As part of the publicity rounds for his new film Robin Hood (out May 12, people), Sir Ridley Scott sat down with MTV this week and spilled the beans on his planned Alien prequel, including a few hints about its content.
The full report is over here, but we do know that the prequel will take place 30 years before Scott's original film was set, so there will be no Ripley - but there will be a female lead.
As was already rumoured, Scott is planning to focus on the chest-burst "Space Jockey" found at the beginning of the first film aboard the ship that also contained the alien eggs, but he told MTV that the film would involve the series' big corporation - and some bigger themes. "Weyland hasn't joined Yutani yet, so they go and see Weyland. [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."
That rather raises the possibility of an Avatar-like environmental message in this film, although that's perhaps a bit speculative at this point.
Scott talked about the design of the aliens as well, raising the tantalising prospect that he could re-team with H.R. Giger to get a fresh twist on the classic look. He's hoping to have the film in cinemas late in 2011 or in 2012, but all in all it's sounding rather promising. Head on over for the full interview, including his views on the Alien Vs. Predator films.