Gemma Arterton Meeting With Ridley Scott For Alien Prequels

Last year it was announced that 20th Century Fox had hired Ridley Scott to direct a series of 3D prequels to the classic sci-fi film Alien. Apparently Scott is about the begin the casting process and has a meeting scheduled with Prince of Persia/Clash of the Titans star Gemma Arterton for the lead female role.

In an interview with the British newspaper The Sunday Times, Arterton revealed that she will be meeting with director Ridley Scott about possibly starring in his planned Alien prequels. According to The Times, Scott requested a meeting after seeing her performance in J Blakeson's thriller The Disappearance Of Alice Creed. Arterton has yet to meet Scott about the possible part, so nothing might come of this.

Previously:

Scott has said that the prequel will be set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney [Weaver's character Ellen Ripley] and that the story will fundamentally explain 'Who the hell was that Space Jockey?' — the guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle.

"[The film] is about the discussion of terraforming — taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life."

Scott more recently said:

The film will be really tough, really nasty. It's the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof met with Scott and studio reps from 20th Century Fox, and is now doing a rewrite on the script.

In a 2002 interview, Scott wanted to return "to where the alien creatures were first found and explain how they were created." It sounds like this idea has been incorporated into the prequel/reboot. Jon Spaihts is writing the screenplay, a job he earned after pitching the studio and production company Scott Free. Spaihts has no produced credits, but has written Shadow 19 and Passengers, both of which are also sci-fi space thrillers. Star Wars and Alien art-director Roger Christian previously confirmed that the movie will be shot in 3D.

Scott says that Weaver likely won't have a part in the movie, but reveals the main character is a woman. Also, we should expect the film in theaters "in late 2011, or maybe the best date in 2012." What gets me excited about the project is Scott's complete honesty about how the franchise has sucked dry (about Alien vs. Predator he said "I know it's commerce, but what a pity") and his lack of interest for ever making a sequel. Scott claims he's "always avoided sequels" and is only directing this film because he feels "there was something fresh" Good enough for me...