Back in September, directorRidley Scottrevealed that his highly-anticipated sequel to 2012’sPrometheuswill now be calledAlien: Paradise Lost, an announcement that thrilled and excited fans of the filmmaker’s belovedAlienfranchise. He later said that this sequel will actually connect to theXenomorphsfrom the originalAlienandSigourney Weaver’s iconic Ripley character, although we still don’t know how these connections will be made yet. During a new interview withIGN, the filmmaker expressed some remorse for letting the franchise “get away” from him, teasing once again thatAlien: Paradise Lostwill eventually help bridge the gap betweenPrometheusand the originalAlien.
“I’m trying to keep this for myself. I let the other one [Alien] get away from me - I shouldn’t have. I’m trying to re-resurrect the beast and let if off the hook for a while because I’m coming back into the back-end ofAlien1. I’m gradually getting toAlien1.Prometheus 2will start getting shot in February and I’ve already begun now so I know what the script is. Then there will be another one after that and then maybe we’ll back into Alien 1, as to why? Who would make such a dreadful thing?”
Last week,Ridley Scottwas honored by receiving his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as his latest blockbusterThe Martiancontinues to do well at the box office. After the ceremony, the filmmaker explained toVarietythat he sawAlien: Paradise Lostas a “call to duty,” to bring back the originalAlien, eventually. 2012’sPrometheuswas considered somewhat of a disappointment by fans, since it didn’t offer enough connections to his firstAlienmovie. The director revealed that, withAlien: Paradise Lostand is subsequentsequels, he hopes to answer why the aliens were created in the first place.
“I tend to bounce from pillar to post, wondering what I’m going to paint next. But this was a call to duty, really, to reexamine and resurrect theAlien, if I could. Its role had been worn out in previous films, but one of the questions that had never been answered was why such a creature would be invented, and by whom. That opens much larger, more universal questions. I’ve met a lot of scientists who have whet my appetite for the technical possibilities of the future, but I’ve always wanted to get a group of them together and ask them if they’re religious. Because you’d be surprised how many dyed-in-the-wool astrophysicists there are who say that, yes, they believe in God. And I ask them how that relates to the profession of mathematics. Science will say we are random and biological. So if you go further than that, and say you believe in a higher power, are you saying you don’t adhere to the scientific plausibility of why, say, you and I can talk on this phone right now? Or is there a much larger connection that we can’t grasp yet? For me, that’s the biggest question we have left to explore, and that will be the underlying discussion of the nextPrometheusfilm.”
Variety’s report also revealed that the director is currently rewriting the script with a new writer,John Logan(Spectre,Skyfall). The script had previously been worked on byJack Paglen(Transcendence) andMichael Green(Untitled Blade Runner Project).John Loganhas previously worked withRidley Scotton hisOscar-winning epicGladiator. What do you think about these newAlien: Paradise Lostdetails?
