This is a few days old now, but the prequel to Alien is moving forward with Ridley Scott himself now attached to direct. He directed the original back in 1979 but hasn’t had any involvement in the subsequent films. Jon Spaihts is writing the script based on his pitch. Of course, Ridley Scott has a solid dozen films that are in development as directing vehicles, so who knows when, if ever, this one will be made.
From my perspective, I have a hard time imagining this as being anything but unnecessary. I could see worthy scenarios being explored for post-Alien stories, with or without Ripley, but a prequel raises too many red flags. Will it tell the tale of the so-called Space Jockey, the alien pilot found dead on the ship where the Nostromo crew first discovers the xenomorphs? It’s difficult to imagine a film starring a non-human, but that’s the most obvious route to a prequel, although I think it’s a terrible idea that would damage a great mysterious moment of the original film. Furthermore, why go with a prequel when the events of Alien were seemingly the first time humans had encountered the xenomorphs, or at least encountered and survived to talk about it? Ridley Scott’s talked in the past about wanting to see where the creatures come from and how they were created, but that reeks of another awful and misguided origin story that again destroys the mystique and fear of the xenomorph. Besides, what’s there to explain anyway?
It’s hard for me to get excited about this one until we hear some specifics about the story. Alien is a favorite film of mine and if the franchise must continue, I’d prefer it do so in a way that doesn’t threaten to mess up the mysteries of its originating film. I guess time will tell…
