I’m still in Austin, as the SXSW Film Festival is just ending today, but I know my fellow HitFixers are hard at work at Wondercon in Anaheim. I had to check in on what’s been going on, and there’s nothing I’m more curious about than the presentation Fox made today for “Prometheus.”
Fox has been playing a very slow burn with their “Prometheus” materials so far, and that’s good. I feel like this is going to be a pretty special film, and I don’t want to see everything amazing thing in it before the film is in theaters. I want it to shock me and surprise me. I already feel like I know way too much about the film, much more than has been made public so far, and that makes me a little sad. I wish I was going to walk in a blank slate and see some of these things without anticipating them.
I’m a little surprised by what sort of things we’re starting to learn as we get close to the release, and by Fox’s choices on what to reveal and what to keep secret. I don’t suppose it was too closely guarded, but I’m still surprised that Fox would issue this video that confirms the nature of the character Michael Fassbender is playing in the film…
… but I guess if they’re willing to do that, then it’s not much of a surprise in the film itself. Fassbender’s part of one of the film’s big “OH MY GOD!” moments, but it’s obviously centered on his identity.
I like the new IMAX trailer that was evidently unlocked early this morning by whoever’s out there playing the viral game. This is a taste of what they’re going to release later tonight, and a taste of what they’re showing to people at Wondercon today. I think it’s safe to say based on this new trailer that Ridley Scott is intentionally working the horror side of the street with this one. In fact, I’ve heard “Prometheus” compared to one of the great horror films of the last 35 years, and it wasn’t anything from the “Alien” series. The comparison has me rethinking the movie and what I expect from it, but it also has me very excited.
I saw earlier today on Twitter that someone was still wrestling with the idea of “Is this a prequel or isn’t it?”, and after the trailer, I’ll share my opinion on that question…
Here’s the thing… that’s a prequel. I don’t really like that word, since I think anything made after the first film is a sequel, no matter when it’s set sequentially. You’re still building on prior storytelling, whether you go backward or forward in time. It’s a silly distinction. Still, if you want to use the word “prequel,” then I would absolutely say that “Prometheus” is one. It is set in the same world, it concerns something which plays a key role in “Alien,” and it’s even from the same filmmaker. Just because we don’t see the Nostromo or Ripley, that means nothing. Xenomorphs that look exactly like the movie monster we’ve seen now in six other movies do not define whether or not this is tied thematically and chronologically to “Alien.” There is much more to the world of those movies than just one character or just one creature. I think it is a game of truly asinine semantics to go so far out of your way to recreate a world and tie things together visually and thematically and then tap-dance around the word “prequel.” You see the Space Jockeys in that trailer? Yeah…. that’s the world of “Alien.” That’s a prequel.
And if the rumors I’m hearing are correct, it’s a prequel to a prequel, because work has already started on the follow-up to “Prometheus,” and there are things being designed and built that will break your brain when you see them. Yes, “Prometheus” has to do well internationally before Fox officially says, “Go make the second one,” but I think there’s a pretty strong chance that’s going to happen. Besides, if it doesn’t, this film’s ending is going to drive fandom completely insane.
Here’s the big trailer, and again… how anyone can look at this and still wonder if the films are directly connected or not is beyond me:
We don’t have long to wait for this one. And thank god for that.
“Prometheus” will contact the gods on June 8, 2012.