Both Charlize Theron and Damon Lindelof were interviewed at SDCC'11 for sci-fi film Prometheus. Click on the link below for the full interview.
This began as an Alien prequel, so how did it evolve into something different?
LINDELOF: A gentleman by the name of Jon Spaihts wrote an early draft of the script and, at the time, it was going to be a prequel to Alien. And, I think Ridley really wanted to move the movie into more original territory. The idea of a prequel, leading up to the original movies, as opposed to thematically being about something else, but also giving the opportunity to introduce new characters into the movie, was a big deal. Obviously, in order to get an amazing cast, including an Oscar winner (Charlize Theron), it really had to be driven by the people. So, although the ideas of the movie are very big, we wanted to set it and make it feel like it was an alien in that same universe. Ridley hasn’t directed a science fiction film in 25 years, so now that he’s coming back and doing one last heist, as it were, the bar was very, very high. So, over time, the movie began to become much more original. Although there might be some familiar things from the alien universe, this movie has a heart and mind of its own.
How does the name Prometheus fit into the story? Is it related to Greek mythology, or is it the name of a ship?
LINDELOF: We’re not going to talk about specifically how it connects into the movie, other than yes, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the Gods because they were keeping it to themselves and they were worried what mankind would do, if we got our little paws on it. So, that theme is a resonating idea – what humans are doing that we probably shouldn’t be doing, in terms of technological innovation and, perhaps, exploration. Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed? Part of the fun of the movie is understanding exactly why we called it Prometheus. And also, it sounds really pretentious, like Inception, so we were just like, “Yeah, that makes the movie sound really smart!” It’s so much better then my original title, Explosion. Well, there might be an explosion in the movie.
Is the fire the aliens, and are the Greek Gods the space jockeys?
LINDELOF: Although Ridley has made a lot of comments, over the course of the development of the movie, in terms of how this might tie into the original Alien series, or its relation to the space jockeys, a lot of the fun in going to see the movie is seeing if and how we’re going to try to connect that. But, I don’t think that any of us would have been doing our jobs right, if this movie couldn’t stand on its own. If you’re a fan of the original film, there will be little Easter eggs in there for you to find, but the idea of connecting it in, in an incredibly profound way, would denude its originality a little bit. Maybe there’s a way that it can be both. At least, that was the intention behind it.
What are some of the ideas that you wanted to explore?
LINDELOF: I think that one of the really interesting ideas that the movie is dealing with is this sense that space exploration, particularly in the future, is going to start to involve this idea that it’s not just about going out there and finding planets, so that we can build colonies, or anything else. There’s also this inherent idea that, the further we go out, perhaps the more we learn about ourselves. And, I think the characters in this movie – some of them at least – are very preoccupied with the idea of, “Where did we come from? What are our origins? What is our place in the universe? Are we the only sentient beings, or are there others?” That was not really a part of the original Alien movie, where it was just, “Hey, we’re miners. Oh shit, we ended up stepping in this huge pile of very frightening shit!” So, although there are elements like that in this movie, and there certainly are scares, the idea of fundamentally and thematically exploring this idea of creation was always a big deal for Ridley.
She's the suit that runs the company that has nickeled and dimed this whole thing together, to fund this mission...She starts out one thing and ends up another thing. It's a pretty nice surprise, toward the third act, so I don't want to ruin that for you, but she really does start out very one-dimensional. The great thing about Ridley is that he shoots everything so layered that you always wonder. There were many days that I showed up and he would do this tiny little thing like throw me in the corner, just lurking. And then, all of a sudden, that became a character trait. I would always be in the corner, lurking over everybody, and not saying anything, but just watching. Then, you realize that it really adds to this enigma of this character and what her agenda really is.