Last summer it was reported that director Ridley Scott would return to the universe of his 1979 classic as he directs an Alien prequel for 20th Century Fox. MTV recently sat down with the director to discuss Robin Hood (which you can find screening reports below) and he talked a little bit about Alien.
- the prequel script is on a fourth draft
- set in 2085, about 30 years before Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver‘s character]
- about finding out who the guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle, the “space jockey.”
- will involve the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life
- seeing other Alien films is not a must to understand the new one
- Scott plans on designing, or redesigning the “elements” of the first film (regarding actual alien design)
- Hoping to hit theaters late 2011 or 2012.
I’ve also rounded up a few test screening reports for Robin Hood. Check quotes out below and click the link for the full review.
We Are Movie Geeks:
Unfortunately, it wasn’t worth the wait. What I saw was a movie that really didn’t need to be made. Instead of the traditional “steal from the rich, give to the poor” story of an outlaw and his band of merry men, we got a convoluted back-story of where the famous character came from. As a child he saw his father killed and then was “put amongst men when I was 6 years old.” He grew up and joined the crusades of King Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) as an archer and here’s where the movie starts. Most everything after this point seems to happen to him by accident and really don’t feel the need to root for him for any reason.
The biggest problem I had with the movie is what I went in fearing the most: the rip-offs. I guess I expected more from Ridley Scott. I know it’s tough to make a movie that has already been made so many times and try to keep it original. But the rip-offs are unnecessary and unforgivable. There is shot in the very beginning of an arrow flying through the air, in slow motion, directly at the camera. This was lifted straight out of ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES.
Robin Hood, while not a horrible movie, is a complete mess, and even though the film is a month away, the film I saw was 100% completed, which means don’t hope for something else on the screen when you see it in May.
Not all of the movie is bad. Every single locale shot is very beautiful. The cinematography in this thing is excellent and will probably be the only thing that the movie will be remembered for. The musical score is good as well, but not very memorable. The acting is good as a whole, if you leave Crowe’s ripped off Academy Award performance out of the picture. Especially Cate Blanchett, who will manage to come out of this thing okay. It’s just that the story is really lame and instead of this feeling like an actual Robin Hood movie, you basically get Gladiator/theatrical version Kingdom of Heaven’s love child. You don’t get the feel of Robin Hood until the last five minutes of the film. The beginning battle was cool, especially the way they blew up the main castle gate, and the ending scene has a few moments, but like I said, nothing memorable at all. The film is completely fucking boring in the middle and even though it picks up at the end, it is not enough to deem it a recommendation.
While I wouldn’t call it the second coming or the best version of the classic tale I’ve seen, the film is a thoroughly entertaining and above your average summer popcorn flick.
Robin Hood hits theaters May 14th, two days after it kicks off Cannes.
Are you excited for an Alien prequel? Does the mediocre Robin Hood buzz surprise you?