Watch Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS Comic Con Press Conference
Damon Lindelof and Charlize Theron talk about Ridley Scott's former Alien prequel now bad-ass sounding original sci-fi film.
Those thoughtful guys at Coming Soon managed to film the Comic Con press conference for Ridley Scott's much anticipated sci-fi film Prometheus, meaning all of us at home can pretend we are in San Diego and part of the experience. And the best thing about it is that we don't have to go dressing up as a Vulcan to do so! Screenwriter Damon Lindelof, actress Charlize Theron were on hand to talk all about the origins of the film, it's secrecy and how the movie that's still being shot is being developed. Watch the press conference below and check out underneath we will highlight some of the key discussion points; Damon Lindelof confirmed that Prometheus was indeed an Alien prequel before he boarded the film and was asked by Ridley Scott to take it into a new direction that would be less concerned about staying in the realms of the Alien franchise. He said he was going to send me a script written by a guy named Jon Spaihts. It had a lot of great ideas in it. But it was most definitely an Alien prequel and I think Ridley really wanted to push the movie into original territory. One of the pitfalls of a prequel, if you dont handle it right, is that the audience kind of knows whats coming because theyve seen the sequel, the original movie. He was also driven by these bigger thematic ideas and we started having these conversations. We worked together for a few months rewriting the script until he was satisfied that it was its own movie.Ridley Scott is shooting the film with two different cuts in mind, one that would be PG-13 and one that would be R-Rated and when shooting is complete, he and 20th Century Fox head Tim Rothman will decide which to use;
"I have a responsibility to my studio, but I always make sure we have both options. Youre crazy not to. Tom and I will both look at it and decide what the best way of going. Ive fundamentally covered our ass. But there will still be naked push-ups.Theron compares her character to Ivanka Trump;
I thought that there was great potential to explore the themes the movie was already exploring through the eyes of a character so different from everybody else on this mission, says Theron. To experience through the eyes of someone who comes from such a cold, economic, business kind of suit sense of it. When Damon and I spoke, we explored how to make her more layered. That was when I really got excited. She is the suit that runs the company and puts this whole thing together and were talking about a lot of money. I watch the Trumps. I know Ivanka Trump. Shes running that ship. Women who come from those environments tend to do really well. I think theres something about a girl kind of being in the shadow of her father. Those are interesting themes to play upon if youre creating this woman who comes from incredible strength and just, real balls.Ridley Scott wanted a green screen free shoot;
One of the things that was really important to him in terms of the constructions of the sets is that if youre building a ship, he just built the ship. (Lindelof) "Everything was built and if it wasnt built and you were looking out a window ship, he would have computerized this CG imaging that would play out the scene of what was happening outside. It just kind of grounds everything so much for actors. Its all there and its all physically being lit. (Theron)Lindelof says the movie will be in 3D;
Ridley is directing a movie in 3D for the first time, hes shooting it in 3D. Its not a conversion. Just the way that its going to look and feel has to be special. Ive never been on the set of a movie that was actually shooting in 3D before so every time you walked into video village, there were essentially five massive HD screens. You walk in, you get a pair of glasses and you can actually see the shot and you suddenly understood, like, Oh my God, they actually designed this movie for 3D. Ridley is a shot maker. He makes beautiful art. And so the idea of going in in post and putting things in there digitally is not going to happen in this movie. Any movie thats going to be in 3D has to answer, Can you justify this being in 3D? Why should this be in 3D? The answer to that question for Prometheus is that it creates a very immersive environment. Sometimes very confined spaces, sometimes very wide open spaces. But the only way to really trick your brain into feeling that youre really in the movie going through these experiences with these characters is that the 3D really helps bring you into that immersive environment."And Ridley Scott (boomed in via satellite from Iceland for a brief chat) in fact says he only wants to work in 3D from now on (jeez);
3D has been a wonderful exercise. I started as a cameraman, so I quickly realized that its really about lensing and picking the right lenses to make the 3D work. Ive had help from Darius (Khondji, the DoP, who previously shot Alien: Resurrection) and his crew. Now that Ive done it, Ill never work without 3D again, even for small dialogue scenes. It opens up the whole universe.The film won't be a secret forever;
The movie comes out a year from now and I can guarantee you all that our desire to keep secrets is really just driven by the fact that we dont want to tell you everything about the movie right now. Youre going to see some things in the late fall and certainly in January and February of next year that are going to start overtly declaring what Prometheus is so that by the time you buy your ticket, its not going to be, Oh my God, what the hell is this movie? At the same time, we do want to keep that fun interplay alive. I think a lot of whats driving interest in this movie is this idea of, Just what the fuck is it?Prometheus is due June 8th, 2012 and a trailer is expected before the end of the year.