In April 20th Century Fox Chairman Tom Rothman confirmed discussions were underway to develop an Alien prequel film and that they were hoping it would be helmed by Ridley Scott, the director of the original Alien that started the whole franchise.

A month later (in May) Ridley Scott’s brother Tony confirmed relative unknown Carl Rinsch was attached to direct the film.

Carl Rinsch is a newcomer who has never directed a feature film before, but he’s demonstrated a lot of creative talent in a truck load of shorts including The Evolution of Technology and a host of many other innovative commercials (do a search of YouTube for his name to see what I mean).

But whilst Rinsch reportedly has the support of both Tony and Ridley Scott it seems he doesn’t have the support of 20th Century Fox, according to a recent report on EW.

From EW:

Sources at Fox, however, tell EW that the studio is not interested in greenlighting a prequel unless Scott himself directs. Scott and his reps didn’t respond to calls for comment.

It remains too early to confirm a title for the new film, shooting dates or a release schedule – and now it seems it might be too early to say the movie is going ahead.

I’m seriously hoping Fox go with the Scott’s recommendation to hand Rinsch the helm, otherwise the prequel might die an early death.

More on this story as it develops.

The Prize: An Alien VCD from Sideshow Collectibles (Click to enlarge)

Throughout the month of May we’ve been hosting a competition in conjunction with Sideshow Collectible’s to determine which are the ‘Top 10 Best Aliens in History‘.  The prize: a Medicom Toy Corporation’s high-quality Alien Vinyl Collectible Doll (VCD) valued at US $69.99!!

We would like to thank all 178 people who took the time to enter the competition. The criteria for selecting our winner, as per the competition guidelines, required that we compile all the entries received to find out which 10 aliens received the most votes with the winning entry to be selected from one of those.

There were many great and thoughtful entries submitted.  We also received a high number of individual votes for very obscure alien names including those from classic sci-fi feature films of the 50’s and 60’s (some that we had to double check to see if they weren’t made up!).  By the final day of the competition we had narrowed down our picks to three:

Read the rest of this entry »

The Alien in Ridley Scott's 1979 'Alien'

A month ago 20th Century Fox Chairman Tom Rothman confirmed discussions were underway to develop a possible Alien prequel film and that they were hoping it would be helmed by Ridley Scott, the director of the original Alien that started the whole franchise.

Whilst promoting The Taking of Pelham 123, Ridley Scott’s brother Tony Scott has now confirmed that an Alien prequel is in development.  He also confirmed that a director has been attached to the project and it isn’t Ridley Scott.  Instead, the reigns have been passed to Carl Rinsch.

It’s an interesting decision considering Carl Rinsch is a newcomer who has never directed a feature film before. That doesn’t mean he isn’t up to the job though. He’s the director behind the cool robotic short The Evolution of Technology and a host of many other innovative commercials. Do a search of his name on YouTube and you’ll find he is no stranger to creative direction.

What does Tony Scott say about Rinsch’s involvement?

“I’m excited, ” he says, “cause Ridley created the original and Carl Rinsch is one of the family.”

If the Scott’s think he’s one of the family then that should be all Alien fans need to hear.

It remains too early to confirm a title for the new film, shooting dates or a release schedule.

Source: Collider

A scene from Ridley Scott's 'Alien'

20th Century Fox Chairman Tom Rothman has just attended the X-Men Origins: Wolverine premiere at Tempe, Arizona where he was cornered by IESB’s Robert Sanchez.  Sanchez’s questions were direct and gathered a heap of new information regarding future and exciting 20th Century Fox projects.

Whilst Rothman refused to comment on rumors of a possible Fantastic Four reboot, he did confirm that a reboot of Daredevil was in development.  He reiterated that Robert Rodriguez has been given full control of the Predator reboot and he confirmed there would be something going on at Comic-Con this year related to James Cameron’s Avatar, adding that even without the 3D technology, Avatar is a “great kick ass, emotionally driven story.”

But perhaps the most interesting information he gave up was the news of a possible Alien prequel film to be helmed by Ridley Scott (Alien / Blade Runner / Gladiator)!

“Well there’s been some talk…Ridley’s right now working on Robin Hood but I think he’s toying with the idea and that would be great for us,” Rothman said. “It’s always been a matter of..you know..if you could get the originator to do it that would be the greatest thing..so I have my fingers crossed..all of them.”

Although we have no idea what is being considered as a story for a possible Alien prequel, take a quick look at the image from Ridley Scott’s Alien. All kinds of possibilities arise when you consider the acid dripping Aliens we’ve come to love aren’t the only aliens in the Alien universe.

You can watch the video of the interview at IESB here.