Alien prequel gets studio approval

Alien

Lost screenwriter Damon Lindelof has just delivered his script for the Alien prequel to the chaps at 20th Century Fox, and word is that they really love it.

Not because it kicks all kinds of xenomorph booty, but because it’s probably going to cost less to make than Ridley Scott’s original proposed budget of $150m. C’mon, they are studio execs after all.

Still, even if the good news is more monetary than creative, Natalie Portman has officially met with Scott and his team, and is the current favourite for the lead role of a “female Colonial marine General”.

More positive news keeps on coming in the report that Lindelof’s script should be a sparse, creepy number that while not involving too many giant action set pieces, imitates the feeling of the original Alien with off-screen violence and few F-bombs.

Vulture spoke with an insider who had this to say about the possiblities of a PG-13 prequel, and why it's not necessarily a bad idea of Alien vs. Predator proportions:

“The thinking is that if the original Alien were released today, minus the F-bombs, you could still get a PG-13. Alien is a very Jaws -ian movie: There’s no sex, and while there’s lots of violence, most of it is off-camera. Maybe you’d have to cut away from certain scenes two seconds earlier, but it could be done.”

So that’s where the Alien prequels currently stand. Now let’s get some official casting underway, hey?

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.