PROMETHEUS 2 Next For Ridley Scott And Coming March 2016!

It looks like Ridley Scott wasn't blowing smoke up our asses last year, when he talked-up Prometheus 2 (Paradise) being next on his plate. Hinting the second installment in the two-part saga (originally a two-part film when titled Alien: Origins and Carl Rinsch was set to direct) would be next for him. We last heard that Transcendence writer Jack Paglen finished his draft and Scott was teasing a 2015 release date, which according TheWrap is indeed that untitled Ridley Scott project which has the March 3rd, 2016 slot. They also report that shooting will begin this fall, after Scott completes work on the upcoming Moses film Exodus.

Jeff also reveals that Michael Green has been tasked to come-in to add rewrites to the script. Green recently did writes on Ridley's Blade Runner sequel at Alcon. It sounds like Fox and Ridley aren't taking any chances quality-wise by hiring these two sci-fi screenwriters. It seems like Paglen wrote the blueprint and Green will polish, likely with the usual studio notes that are usually associated with an Alien universe script. As Fox and producers have a history of holding a fair-bit of creative control of the franchise, most notably producer/writer Walter Hill.

TheWrap adds that the film will see multiple David androids, who is played by Michael Fassbender. Possibly, the rescue crew or search crew for the missing team, after the events of the first film. We already know that Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David are on their way to the Engineers' homeworld, other than that we really don't know much of the plot. Having Jeff includes these minor details are stellar since we'll likely be in the dark for the next couple of months.

SOURCE: THEWRAP

Fox Needs To Consider Turning ALIEN ISOLATION Into A Movie

I believe that while Prometheus 2 could be a great step in making more movies set in the established universe, bringing things back to the main Alien saga should become a priority at 20th Century Fox. While another attempt at making Alien 5 would make fans happy I'm not sure that's exactly a good idea.

When it comes to the main Alien series, we have come to an end-pass thanks to the mess of Alien Resurrection. The fourth film was basically the swan song of the series and Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of Ripley. Weaver made it clear she was against the xenomorphs reaching Earth in Resurrection. The studio agreed and cut a bunch of the original third act Earth scenes out of the film. But Fox would later go on to make two horrible AVP films that explored that premise. Fox would need to sadly move away from Ellen Ripley for a compelling sequel.

Prometheus was an excellent addition to the Alien universe and could very well lead to it's own series of films. We already know that Prometheus 2/Paradise has a completed script from Jack Paglen (Transcendence) and very well could be the next directorial effort from Ridley Scott. This of course could be officially announced when Ridley finishes post-production on Exodus. As the director has all but confirmed Prometheus 2 is next for him.

Granted, Prometheus 2 could jump-start new movies if the film's concept lends to more stories being told, but it's possible they will end at two features. As Prometheus (originally titled Alien Origins) was intended to be made in two parts but the studio decided on making one. In the hopes to gauge audience demand for a second installment. These movies are set 20 years before the events of the first Alien, and by the end of them will likely tie-in into the events of LV-426 (which was the original plan from it's conception).

One way to continue the main Alien franchise is to make a standalone feature. Not to say something that needs sequels but could be a one-off installment within that universe. It was recently announced by Sega that they will be releasing a new Alien game in late 2014. The awesome catch is that Alien: Isolation is based on an original idea, and will focus on Ripley's daughter Amanda. It's being closely put together with the help of the studio, which provided a ton of materials from the original film. The studio is making a live-action Assassin's Creed movie, they might as well adapt a video game property they already own.





The game focuses on Ripley's daughter fifteen years after her mother's disappearance, and is sent to a space station in the hopes to find answers about her mother. Only to find that a xenomorph is aboard the station and the horror begins from there. Besides that, there is little known about the plot. Amanda is employed by the company (Samuels) and seeming is on her own in the game. As much as I want to see Weaver back, continuing the franchise post-Resurrection is a bad idea. Having this new character take her place wouldn't be the worse thing.

Amanda Ripley-McClaren is a canon character (unlike Shaw) and was introduced in James Cameron's Aliens (director's cut). She could make an excellent protagonist and a reasonable way to continue the Ripley name without Weaver or a reboot. I wouldn't mind events from Prometheus leaking into this film as well. Explaining where the aliens come from and if they're on any other planets surveyed by the company. We got the impression that the company knew about the xenomorphs from the get-go which makes Prometheus plausible, having Amanda caught up in similar events also wouldn't be a stretch.

In the director's cut of Aliens we find out that Amanda has died before Ripley was rescued by a salvage crew. It's possible Carter Burke was either telling the truth or actually lied about her death, allowing him to manipulate Ellen later on. Putting into question Amanda's actual fate. We know it's not out the question to have a company member hide information or exploit people to get what they want.

 It's revealed that Burke sent out Newt's parents out to check out the Space Jockey ship leading to the entire colony at Hadley's Hope on LV-426 getting wiped out. He was also planning to sabotage cryotubes on the way home, after setting loose face-huggers on Ripley and Newt. Essentially capable of killing a massive amount of people to get a hold of the xenomorph as a weapon. Lying about Amanda's death or not revealing a previous company mission would be in Burke's wheelhouse. This ruthlessness is a running theme with characters from the company, and I'd love to see another slime-ball (Samuels?) try to talk Amanda into unknowingly taking-on a suicide mission.

So how does Amanda bump into a new xenomorph fifteen years later? That's a great question which hasn't been revealed by Sega, but I would assume that this space station perhaps discovered the one Ripley launched into space in Alien. We've come to understand that they're tough sons-of-bitches and might be able to handle the vacuum of space and could survive it (even for years).

LV-426 might come into play again as the company does eventually colonize the planet, there has to be a point when another ship discovers the beacon or the alien ship. There is also the possibility that LV-426 might not be the only planet with xenomorph eggs on it.

In Prometheus, they sort of setup the idea that LV-223 could end up becoming a ticking time-bomb, with a large supply of black goo still there and a xenomorph-like creature walking around. There are assumptions that the black goo is meant for Earth, but never explained if the Jockeys wanted to turn humans into zombies like Fifield or something else. However, I do expect Weyland Industries will want answers about LV-223 and could send another team out there (possibly rescue or military in nature). This leaves a lot of windows open for Amanda to discover other dangerous things in the Alien universe.

Australian actress Rose Byrne has a striking resemblance to Amanda on the cover of this box art for the game. Rose has been apart more than a few Fox films such as Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later, and X-Men First Class. It doesn't hurt that she's had roles opposite Prometheus' Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Patrick Wilson and Rafe Spall. She could easily be mistaken for Sigourney's daughter making her a believable candidate to play Amanda.

When it comes to a director I can't say I have many names in mind besides Duncan Jones (Source Code, Warcraft). He proved with Moon he can could build a realistic analog science fiction film and do on a strict budget. The film was also an obvious homage to Alien and I can't think of better director that could re-energize the franchise like Duncan could. Jones is also a self-proclaimed video game junkie, so I'm sure he's intrigued about Alien: Isolation like the rest of us. Duncan is also a writer and could give a lot of credibility to the project with his input as a fan and filmmaker.

WHAT IF: MINORITY REPORT Was Originally Going To Be A Direct Sequel To Paul Verhoeven's TOTAL RECALL

BadassDigest has an interesting article chronicling the original plans for David Cronenberg to direct Total Recall. His contributions to the project would bleed over to Paul Verhoeven's final version. David was the one responsible for creating the concept of the mutants on Mars and that they would have precognition abilities. However, another interesting tidbit is that everyone involved with the original Total Recall were planning on making a sequel. The mutant precog idea was picked up by screenwriters Ronald D. Shusett (co-writer of Alien) and Gary Goldman as they optioned Philip K. Dick's other short story Minority Report. The pair were aiming to use it for Total Recall 2 as they were prepping the script for the sequel. Total Recall 2 would have seen Douglas (Arnold Schwarzenegger) now the head of a company in the business of using mutants (likely from Mars) to predict crime. Taking the precog concept from Minority Report and expanding it to a whole group of characters introduced in Total Recall which would have been a stroke of genius to bridge the two stories.

Arnold and director Paul Verhoeven were attached for the sequel with it about to go into production. Until Carolco Pictures folded and the film was taken to 20th Century Fox. Paul's cinematographer Jan De Bont and Fox worked together to get the project away from him. The studio then severed any links to Total Recall with rewrites. The cinematographer would eventually get fired from the project himself after flops like The Haunting and Speed 2. It was given to Steven Spielberg instead who rolled with the idea it needed to be it's own thing. Crazy to think that Minority Report could have been another fun R-rated Arnold Schwarzenegger action-fest. Instead of the glib Tom Cruise led PG-13 CGI eye candy which Spielberg gave us.

Legendary Prop Sculptor Brian Muir Will Work On GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

BleedingCool reports that legendary prop sculptor Brian Muir will be working on Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy. Brian Muir has worked on a numerous amount of stellar productions including Star Wars: A New Hope (Vader, Storm Troopers), Alien (Space Jockey), Superman, Excalibur, Dragonslayer, The Dark Crystal, Indiana Jones And The Raiders of The Lost Ark, Krull, Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom, Return To Oz, Willow, Erik The Viking, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Lost In Space, Planet of The Apes, Harry Potter (The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Order of The Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, The Deathly Hollows), James Bond (Skyfall, Die Another Day, Tomorrow Never Dies, Golden Eye, License To Kill, The Living Daylights, A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved Me) John Carter, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World and Snow White And The Huntsman. Including creating the iconic helmet for Darth Vader in the first Star Wars film.

Noomi Rapace Says PROMETHEUS 2 (PARADISE) Is Currently Being Scripted, Is Jon Spaihts Back As Screenwriter?

There was a lot of talk of a sequel to Prometheus being in development after it's release, as the ending was a bit of cliffhanger leading to a second film. To be fair Ridley Scott and writer Jon Spaiths actually outlined two films originally, more than a year before Scott signed-on to direct. So the people involved with the original film have an idea of where the sequel is going.

During an interview with ThePlaylist actress Noomi Rapace revealed meeting and speaking with Ridley Scott recently about the sequel. She doesn't mention too much but the project is currently in script phase and the creatives are still putting together the story. Likely, referring to screenwriter Jon Spaihts and Ridley Scott as Damon Lindelof (who only added terrible rewrites) will be focusing on Tomorrowland and Star Trek 3. However, the studio hasn't announced anyone is actually writing the script. It's possible Spaihts is has been quietly re-working old Alien: Origins scripts to meet the needs of Ridley. I would assume that this script could be further along than the Blade Runner 2 script. It also sounds like Ridley Scott is keen to return as it's director.

"They're working on the script. I met Ridley in London a couple of weeks ago. I would love to work with him again and I know that he would like to do another one. It's just like we need to find the right story. I hope we will."

PROMETHEUS Sequel Titled PARADISE?

So it's been all around success for Ridley Scott's Prometheus as the film will eventually reach $400 million plus in the worldwide box office. Almost cementing it's sequel possibly titled Paradise to happen as the VOD and home video sales should help make up for it's slow opening numbers. That said, it looks like the Blu Ray release with seven hours of content will be answering questions the film seemed to scale over or ignore completely. As it's first ad "Questions Will Be Answered" seemingly does just that for audiences.



Apparently the name David gives to the Engineers' home world is Paradise (working title for the second film) which Shaw is now heading. Not to mention that LV426 was originally the main location of Prometheus in original drafts of the script. I assume that Paradise could eventually become the planet that started the whole Alien franchise by the end of the sequel.

SPOILER SPECULATION: Where The 'PROMETHEUS' Sequel Is Headed

SPOILER ALERT This entire post includes massive spoilers from Prometheus and other Alien films. If you havent watched any of these films skip over this article. The film asks more questions than it answers and a lot of people have been disappointed by this but the film was always envisioned as a two-part story. SPOILER ALERT

CREW: You've been given plenty of warnings so I'll jump right into it. Shaw and David are only survivors of the Prometheus crew and on their way to the Engineers/Space Jockey planet (in an alien ship piloted by Dave). We now know that the Space Jockey's planet is going to be massive part of the sequel. Shaw wants know why the Engineers created humans only to want to wipe them out (with the black goo which is a bio-weapon). The real question is if there was disaster on this military instillation planet why didn't the rest of the Engineers move forward with wiping out Earth. I would assume that either the Engineers have died off on their homeworld in a similar fashion because of the black ooze or they regret the mission. It's possible that they're

ENGINEERS: The carbon dated dead Engineer had been lying around for over 2,000 years. At that point in human history the large event was the crucifixion of Christ. Rumblings online have speculated that Jesus was an Engineer sent to calm down a warring human popular with messages of love and peace. This ended up with a brutal/violent death for this messenger and angered the "gods". One of the murals in the cave is a xenomorph like creature in a crucified pose. There are correlations that Weyland is essentially a modern Roman Empire looking to conquer the universe and setting up colonies.

It's quite possible the Engineers understand that humans will eventually discover space travel and could be a massive threat to the universe including them. Our bloodlust instinct would rather have us destroy than build, with the Engineers are our creators seeing us a failure. That being said the one in this film is all about killing and completing the mission he had originally been tasked to carry out. We have no idea if they'll be peaceful once Shaw makes it to their planet.

 Self-sacrifice has always been a theme of the franchise not to mention religion. Mainly, Ripley somewhat becoming a Jesus-like figure in the latter films. In Alien 3 we see Ripley as a Mother Mary/Jesus figure as she carries a Queen and kills herself to save innocent lives which is pretty much human redemption from our past evils. Of course Rips would end up getting her own resurrection in Alien 4 only to find out she's human/alien clone hybrid (pretty much superhuman). They might want to explore Jesus in an intro similar to the beginning of Prometheus or that aspect being explained by the Engineers themselves.

XENOMORPHS: We never really find out what wiped out the Engineers but we do get a tease of what the DNA ooze can do. However, we do somewhat get an idea where the xenomorph's origin comes from. Holloway ingests the goo without his knowledge then has sex with Shaw. The barren doctor ends up with alien-like fetus which see pulls out of her body on her own. It's a squid-like alien creature that ends up growing a massive amount (like the xenomorph chestburster to warrior/drone) grabbing the Engineer acting like a giant-squid version of the facehugger. The Jockey acting as the host leads to a xeno-like creature bursting out of him. This very well could be the first Alien Queen.

A couple of things give me the impression more will happen on the planet before LV-223 is re-classified as LV-426 in Alien. Leading to the Nostromo setting down in 2127, thirty years after the events of Prometheus. The dead Space Jockey (killed by a chestburster) and egg room with some sort of laser barrier (Engineer tech to keep the eggs from hatching?) aren't fully explained yet. It's possible the Alien Queen sets up shop in the now derelict ship while Shaw and David are trying to answer their questions. In Alien, someone (new character, Shaw?) is in the Space Jockey suit likely to get oxygen only to have a xenomorph burst out of their chest. There is air in the crashed ship but in Alien they needed suits to breathe. I assume that the terraforming tech is damaged or stolen during the next film. Maybe it's the only piece of technology Weyland is allowed to take from the planet as it's the means of life not death.

WEYLAND WEAPONS DIVISION: After the events of Prometheus, Weyland would likely want answers why the crew hasn't returned if Peter Weyland and next in-line Vickers are among the lost crew. Knowing aliens are involved in their mission could bring a large military force to the planet along with another group of genetic scientists in-case of first contact and alien-contagions. I wouldn't be surprised to see Weyland makeshift a weapons program on the planet only for it to go wrong. Prometheus took elements from AVP and made them more interesting/cinematic. I could see a sequel re-working the themes from Alien Resurrection (military operation) to fit better into this universe.

One steady theme within the entire Alien franchise is that the company has seemingly known about the alien's existence previous to the events of Alien. Ash receiving orders the alien is extremely valuable and the crew of the Nostromo is expendable. Like David, Ash could have allowed events to take place as a science experiment for the company. Allowing Kane on board (which could have killed the whole crew) and trying to smother Ripley when his orders are discovered. My theory is that Weyland once got their hands on it and it was somehow lost to them. Perhaps, David erased all information from the Weyland databases making the planet LV-223 full of bio-weapon gold lost to them. Until they start colonizing it as LV-426.

There are plenty of science fiction avenues they could explore within this new franchise. However, fans  of the franchise want to see the classic xenomorph back in action. This might really be our only chance before they move into different aspects with Shaw as the new Ripley.

SPECULATION: Will A 'PROMETHEUS' Sequel Involve A Xenomorph Planet?

Prometheus is set to be released next Friday and we're already hearing positive talk from the first screenings. Currently it's one of the more anticipate films of the year and should bring in some decent box office numbers with it's 3D ticket price boost. Originally the project had been envisioned by Ridley Scott and writer John Spaihts (who has been talking sequel during recent interviews) as a two-part Alien prequel. When Damon Lindelof signed on to join the writing process this talk was squashed. Fox went so far as to state the film was no longer a Alien prequel. We know for a fact that was just spin as the alien ship, space jockey and possibly the xenomorph/egg chamber will be revealed in Prometheus. Ridley has already started talking about another film and wants to make it after the Counselor even with Blade Runner 2 in the works. So what would happen in Prometheus 2 if Fox pursues a sequel?

WEYLAND COLONIZES PROTEUS (XENOMORPH PLANET): While Prometheus answers questions to Alien, a second film could explore what we didn't see in Aliens. Mainly, the massive horde of aliens wiping out the colonists from Hadley's Hope. Along with what would a massive xenomorph outbreak would look like. The Weyland Industries viral site has been going into a lot of detail of the world-building/terraforming aspects of the company. Prometheus will be more about the discovery of our origins and exploring the unknown rather than creating an empire spanning the universe. The sequel should take on the themes of colonizing the universe. It could also allow surviving cast members from the first film to possibly be involved such as David, Vickers or even Shaw. Weyland's Colonial Marines should also play a large role here as it gives Ridley a chance to play with the war mongering themes of the franchise. As the xenomorphs are wanted for the company's weapons program which could lead to military experiments on Proteus spearheaded by Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce).

Proteus also known as Xenomorph Prime has been established as the home planet of the aliens. The xenomorph homeworld is a hostile planet much like LV-426, it boasts a cold and harsh climate that is rife with volcanoes and turbulent wind storms. According to one theory, the planet is not the actual source of the xenomorph species, but was used as a storage house by the Space Jockeys to contain and breed them. Weaver/Ridley had mentioned this planet as a possible setting for Alien 5 before the project was axed and Prometheus went into development.

One theory has it that the Space Jockeys were the original victims of the xenomorphs. Another has it that they were in fact their creators. The second theory is far more detailed and shows up in various sources. Apparently, the Space Jockeys (or Mala’kak) bred the xenomorphs for use a civil war that was raging millions of years ago. This would certainly explain why the xenomorphs are so hostile, so adaptive, and proliferate so quickly. Ultimately, the xenomorphs turned on their creators and caused their extinction, and live on as weapons leftover from a forgotten war. It's possible the Jockeys in Prometheus intend to use this weapon (the ship filled with xenomorph eggs) against Earth because humans have become too advanced of a species and are now a threat to the universe.

Images From Weyland Viral Site Connects 'PROMETHEUS' To 'ALIENS'

New Prometheus Trailer Reveals The Story

FILMS THAT SHOULD BE MADE: Legend Prequel/Sequel

We've been seeing a renaissance of fairy tale/fantasy films being made within the last couple of years. Recent ones include Snow White And The Huntsman, The Hobbit, Arthur And Lancelot, Oz The Great And Powerful and Maleficent. It would be nice to see a non-story based fantasy film make their way into theaters. Projects that come to mind are the original 80's films like Willow and Legend. It's unlikely that we'll see George Lucas ever try to recapture the success of Willow considering he's now retiring from large scale film making. The latter film on the other hand could be ripe for a sequel or prequel with Ridley Scott making Prometheus and a new Blade Runner film.

Legend while unsuccessful when it first was released quickly became a cult favorite on home video. Easily one of the best examples of the fantasy genre and would be a major influence on Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy and Hobbit films. While we'll be getting two Hobbit films they will likely be the end of the Tolkien films. I think returning to the world of Legend could be a great way to continue the Tolkien lore. It would be interesting to see Ridley return to the fantasy genre the same way he's revisiting science fiction.

Ridley originally wrote Legend with author William Hjortsberg the two wrote so much that the script went into 15 revisions. Instead of developing a film based on a fairy tale or novel the two created a somewhat original story based around a beast like villain (influenced by Beauty And The Beast) and a quest with magical elements. A large majority of the script was scaled back because it was too lengthy, hugely expensive and impractical in size/scope. A non-issue these days with films pushing budgets to $200-300 million and digital aids like CGI. The original quest was trimmed and characters were limited due to time and budget. Apparently the original script had envisioned thousands of characters that would need makeup effects not unlike Jackson's massive hordes of Goblins/Orcs. The number was scaled back when make up artist Rob Bottin (The Howling, The Thing) signed onto the project. Bottin and his team helped bring to life iconic characters like Darkness, Meg Mucklebones and Blix the goblin.

Universal Pictures financed and distributed the first film when it was originally released. The studio recently made Snow And The Huntsman a dark fairy tale epic with a similar tone of Legend. There seems to be enough unused material that they could pursue another film, be it a prequel or even a sequel. Many characters and subplots were unexplored that could help create the bones of a new film. Casting might not be too much of an issue as Tom Cruise seems willing to keep making large genre films with All You Need Is Kill and Horizons/Oblivion about to go into production. Even if Ridley decides to only produce directors like Guillermo del Toro, Duncan Jones and Rupert Sanders could do the source material justice.

Alcon Debunks Harrison Ford/Blade Runner Rumor

Deadline has received confirmation from Alcon Entertainment's Andrew Kosove that the rumor of Harrison Ford being pursued for the new Blade Runner is false. He stated that they are still in early stages of the breaking what the story will be and haven't even chosen a writer yet. So the casting of the film is the further thing from their mind at this point. Ford isn't ruled out completely but the rumor has been debunked for now. Kosove also mentions they could end up making the new Blade Runner film in the vain of Prometheus. Still set in the same universe of the first film but still being a stand alone movie.

“It is absolutely patently false that there has been any discussion about Harrison Ford being in Blade Runner,” Kosove told me. “To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story, figure out the direction we’re going to take the movie and find a writer to work on it. The casting of the movie could not be further from our minds at this moment.” Kosove said they didn’t want in any way to disparage an iconic actor like Ford, but it certainly sounds as though they do not plan to continue his story line. “It’s like asking if we’re going to make the sky red or blue, there has been no discussion about it,” he said. “What Ridley does in Prometheus is a good template for what we’re trying to do. He created something that has some association to the original Alien, but lives on its own as a standalone movie.” Asked point blank if Ford could resurface, Kosove said: “In advance of knowing what we’re going to do, I supposed you could say yes, he could. But I think it is quite unlikely.”

I previously stated that the best way to tackle this project was to mimic the connection between Alien and Prometheus. It seems like Kosove and Ridley very well could be going in that direction. If I have to come up with a writer that could do this subject matter justice it would be Damon Lindelof. He previously worked with Ridley and 20th Century Fox on Prometheus and seems to have retained all the suspenseful elements/tone from the original Alien film. There has been some speculation this will be next for Ridley but many projects have come up that have scripts in place. I expect a film of this scale with the amount of artwork needed would take at least a year to develop it's concept art.

New Prometheus Image Featuring Noomi Repace

New Images From Prometheus Trailer Preview

Teaser For The New Prometheus Trailer

New Prometheus Images, First Good Look At The Cast