree entirely. However epic and classic the original films are, calling them together a 'saga' akin to Star Wars was weak at best. Blomkamp and Ridley have an opportunity to really create something that truly makes the Alien universe come to life (or death, I should probably say). Since the late 90s at least, AVP has become little more than an ever-circling world of cliches and repetitive plots; I seriously think that the circle is not only about to be broken, but shattered.