Although no footage was screened, last night director Ridley Scott did attend and reveal a bunch of stuff during a panel Q&A at the Fox international presentation during the week long CineEurope Expo in Amsterdam last night. The director was joined by Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender [X-Men: First Class] & Noomi Rapace [The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo] at the Industry Expo to sell European exhibitors on the prospects of the 3D sci-fi project and the director finally opened up his information bank and addressed some of the biggest questions surrounding the film during the informal Q&A with the European Exhibitors. What we believed before is now confirmed in that yes 'Prometheus' is the name of a Space Ship, Prometheus's narrative is heavily based on the Space Jockey from the original Alien [1979] and finally much as Screenwriter Damon Lindelof admitted as much on Tuesday Prometheus is a Prequel to Alien. Hit the jump for the details.
Scott acknowledged to the floor that Prometheus occupies the same general universe as Alien, saying the picture was inspired by a desire to explore the mystery of the Space Jockey this Guy. The giant fossilized creature seen in the first 1979 Alien movie but which was never really explained.
We had explored much of Scott's ideas in our theorized blueprint for the film, and one of those was the title of the Film. Lindelof hinted that there was "a lot of elements in Prometheus that were hatched by Jon [Spaihts]" and one of those was certainly the ship Prometheus. THR reported:
Scott also confirmed that the film's title is the name of a space ship sent from earth by an all-powerful corporation of the kind familiar to fans of the Alien franchise. The mythical reference - in Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to man -- is deliberate.
The corporation Scott is referring to is Weyand Yutani Systems the huge conglomerate corporation, playing pivotal roles in the Alien movies and is often referred to as "The Company." It is one of the corporations that runs the human colonies outside the solar system through the Extrasolar Colonization Administration. The corporation is most prominent in Aliens [1986] and we are almost sure Scott is here referring to terra forming. The director continued.
The (space) journey, metaphorically, is about a challenge to the gods," Scott said. But Scott's ambitions with Prometheus go far beyond simply restarting a hit franchise. The British director said the film's storyline, and script by David Lindelof, was partially inspired by the writings of legendary Swiss sci-fi writer Eric van Daniken. Van Daniken, author of 1968 bestseller Chariot of the Gods, is best known as the first proponent of the so-called ancient astronaut theory, which holds that aliens kick-started civilization on earth. "NASA and the Vatican agree that is almost mathematically impossible that we can be where we are today without there being a little help along the way," Scott said. "That's what we're looking at (in the film), at some of Eric van Daniken's ideas of how did we humans come about.
Scott had referred to Eric van Daniken previously in an interview with Swiss Magazine Blick last May where the director stated in reference to the Space Jockey:
"He has guessed right. [Van Daniken] Millions of years ago, there were intelligent creatures everywhere. It is a time when HR Giger's monster didn't exist. I have to create something new."
Its worth mentioning that this narrative is not a new theme, according to Mark Schultz's comic book for Dark Horse, Alien Apololypse: The Destroying Angels, the Aliens caused the Space Jockey species to become extinct 1.6 million years ago.
Michael Fassbender & Noomi Rapace did not reveal much other than Fassbender's hint that his character 'David', might be a version of the infamous corporate-designed android that plays a pivotal role in all the Alien films. Rapace, would only admit that shooting with Scott has meant "hard and sweaty" days and that the 73-year-old director "still has more energy than all of us combined." So the Space Jockey is involved, if you don't already know and want to find out more about that guys evolution through the movies go here. Prometheus hits theaters June 8th 2012.
