A L I E N Prequels may not happen after all!

[Dreddzilla]

From Bleeding cool...



Pre-Production On The Alien Prequels Is Forging Ahead... But Are Fox About To Pull The Plug? And What's This About Noomi Rapace?

We knew that the Alien prequels were casting: Gemma Arterton told the world that Ridley Scott wanted to talk to her about a part. We knew that they were being designed: Arthur Max told Crave that he was working at Pinewood, "doodling spaceships". We could be forgiven for thinking that they were now an inevitability.

But not so fast. A post at -script Flags sketches a dispute between Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox:

Ridley Scott is at odds with 20th Century Fox, the major studios behind the project over budgetary and creative differences, according to sources close to the production.
It would seem Scott wants a budget of around $250m to make it a sci-fi spectacular, and is also pushing for an 18-rated level of violence and horror. Fox, however, don't plan on investing anywhere near that sum, and are keen to get a 15 rating to maximise the audience appeal.

Clearly the work of a Brit, due to how the classification system is being related. Which also makes me a tad suspicious; wouldn't Fox be thinking in terms of PG-13 and R, not 15 and 18?

So, adopting caution, let's look at another story -script Flags have on the same movie. They say:

The most interesting report is that Rapace met with and told Ridley Scott (and Scot Free's Michael Costigan) that she grew up on his films when she left home at 15. Scott is most likely currently looking for lead actresses and with the films he has on his slate their is really only one that requires personal meetings at this stage, Alien Prequel.

So... they're making all of this stuff up, right? Well, actually...

The Rapace story is dated 20th of August. It mentions that the actress had met Tommy Wirkola regarding his Hansel and Gretel, something substantiated later by comments made by Jeremy Renner in early September. Also on the list of potential projects for the actress is Sherlock Holmes 2, and we now know she actually got that role.

Here's the rest of their roster of potential movies for Ms. Noomi Rapace:

Mission: Impossible 4, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Masterwork, The Raven, This Means War.

Make yourself a bingo card and keep watching the trades for the next twelve months or so. I doubt a full house is anything like possible, but I bet a line of three is a real possibility.


$250 million? Sounds like he want's to really one up Jim Cameron.  

[Mardroid]

Much as I'd like Ridley Scott having creative control rather than Fox, that budget does seem ridiculously steep doesn't it?

I understand it might not just be about a bunch of people in a claustrophobic set being picked off one by one by monsters as

a) this film is a kind of genesis of the series and the Aliens might not actually appear until further in. Or at least they won't run amok until then, (or even the second prequel).

b) I understand there is to be a terraforming side to the story.*

No doubt, if the prequel(s) show the terraforming in action or lots of planet-scapes(incidentally my browser spellchecker doesn't like the word 'terraforming'. Is it only a made up word used in sci-fi?)  there will be lots of effects work so these could well be the most expensive of the series. But that amount? I'm sure they could show something spectacular for a lot less.


*[spoiler]My guess is that the Aliens will be shown to have been bioengineered to clear out the original inhabitants of a planet, then die off leaving their 'masters' (so to speak, it's not as if they're devotional to anyone but their own queen) to move in and terraform the planet's surface to their own requirements. (I'm basing this on Scott's comments as to his view on the origins of the Aliens on a documentary found on one of the Alien quadrilogy box-set DVDs. I forget which one.) No doubt the 'masters' in question are the 'space-jockey' race, but Weyland wants bit of the action. [/spoiler]

[Keef Monkey]

Even if you take that as the budget to spread between both parts, its well higher than anyone in their right mind would expect to get for an Alien movie. Maybe Ridley's gone mental.

[CYCLOPZ]

I say give the man the budget that he wants. Alien is my all time favorite film and I've been waiting most of my life to see another Alien from Ridley Scott. James Camerons sequel is great and is still one of the best action films ever made but I still prefer the original for the atmosphere and the horror aspect. This could be because I  first saw it when I was very young 3 or 4 years old on video  and it scared the living shit out of me but I love the film for that reason.

It looks like he really does want to out do James Camerons Avatar and I have no doubt that he will do that as long as the studio can give him room to work and not tamper with his vision.Just take a look at Blade runner now imagine something 10 times as big in scope with new designs from HR Giger and rated R, and I think this will be a guaranteed classic.

[Dreddzilla]

It looks like he really does want to out do James Camerons Avatar and I have no doubt that he will do that as long as the studio can give him room to work and not tamper with his vision.Just take a look at Blade runner now imagine something 10 times as big in scope with new designs from HR Giger and rated R, and I think this will be a guaranteed classic.

And that's the problem right there. That's a TON of money to sink into a R feature.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Such a shame.

[JOE SOAP]

$250 million is far too much money to give Ridley Scott or any director for sequels to a tired franchise. Considering how badly Robin Hood turned out, he's chancing his arm.

[Peter Wolf]

Anyone who is creative should be just as capable of producing rubbish like Robin Hood which was an attempt at doing another Braveheart-It ticked boxes in various ways like casting Cate Blanchett for example but just ticking boxes does not mean guaranteed success so perhaps Robin Hood was just just a completely cynical exercise which most big budget films are anyway.

So heres hoping that a bit more thought goes into this film than that but i dont know if the 250 million is what it has been actually calculated to cost or if it has been chosen just because its a really large figure that sounds good.

I dont necessarily see why it should be hindered by rubbish sequels because it should be in a class of its own regardless of that and the fact the sequels or some of them were not as good would not be a deterrent to paying to watch this film in my case and i am sure it wouldnt be for anyone else who is a fan of Alien/Aliens/Alien 3.

Dont forget also the USD has decreased in value and is continuing to do so so if the 250 million if its for 2 or more sequels is not that much cash at all.I presume the 250 million is for 2 or more prequels although this isnt entirely clear from what i have read.

[Dunk!]

Shame. And prequels are always so necessary, and so good.

[SmallBlueThing]

Not the world's biggest fan of Ridley Scott here, so the news that he probably not being given a quarter of a billion dollars to make one or two mediocre and overlong films about a creature that was briefly popular between the late seventies and mid eighties, but never really did that much for me, doesnt really bother me too much.

Why not wait til Dredd is/isnt a box office smash and give a fraction of the cash to someone with more talent to make 'Dredd versus Aliens'? After all, that story is probably the best usage of the creatures past Scott's original film, and the graphi template is already there.
SBT

[Withnail's liver]

To be honest I'm one of those who would rather not see the prequels made.  I think half the allure of the whole Alien franchise is the fact we don't know much about them, the prequels would no doubt remove some of this.  I don't think I need prove my point further than mention the whole Episode I-III thing.

Sometimes less is more...

[Withnail's liver]

*[spoiler]My guess is that the Aliens will be shown to have been bioengineered to clear out the original inhabitants of a planet, then die off leaving their 'masters' (so to speak, it's not as if they're devotional to anyone but their own queen) to move in and terraform the planet's surface to their own requirements. (I'm basing this on Scott's comments as to his view on the origins of the Aliens on a documentary found on one of the Alien quadrilogy box-set DVDs. I forget which one.) No doubt the 'masters' in question are the 'space-jockey' race, but Weyland wants bit of the action. [/spoiler]

I remember reading a stand alone story in the UK reprints of the American Alien comics which showed [spoiler]a creature similar to that of the original space jockey with some kind of sonic gun (I think) which it had used to pacify (and knock out) the alien.[/spoiler] This took place after the whole Earth Hive/ Nightmare Asylum/ Female War arc [spoiler]the alien was indeed used as a planet cleanser leaving the planet empty of life forms that could provide a threat to the space jockey, which indeed then claimed the planet as their own. The "Space Jockey" in the story used some form of psychic link to explain all this to the story's narrator.  As it went around collecting the aliens.[/spoiler]  I seem to remember that it was described as a form of terraforming in the story.

[Christov]

Fucking Fox. They've been systematically shitting up every property they've got recently. Only Searchlight has any semblance of giving Directors a modicum of control.

[Emperor]

One has to wonder at the source of the rumours - it is likely Ridley Scott pitched for a big sum which would mean he'd still have a decent budget after all the haggling. Would the studio leak this as part of their initial response, so everyone would go "$250 million? He is mental" forcing Scott to backtrack and pitch a much lower amount? I think we'll have to wait and see what happens.

[Peter Wolf]

One has to wonder at the source of the rumours - it is likely Ridley Scott pitched for a big sum which would mean he'd still have a decent budget after all the haggling. Would the studio leak this as part of their initial response, so everyone would go "$250 million? He is mental" forcing Scott to backtrack and pitch a much lower amount? I think we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Its totally unverified as it says : "a post at -script flags sketches etc etc" whatever that means.

So yes there may well be no substance to this whatsoever unless it has been verified anywhere else but i dont know as i havent bothered to find out.The quoted text above doesnt even quote the post that started the rumour but it goes on with seemingly absolute certainty that "Ridley Scott is at odds with Fox etc etc" but then says "It would seem Scott would want a budget of 250 million etc etc" which doesnt sound quite so certain.

"It would seem" because of what exactly ??

"We could be forgiven for thinking that they were now to become an inevitability"

Well thats one way of wording it but i dont feel the need to forgive in this instance because if anyone thinks that because there have been talks with actresses and concept artists have been scribbling ideas for spaceships therefore means a film is absolutely certain to be produced then they must be totally clueless.

"Fox,however,dont plan on investing anywhere near that much blah di blah....."

Again unless this is from a verified source or even Fox themselves it is just a baseless assertion.

"Clearly the work of a Brit due to how the classification blah di blah etc etc"

OK then if you say so.I also hate the term "Brit".

Its also a very badly written article but sadly this style of sloppy poorly worded and punctuated journalism is all too common and i blame the declining standards of the education system and society in general.

Its just talk and uncorroborated fanboy babbling and it may also have been a slow/no-news day.

Anyway why is it that Sci-Fi/Film/TV/comic websites are always called something with "Cool" in their name ??