Guardian prometheus what was that about

The director of Alien and Blade Runner met the foreign minister who said she would take the matter up with the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. Ridley Scott plans three more Prometheus films before linking to Alien. Published: 23 Sep Prometheus sequel to be shot in Australia or Canada, says Ridley Scott.

Published: 14 Sep Prometheus 2 rumoured to be shooting in January Ridley Scott is said to be returning to space next year for the sequel to his Alien prequel, with returning stars Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender.

Published: 4 Aug Film blog Hey, you, leave that franchise alone! The directors who couldn't let go. Published: PM. American actor spotted on set of cosy Cornish-set comedy-drama starring Martin Clunes as an awkward country GP. Review Subject Required. Comments Required. Also by this author. Readers also bought. If we're right that the engineers created life on earth, why would they now want to destroy it? Could it be that old chestnut about mankind evolving to the stage of being a threat to other lifeforms in the universe?

A friend of mine suggests that the engineer from the prologue was in fact a rogue operator whose fellow engineers are belatedly trying to undo his handiwork — a neat theory that resonates with the original Prometheus myth.

Ancient extraterrestrials kick-start life on earth with some sort of apparently animate black goo as its vehicle; humans decode signs from ancient and indigenous art and artefacts; there are big round spaceships buried underground that heave out of the earth at inopportune moments; super-rich, super-selfish humans try to manipulate the situation for their own gain even as the fate of mankind is in jeopardy … Much of this will be familiar to viewers of The X-Files — who will probably have been grateful for something familiar to orient themselves around amid all the other uncertainties.

As for whether the truth about Prometheus is out there, we'll have to watch the skies. Or at least the box office for the prospect of a sequel …. Prometheus: what was that about? Ten key questions. Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe has left a lot of people scratching their heads. It's up to Ben Walters to set off on an exploratory voyage into the film's great unknowns. There are answers in there somewhere Photograph: AP.

Spoilers abound, of course, and we're frankly as stumped as you - so do chip in in the comments … 1. What's going on in the prologue? That's an alien creating life on earth, right? Theron is dressed in an ice-silver, silk mohair suit, with Yates explaining: "[Theron] is the ice queen. It was always our vision to make her look as sculptural as possible". Fassbender's David is dressed similar to other crewmen, but his outfit was given finer lines to produce a more linear appearance.

To create a casual, relaxed appearance, Marshall-Green's Holloway was dressed in hoodies, fisherman pants, and flip-flops, while Elba wore a canvas-greased jacket to represent his long career at the helm of a ship. Neal Scanlan and Conor O'Sullivan developed the film's alien creatures, aiming to convey each creature as having a logical biological function and purpose.

Scanlan stated that much of Scott's inspiration for creature design is drawn from natural life such as plants and sea creatures. A key scene involving a large 3D hologram star map was inspired by the Joseph Wright painting "A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery", in which a scientist displays a mechanical planetarium by candlelight. While discussing the necessity of a star map with Spaihts, Scott mentioned the painting as how he saw the map being physically represented, although he was unaware of the name and described it only as "circles in circles with a candle lit image".

To Scott's pleasure, Spaihts located the correct image based on his description. Spaihts stated: "making the leap from a star map, to an Enlightenment painting, and then back into the far future. Filming was scheduled to take place over six months, but it took longer than forecast: the film was still being shot in September Filming began at Shepperton Studios and Pinewood Studios near London , England , both part of the Pinewood Studios group, where Scott used eight sound stages for filming, including the Stage at Pinewood.

In July, filming moved to Iceland for two weeks, commencing at the base of the active Hekla volcano in southern Iceland on July 11, Speaking about working at the base of an active volcano, Scott stated: "If one is afraid of nature in this profession then it would be best to find a different job".

The Iceland shoot involved Icelandic crew members and over imported crew. Scott claimed that the Iceland filming comprised approximately fifteen minutes of footage for the film, and that the area represented the "beginning of time". Exterior shots of the alien world were shot in Iceland. Morocco had been an intended shooting location instead of Iceland, but the Arab Spring protests forced the change of venue. Alternatives including the Mojave Desert had been considered alongside Iceland, but Scott explained that the country was ultimately chosen because "here it is so rough and 'Jurassic-like' and that proved decisive".

Shooting areas included the complex's large water tank, and a nearby Alicante beach. The complex was booked from August 22, , through to December 10, with set construction occurring from August until late September. Filming also took place in the Wadi Rum valley in Jordan. Scott avoided using green screens unless necessary, instead employing various items to help the actors understand where they were meant to be looking in any particular scene on the practical sets that would have a CGI presence inserted in post-production.

Rapace claimed that green screens were used less than six times during filming. The production used five 3ality Technical Atom 3D rigs, four of which were configured with Red Epic 3D cameras set up for use on camera dollies and tripods, which were continuously in use during filming. The fifth rig employed an Epic camera for use as a steadicam, which was only used as required.

Scott focused on using the 3D footage to increase the illusion of depth. Despite this being his first 3D film he found the process easy. He stated: "You can literally twiddle a knob and the depth will increase", "the trick is not to overdo it". Prometheus contains approximately 1, digital effect shots. Moving Picture Company were the lead visual effect studio and produced of the shots. In December , Rapace undertook additional dialogue recordings for the film. Additional pick-up scenes were filmed during January , including a one-day shoot on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and a new scene shot at a cave in the Scottish mountains.

Scott concluded work on the film in March For dark scenes with little lighting, the film was color graded to specifically compensate for the slight dimness introduced by wearing 3D glasses, to ensure the image was comparable to the 2D version. In July , Scott stated that he was filming Prometheus with both adult-oriented R and more accessible PG film ratings in mind, allowing the more adult content to be cut if necessary without harming the overall presentation.

Scott claimed he had a responsibility to 20th Century Fox to be able to present a PG cut of the film if the studio demanded, allowing it to be viewed by a wider potential audience. When asked about the rating, Scott explained "the question is, do you go for the PG, or do you go for what it should be, which is R? Financially it makes quite a difference On May 7, , Fox confirmed that the film had received an R-rating and would be released without any cuts being made.

Prometheus's marketing campaign began on July 21, , at the San Diego Comic-Con International, where images and footage from the film were presented by Lindelof and Theron, with Scott and Rapace participating via satellite contribution. A segment of the footage showed Theron performing "naked push-ups" which attracted much attention. A teaser poster was revealed on December 14, , with the tagline, "The search for our beginning could lead to our end. The teaser trailer was released on December 22, Reaction to the trailer was considered to be positive among WonderCon attendees and on Twitter, and it received nearly three million views in the three days following its release.

On April 10, , media outlets were shown a minute montage of scenes from the film's opening in 3D at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square, London. The screening was well received, with particular mentions given to the 3D visuals and the performances of Fassbender, Rapace, Theron, and Elba.

On April 29, , the international launch trailer debuted in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 during the first advertisement break of the TV show Homeland. Viewers were encouraged to share their opinions about the trailer on Twitter, some of which were then shared in a live broadcast during a later break. This marked the first time that viewers' tweets were used in a broadcast advertisement. Alongside the trailer, a competition was launched on the social platform Zeebox, offering viewers a chance to win tickets to the film whenever Zeebox detected the advertisement airing.

On May 8, , the advertisement became subject to an investigation by the British broadcasting regulatory body Ofcom for allegedly breaching broadcast rules when a voice over encouraged viewers to book tickets while the advertisement played and with the Channel 4 logo onscreen. The act potentially broke a rule that advertising and teleshopping must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content.

Although marketers typically avoid collaborating with adult-oriented films to focus on reaching broader audiences, the film attracted several promotional partners including Coors, Amazon and Verizon FiOS. Amazon directed interested users to purchase tickets through Fandango, and placed promotional material in products shipped to customers; this was the first time that Amazon had allowed such marketing by an external company.

The event was facilitated by BumeBox, which culled audience questions from social sites and delivered them to reporters to ask at the event. Prometheus: The Art of the Film, a book containing production art and behind-the-scenes photos from the film, was released on June 12, The film was accompanied by an extensive viral marketing campaign, consisting primarily of a series of short films featuring cast members from the movie.

During the WonderCon, attendees at the film's panel were given Weyland Corporation business cards that directed them to a website and phone number. Calling the number resulted in the caller being sent a text message from Weyland Corporation that linked them to a second viral video.

An extended version of the video, entitled Happy Birthday, David , was released to the general public on April 17, The campaign continued following the film's release with a website referencing the philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, which is quoted by Weyland in TED Conference, It was simultaneously released in IMAX theaters and in 3D, and it is encoded for D-Box motion seats that provide physical feedback to the viewer during the film.

In North America, audience tracking showed high interest among males of all ages, but low interest among females. The week preceding release saw conflicting opinions on whether the film or Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted would place number 1 for the weekend during their simultaneous release.

Additionally, the online tracking for Prometheus surged with each new piece of promotional footage. However, pre-release tracking is usually less reliable for animated films; since Madagascar 3 was the first truely family-oriented film of the summer, many speculated that there would be large demand for it. Prometheus was also in the disadvantage of a less wide release 3, theaters against 4, theaters for Madagascar 3.

Furthermore, the R rating of the film was considered a limiting obstacle. Prometheus was initially released in 15 markets from May 30 to June 1, — about a week before its North American release.

The earlier start in these countries was timed to avoid competition with the start of the UEFA European Football Championship the following week. The figure placed it as the number 3 highest-grossing second-place opening, the number 10 highest-grossing opening for an R-rated film, and it marked Scott's second highest-grossing opening behind the thriller Hannibal