Yes we're a little late to this one. Released just before Christmas, we were...well, at the beach. This writer's chalk tan doesn't moon itself you know. But we're catching up now because, basically: excitement.

Prometheus is the next installment from director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator). Originally conceived as a prequel to his classic Alien franchise, and intending to explore the origins of the creatures in his seminal extraterrestrial story, the director has since claimed that Prometheus has branched out to be a standalone film -- albeit one with "direct strands" to the Alien story.

Scott told MTV News back in 2010, as production was in development:

"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," he said. "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."

More recently, in December 2011 at Comic-Con in San Diegoe, screenwriter Damon Lindelof elaborated on the focus of the new film, saying there were some "big ideas" at play (via The Guardian):

"It covers a vast expanse of time, past, present and future," he said. "It doesn't take place on Earth in any real significant way. The way we're exploring the future is away from Earth and [asking] what are people like now? What have they gone through and what are they thinking of?

"Space exploration in the future is going to evolve into this idea that it's not just about going out there and finding planets to build colonies. It also has this inherent idea that the further we go out, the more we learn about ourselves. The characters in this movie are preoccupied by the idea: what are our origins?"

Now that the trailer's online we can deduce for ourselves: it sure does look Alien-y.


Prometheus - official trailer

Ace. I'm unfogging my 3D glasses and buying Toobs in bulk as we speak. Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and OUR VERY OWN Guy Pearce (*punches a kangaroo*), Prometheus is due June 2012.