Adam Frazier
Ridley Scott to direct ‘Alien’ prequel
Back in May, commercial director Carl Erik Rinsch was signed on to direct a remake of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film, Alien. Since then, the remake has developed into more of a prequel. Now, according to this story in Variety, Ridley Scott himself is returning to the director’s chair to helm Twentieth Century Fox’s Alien prequel.
In Alien, the crew of a commercial towing vessel discovers a derelict spaceship on an unexplored planet. Upon exploring the derelict craft, the crew discovers a vast chamber containing thousands of eggs, with no explanation of how they got there. It is predicted that Scott’s prequel will tell the story of the derelict craft, its crew, and the origin of the Alien species.
Personally, Ridley Scott’s involvement doesn’t excite me in the least bit. He’s established, comfortable and complacent. I would much rather see Guillermo del Toro, Duncan Jones or Carl Erik Rinsch take the reigns of this franchise and give it a new edge.
Ridley Scott is not the same director who made Alien and Blade Runner, in fact I would wager a guess that Russel Crowe could show up in the Alien prequel as a Dallas-esque character. He’s become predictable and, to be honest, kind of boring as a filmmaker.
The entire Alien franchise is built on mystery, and now there’s going to be a film dedicted to deconstructing that mysterious mythology? Sounds like a mistake to me, Ridley. The origin of the derelict ship, the “Space Jockey” and The Company’s involvement in the Nostromo’s investigation of LV-426 can only be underwhelming and disappointing after 30 years of mystery.
I guess we’ll see what happens, but I’m not sure the Alien franchise can be revived. The franchise has gotten progressively worse over the years, and those pesky Alien Vs. Predator films aren’t helping. I sincerely hope there is a brilliant script for Ridley Scott to bring to life – or else this will be yet another failed attempt at recapturing the brilliance of Alien and Aliens.
I would also like to go on record with some guesses at what the title will be. It’s obviously going to involve a colon, because that’s what you do these days. Alright, here goes nothing:
* Alien: The Colony
* Alien: Origin
* Alien: Derelict
* Alien: Attack of the Xenomorphs
* Alien: The last of the Bug Hunters
* Alien: Electric Boogaloo
* Alien: Space Jockey and the Kingdom of the Parasitic Egg
