Not too long ago screen writer Damon Lindelof sat down with Hero Complex to discuss the ‘Prometheus’ trailer that was released last week along with what it all means. Considering he was one the writers for ‘Lost’ and ‘Star Trek’, he’s pretty good at keeping secrets and it looks like he’s sticking to that role.
Working with director Ridley Scott felt like a dream come true for Lindelof and he found Scott very accommodating to his ideas:
“The big surprise has been how collaborative [Scott] is. There are some people that, no matter where you eventually get to in your own career, you’ll always look at them as giants and Ridley is on that very short list for me. Steven Spielberg is on that list and George Lucas is on that list and Ridley is the third part of that holy trinity of filmmakers who made a massive impression on me. When I first got the call that he was looking for someone to come in and take a shot at this, it was overwhelming just to be in the room with the guy. But he really was interested in what I had to say and he really cared about what I had to say; he was really interested in doing something new.”
Not wanting to beat to death a dead horse, but Lindelof was asked about whether or not ‘Prometheus’ was a prequel to ‘Alien.’ Here’s what he had to say:
“One part of me sort of wants to be working on something where I can say, ‘This is exactly what this is’ without being secretive or mysterious but I think that with the genesis of this a couple of years ago — when Ridley announced that he wanted to make an ‘Alien’ prequel — that’s where this began and where it’s evolved to is this conversation: Is it or isn’t it [an ‘Alien’ prequel]? And I think this little sort of dance that we’re doing basically existed prior to anybody seeing anything. Now that people are seeing stuff I think the material kind of speaks for itself. If you’re looking at it through the prism of ‘I want it to be that,’ you’ll notice the way the word ‘Prometheus’ comes up [in a way that resembles the ‘Alien’ classic logo] or look at the production design and the way the whole thing feels. If you’re looking at it from the perspective of wanting it to be something more original, I think the trailer accomplishes that by being pretty cool to people who have never even seen ‘Alien.’”
Many fans have already made up their minds as to whether the movie is a prequel. After all, the title logo is just like the one for ‘Alien’, the ship and gunner is the same as the one encountered in ‘Alien’ and, of course, the appearance of the Space Jockey. Eagle eyed fans over at AVP Galaxy noticed a bald headed being in what looks like a biomechanical outfit under the “S” in the ‘Prometheus’ title in the trailer which many feel could be a picture of an actual Space Jockey. Take a look below:
Regardless of what you may feel or think about ‘Prometheus’, in the end, Lindelof says it best:
“It’s accomplishing what we set out to do. I wish that we didn’t have to be so mysterious about it but mystery can be a good thing as long as you’ve got the goods to back it up. In this case, when the movie arrives, one of the most visionary filmmakers in the history of cinema will be putting his cards on the table and I’m just kind of standing behind him with my arms folded.”