Sir Ridley Scott, the renowned filmmaker who reinvented the science fiction film genre – having helmed ‘Alien’, a groundbreaking mix of science fiction and horror, followed by ‘Blade Runner’, one of the most revered and influential genre films of our time – offers his signature brand of action, thrills, scares, and much, much more, when ‘Prometheus’ is unleashed in theaters worldwide this June.

With ‘Prometheus’, Scott has created a new mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey, aboard the spaceship Prometheus, to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Although he has not helmed a science fiction picture in three decades, Ridley Scott’s interest in the genre never abated. Having made two of the most revered genre films of all time, his return would only be triggered by a truly grand idea. “Over the past few decades, we’ve been ‘action filmed-out’ and ‘monster filmed-out’ and almost ‘science fiction filmed-out,” says Scott. “So the baseline question is: how original are you going to be?”

“The reason I haven’t made another sci-fi film in so many years, apart from the fact I’ve been busy making other films and exploring different genres, is because frankly I haven’t come across anything worthwhile for me to do with enough truth, originality and strength. Prometheus has all three.”

The notion for Prometheus began with a figure glimpsed only briefly in ‘Alien’, and which seemed to be forgotten once the titular xenomorph burst, literally, onto the scene. But that mysterious being – a giant fossilized creature with a burst-open chest, which came to be known as the Space Jockey – was well remembered by the man who brought it to life.

“Something that had stayed with me ever since Alien, was the mystery behind it,” says Scott. Who was he? Where was he from? What was his mission? What kind of technology would his kind possess? I thought those questions could provide a springboard for even larger ideas.”

So, yes, Prometheus began life years ago as an Alien prequel before evolving, as Scott puts it, “into another universe.” The film is engaged and defined by new ideas and questions that captured the filmmaker’s formidable imagination. Notes Scott: “Out of the creative process in developing the picture emerged a new, grand mythology, in which this original story takes place.

The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, far-reaching and provocative. Prometheus is the singular genre tale I’d been searching for.”

Image Courtesy of   Gage Skidmore

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About the author

Claudia Sondergaard
Specialised in American foreign policy media discourse, I have a real passion for media and writing and feel comfortable in subjects such as human rights, politics, environment, social issues, movies, TV and books. Reporting from Denmark. Follow me @swirlgirlversus

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