Is it a prequel, or isn’t it?

After years of rumour and conflicting stories, film veteran Ridley Scott has finally released the first look at the upcoming ‘prequel’ to his sprawling Alien franchise, Prometheus. This is Scott’s first venture into science fiction since his epic Blade Runner in the mid-1980s.

Set in the late 21st Century, Prometheus allegedly lays some of the groundwork for the stories that follow in Alien‘s 1 through 3, and Resurrection (blech!), such as the origins of the creature that Ellen Ripley faces off with ad infinitum.

Originally, this was conceived as a reboot of the original 1970 space-set horror, but that concept evolved through various iterations into the sort-of-prequel-but-not we can expect in cinemas next year. Still, there’s some hot acting talent on board, including  Naomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba and ons Charlize! Lekkers!

The actual alien may or may not appear in the film, but there are certainly going to be homages to the original Alien aplenty. Scott has flip-flopped on this issue more than Sigourney Weaver wavered on appearing in Alien: Resurrection. Confused? Yes, a little. Here’s the first trailer for Prometheus:

[Source: Entertainment Weekly]