Alien Prequel Updates

We reported earlier this week about a potential delay in production and The Playlist received additional information on the matter directly from Fox:

"According to representatives we spoke with at Fox, there is “no truth” to those reports. Additionally, while development is continuing, we’ve been told the “Alien” prequel has not yet been greenlit. So to rephrase, a movie that hasn’t been officially announced or given the go ahead, can’t really be delayed."

This sounds like a technicality in the phrasing more than anything. It isn't officially in a state of delayed because it wasn't greenlit, but they aren't denying that production was pushed back.

The second item we have comes from NYMag.com, who has a source claiming that the film is on track and has plot, casting, and title information. The first interesting item is that the source is calling this a reboot and NOT a prequel. They are also claiming the title of the movie will be Paradise and have included some familiar sounding plot information:

"We're told that Paradise reboots the original Alien franchise, in that the story follows a group of space travelers who encounter a monstrous alien creature that picks them off, one by one."

For marketing and branding purposes, I'm sure they would be calling this Alien: Paradise. Another piece of information I find unusual is the mention of a possible inclusion of a CG-only crew member:

"There are other interesting roles, including an older businessman along for the ride, but we’re most curious about the part of Engineer 1, who we’re told is to be "played" by a six-foot-five-inch actor, but will actually be entirely CGI, à la Gollum in The Lord of the Ringsfilms."

With possible budget issues, I'm not sure we'd see a CG-only character, but there is so much rumor and speculation floating around that it is hard to tell truth from fiction here. For those interested in even more rumor, NYMag.com has casting speculation and other information related to the storyline. Check out the source link below to read more.

You're going to see a lot of Alien-related news on Daily Dead, because I know there are a lot of people (including myself) who are really excited to see Ridley Scott back for a new Alien film and want to find out as much as they can. Whether you are reading it here or elsewhere, consider all of these news bits interesting rumors for now and we'll provide official updates as soon as we receive them. If the movie really is close to production, we'll start hearing official word in the beginning of 2011.

***Update 12/9 @ 1:37am- Finally, we have some word directly from a Fox representative. First up is that the film is not called Paradise (although that may have been the working title). The other item we haven't even been reporting on Daily Dead is the rumor that there were two back-to-back prequels planned. I've seen this from multiple websites and supposed sources, but Fox has officially denied that as well. You can see the official Tweets at:

http://twitter.com/20thFoxCC/status/12697067847688192

http://twitter.com/20thFoxCC/status/12696451704426497