[Updated: Video Content included] One of the most highly anticipated panels at this years ComicCon [unless your a teenage Girl] was that of Ridley Scott's Prometheus. The convention based in San Diego officially began today. Set up as part of 20th Century Fox's presentation block in Hall-H the discussion panel of the upcoming sci-fi behemoth included Damon Lindelof & Charlize Theron joined via satellite link-up by Noomi Rapace & the director Scott himself. A lot of speculation has been surrounding the first official image released earlier today by Fox, deep space, isolation & large scale technology, familiar Scott themes & with the recent teaser trailer description, just how close to the 1979 original Alien was Prometheus? The film hits theaters June 8th 2012. Hit the jump for the details.
Damon Lindelof took to the stage and greeted a very enthusiastic audience. The writer behind productions such as Lost & of course Prometheus chaired 20th Century Fox's presentation in Hall-H at the Convention Centre. After the teaser trailer screened the writer introduced Charlize Theron to the stage and quizzed her on her role in the film. The actress confessed it was her dream to work with Scott:
"I always went through my career secretly hoping and praying"
Theron only became available to join the cast of Prometheus after Mad Max: Fury Road stalled in pre-production. Lindelof jokingly refers to the shots of Theron in the teaser trailer semi naked doing push-ups. Theron responds smiling:
"I know how to sell a movie!"
Theron then proceeds to discuss her character 'Meredith Vickers':
"She runs a tight ship... but she's somehow going to become a problem. Her characters starts off very cold. She's very different than everything I've done. She's a suit, essentially, the machine that runs the machine that takes this mission into space,she’s the one that runs the company, I don’t ever set out to play a character with strength. I kind of find the circumstance. It was once we found the world and what we wanted to explore with her that we kind of found [Vickers]."
Elaborating on how they added layers and depth to her, Theron pauses and states "Ridley should've been here" and complains about him not making the flights from Iceland. Then on the screen above Scott is presented He's linked via a live satellite feed, standing near a huge waterfall on location in Iceland. The director greets the audience and is immediately questioned on why did it take so long for him to come back to Alien?
"I was busy doing other movies and exploring other genres and, frankly, I never thought about sci-fi until I realized there was something in the first Alien that no one ever asked a question about. In the next one, still no exploration of that big question, so maybe that can be the centerpiece of what we just complete. But we've decided to go a complete other direction... In the last few minutes of the movie... you'll actually understand what I'm talking about."
Scott also commented on his thoughts about shooting in 3D.
"I'll never work without 3D again, I loved the whole process... 3D opens up the universe even in a small dialogue scene, so I've been very impressed with that. Douglas Trumbull once told me 'if you can do it live, do it live' and he stil thinks about that even though it was told to him 28-29 years ago."
A member of the audience then asks Scott Is there a 'robot' in Prometheus? Scott responds:
"... there may be two. Robots and androids are no longer unique in the sci-fi world, so they've got to come up with some unique notions that make something fresh."
The director then reveals how he has had a better time working on this film "than for many years" and how he "felt secure" having a "terrific script from Damon."
Scott then begins to discuss his reasons for casting Noomi Rapace in Prometheus after seeing The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo when on cue the actress suddenly appears next to him on location in Iceland.
Lindelof asks Rapace how demanding the whole experience has been. The actress states:
"She just came back from space two days ago so it feels weird to back on Earth. It's been the best journey ever. its been amazing working on this project"
Rapace also states how much respect she has developed for Ridley every day.
"When I read the script, I was thrilled. Then when we started to work on this, I completely forgot about everything, it felt like we were discovering something that I haven't been in before."
Interestingly Lindelof then asks Scott about the rating for the film which reportedly led to an earlier stall in production. "has the PG-13 rating inhibited" Scott responds:
"Obviously I have a responsibility to his studio, but I make sure I always have both options."
The film hits theaters June 8th 2012. Image courtesy of ScreenCrave.
Update:
ComingSoon.net have made available their video of the Conference in Hall-H. Check it out below.
Update:
ComingSoon.net have made available their video of the Conference in Hall-H. Check it out below.
