Ridley Scott Spills the Secrets of ‘Prometheus’

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Ridley Scott Spills the Secrets of ‘Prometheus’
November 7, 2011
By Barbara Chai
Speakeasy

Now that we know film director Ridley Scott plans to helm a “Blade Runner” sequel, let’s turn our attention to his just-completed film, “Prometheus,” which marks his return to science fiction after nearly three decades. (He’s also an executive producer on a new television series, “Prophets of Science Fiction,” on the Science Channel.)

The highly anticipated “Prometheus,” filmed in 3-D and starring Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, is scheduled to be released by News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox in June 2012. Scott and the cast members have been pretty tight-lipped about the high-profile project, but in an interview with Speakeasy, Scott shared some new details about “Prometheus”:

– The central metaphor of “Prometheus” is about a “higher being” (Scott’s words) who challenges the gods, and the gods don’t want to give him fire. “Fire is our first form of technology,” Scott says, and so by taking fire, the higher being is punished “in perpetuity in a horrible fashion.” Much like the story of the mythological god, Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus and for his actions was bound to a rock with an eagle eternally devouring his liver. (Let’s hope things turn out differently for our higher being…)

– Scott is especially excited about the story of “Prometheus” — you can hear the enthusiasm in his voice when he discusses the film. The screenplay was written by Damon Lindelof and Jon Spaihts. “I think the reason why I haven’t attempted science fiction in a number of years is because I haven’t really come across a script that I really liked,” Scott says. “This developed and came out extremely well.”

– The last eight minutes of the “Prometheus” story evolve into “a pretty good DNA of the ‘Alien’ one.”

– We confirmed with 20th Century Fox that Sigourney Weaver, star of the first four “Alien” films, doesn’t make a cameo in “Prometheus.” Too bad, Ripley fans.

– Regarding the use of 3-D and CGI, Scott says he has “completely taken off into this cyberworld” and called working on”Prometheus” “the best time I’ve had in a number of years making a movie.”

– Although Scott embraced “all the tricks, the toys” of computer-generated imagery and 3-D, he says, “I’m a great believer in filming the real thing if you can and so I did a lot of building the real thing.” He used the “007″ stage (more commonly known as the “Bond” stage) at Pinewood Studios in the U.K., one of the biggest stages in Europe at about 59,000 square feet. He used other stages at Pinewood too.