Ridley Scott hasn’t been shy about talking up his gestating prequel(s) to “Alien” and it’s certainly one of the hottest projects in Hollywood. A bevy of actresses including Olivia Wilde, Noomi Rapace, Carey Mulligan, Abbie Cornish and Natalie Portman have all been linked as candidates for the lead role, and reports earlier in the fall suggested that Fox was very happy with the latest draft of the script by Damon Lindelof (“Lost,” “Star Trek“). However, earlier this week, word cropped up that 20th Century Fox was delaying the film with a rumored release date push from 2012 to 2013. Looks like it was a lot of hot air.
According to representatives we spoke with at Fox, there is “no truth” to those reports. Additionally, while development is continuing, we’ve been told the “Alien” prequel has not yet been greenlit. So to rephrase, a movie that hasn’t been officially announced or given the go ahead, can’t really be delayed.
Certainly, this will be a big, expensive franchise film and one that Fox will want to make sure has all the pieces in place to make it work before moving forward. While casting and budget rumors have been floated throughout the film’s development, nothing has been stamped and approved just yet. So the tales of the origin of the Space Jockey aren’t on hold, but continue to move forward to until it gets a studio thumbs up so the picture can get in front of cameras. No need to panic just yet about any delays on the film.
