'Prometheus' isn't alien to Ridley Scott

Poor Ridley Scott. Director of "Alien" and "Blade Runner," two of the most famous, and influential, science-fiction flicks ever made. Yet despite his love for the genre, the 74-year-old filmmaker has not taken a trip to the future in 30 years.

But don't despair. Fans of strong heroines, interstellar travel and alien slime things are already rejoicing, because Scott is back in the sci-fi groove with "Prometheus," which opens June 8.

"The reason I haven't made another sci-fi film in so many years, apart from the fact I've been busy making other films and exploring different genres , is because, frankly, I haven't come across anything worthwhile for me to do with enough truth, originality and strength," Scott says in the film's production notes.

The fact is, Scott had always harbored the idea of returning to the "Alien" universe, and three years ago he became intrigued with a visual image from the original film -- a giant humanoid with an exploded chest in the pilot's chair of a derelict spaceship. "Who was he? Why did he land there? Was he in trouble?" Scott told The New York Times. So began the quest for "a grand new mythology" set in the "Alien" universe -- but please don't call it a prequel.

"Prometheus," which stars Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Idris Elba, contains what Scott described to Entertainment Weekly as "strands of 'Alien's' DNA." But it's set 30 years before the original film, and features a group of astronauts traveling in the spaceship Prometheus to a planet called Zeta 2 Reticuli after discovering a series of star maps left by aliens on a Scottish cave wall thousands of years ago.

"The crew of the Prometheus thinks they're headed to a paradise to discover answers to the ultimate questions," says writer Jon Spaihts in the production notes for "Prometheus." Spaihts wrote the screenplay with Damon Lindelof of "Lost." "But what they find is a dark and twisted and frightening world," he says. "The cold and implacable environment is more like hell than heaven."

About that "Alien" DNA. In "Prometheus," Fassbender plays an android, just like Ian Holm in the original. There's a business element to the expedition, same as in "Alien" (and its sequel, "Aliens"), with Theron as a corporate overseer, sent to monitor the voyage. Extraterrestrial horrors, a key element of the "Alien" franchise, are a given. And Rapace, so fierce in the Swedish version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," is the Sigourney Weaver/Ripley surrogate -- the strong female role model.

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"Ridley creates female characters like no one else," Rapace told Entertainment Weekly. "I remember when I first saw 'Alien,' it was the first time I ever saw a woman that strong. I thought, 'Oh, my God, who is this woman?' Sigourney Weaver was my hero."

So, OK. Whether or not the filmmakers prefer to use the "P" word, this latest excursion into the "Alien" universe sure looks like a prequel. But so what? If anything, its attempt to explore deep themes -- like the origin of human life, arguably the deepest theme of them all -- is exemplary. And they're doing it in an entertaining context.

"I hope no one thinks we are overly pretentious," Lindelof told the Times. "We set out to make something entertaining and thrilling to watch, not a band of people sitting around talking about the meaning of life."

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Evaluating 'Alien' and its sequels

"Alien" begot three sequels, and two "Alien vs. Predator" mashups. Here's a quick rundown of the four "Alien"-only flicks.

ALIEN (1979)

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ALIENS (1986)

ALIEN 3 (1992)

ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997)