Fox's 'Alien' Prequel Dead, 'Prometheus' Rises

Brad Barket/Getty Images

The Alien prequel is dead and a new Ridley Scott project has been reborn.

Fox has announced that instead of making a much-talked about Alien movie, the project has been reconfigured as an original sci-fi movie, titled Prometheus, with Scott still at the helm and with Noomi Rapace to star.

Showing how serious it is about the movie, Fox has set a March 9, 2012 release date.

Damon Lindelof is working together with Scott on the new script, which was originally written by Jon Spaihts and based on an idea by Scott. It was under Lindelof that the project morphed into something more original.

“While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place,” said Scott in a statement. “The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien's DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn't be more pleased to have found the singular tale I'd been searching for, and finally return to this genre that's so close to my heart.”

"In a world flooded with prequels, sequels and reboots,” stated Lindelof. “I was incredibly struck by just how original Ridley's vision was for this movie. It's daring, visceral and hopefully, the last thing anyone expects.”

Fox and Scott have been working on an Alien prequel for the last two years and began reading and testing actors for the project late last summer. Rapace, best known for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was on the list of actors that also included Gemma Arteron, Charlize Theron, Michelle Yeoh, Michael Fassbender and James Franco, all of whom swirled around it in various forms. Time will tell which ones will stick with it, although both Fassbender and Theron were being seriously considered for Universal’s Snow White project.

Prometheus is actually a bold move for Fox as it means leaving behind a project that has a strong brand and legacy behind it. You’ve got to wonder what kind of conversations Scott had with the studio to persuade them to go with it.