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Friday, July 31, 2009

Confirmed: Ridley Scott Returns to Direct Alien Prequel

After months of speculation, Variety confirmed on July 30 that Ridley Scott—who directed the 1979 sci-fi classic Alien—will return to the series to helm a prequel film. Twentieth Century Fox has hired Jon Spaihts (Passengers, St. George and the Dragon) to write it.

The film will apparently take place before the original, in which the crew of a commercial space ship is terrorized by a toothy, acid-blooded monster.

Do we necessarily need another Alien movie? Not at all. The series peaked in 1986 with James Cameron’s breathtaking sequel, Aliens, and unless this “reboot” aspires to that level of filmmaking there’s no real point in going through with it (save for the obvious exploitative monetary benefits). It’s also yet another prequel from the studio that brought us the half-assed X-Men Origins: Wolverine earlier this summer, which proved that adhering to established continuity is not only completely optional in doing these backstory films, Fox seemingly discourages it. That’s the only plausible explanation for how that film turned out.

However, with Scott now officially attached, consider my skepticism subdued.

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