PROMETHEUS – “Prometheus Has Landed” Clip, New TV Spot And “Origins” Featurette

With less than a month away until PROMETHEUS is unleashed into theaters worldwide in June, 20th Century Fox has released the first real clip from the film followed by a look at Damon Lindelof’s and Jon Spaihts’ story. I saved the latest TV spot for the very end as it is FILLED with unbelievable spoilers!

Not only can you chat LIVE with @DamonLindelof on Wednesday at 11am PT –  submit them to #prometheus  – but on May 31 you can watch the live stream of the Red Carpet Premiere! Verizon will host the stream in the US on its Verizion FiOS Facebook page, while fans across the globe can access the stream here –  http://www.live.prometheusmovie.com/. 

You can see never-before-seen footage from PROMETHEUS on Wednesday at 10am on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/VerizonFiOS

In the brief clip Janek (Idris Elba), the captain of the Prometheus, begins landing procedures on the planet Zeta 2 Reticuli – unprepared for the unimaginable terrors he and the crew would encounter. Described by director Ridley Scott as an “old sea dog,” Janek is an officer in the classic tradition and an alpha male whose primary mission is to protect the ship and its crew.

Although Ridley Scott has long embraced cinema’s “new tricks and toys,” including computer-generated imagery, he is also known for his belief in filming what he calls “the real thing,” i.e. practical sets. Indeed, with so many of today’s epic genre films relying heavily on CGI, PROMETHEUS is a rarity: it presents a massive sci-fi world where most of the sets, props and stunts are real. This provides an impressive tactile reality, with one set being more stunning than the next. As one production crew member puts it: “Ridley built the greatest alien playground in the world.”

The cast and crew were in awe of the efforts of production designer Arthur Max and his team of artisans. “It is hard to overstate the impact of walking on those sets,” says Ellenberg. “It was inspiring on so many levels. There are so many understated, instinctual things that happen when you are filming on real sets. Everyone behaves in a more natural, organic fashion because it feels like a piece of reality. Every design detail was based on real world reference points, real world ideas, and real world notions. Some of these are fairly lofty notions, but they’re from our world. And if you are looking to scare people and engage with them, viscerally and emotionally, practical sets are the only way to go.”

The production filmed on five stages at Pinewood Studios in the U.K., including the famed “007 Stage” (one of the biggest stages in Europe, at about 59,000 square feet). With studio space at a minimum, the filmmakers had to make five stages work for more than 16 sets, as well as increasing the size of the 007 Stage by at least a third. Principal photography commenced in August 2010, although preliminary work had begun much earlier.

Arthur Max designed not only the spaceships and vehicles but also the landscape of the planet to which the expedition travels, and the structures and spaceship they discover there. For the ship Prometheus, Max says he wanted “to do something that was state-of-the-art, which would represent a flagship spacecraft with every technology required to probe into the deepest corners of the galaxy. We looked at a lot of NASA and European Space Agency designs, and played around with those ideas in the context of what space travel would be like a generation from now.” Max then worked out the ship’s interior architecture and how it would play to the exterior form.

The bridge of the Prometheus is a two tiered set marked by extraordinary attention to detail and dazzling technology, including a gigantic wraparound jewel-like and faceted windscreen fronting the structure.

Co-screenwriter Jon Spaihts added, “The most difficult thing about writing this story was that nothing was given. Everything had to be invented.  In creating an entire world with Ridley Scott, I had an enormous canvas to paint on.” And co-screenwriter/executive producer Damon Lindelof says that he was “incredibly struck by just how original Ridley’s vision was for this movie. It’s daring, visceral and hopefully, the last thing anyone expects.”

As the script was developed, the story’s big ideas emerged: During a journey to meet what some of the scientist crew believe to be their “makers” – beings who may have created life on our planet – the crew of the spaceship Prometheus and the mega-corporation funding its trillion-dollar mission, are in effect challenging the gods. And, as experienced by the Greek mythological figure from which the ship takes its name, challenging the gods can be a very, very bad idea.

“The film’s central metaphor is about the Greek Titan Prometheus, who defies the gods by giving humans the gift of fire, for which he is horribly punished,” Scott explains.  “When you talk about the myth on which the title is based, you’re dealing with humankind’s relationship with the gods – the beings who created us – and what happens when we defy them.”

But ultimately, notes Lindelof, PROMETHEUS is centered around… us. “It’s about humanity in the future, challenging some of our most cherished scientific and philosophic ideas.”

In returning to the genre he helped define, Ridley Scott continues to push the boundaries of storytelling, both visually and thematically. As he notes, he’s all about the “everything” – from story structure to casting, from sets and costumes to new ways of telling a story. And while the renowned filmmaker is scaring the shit out of you, he never loses sight of the big picture.  “After you’ve seen Prometheus,” Scott concludes, “you will have experienced something completely unexpected.”

PROMETHEUS arrives in UK cinemas on June 1 and in US theaters June 8. The film is rated R.

Visit the official site:  http://www.projectprometheus.com/

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Follow the film on Twitter:  @PrometheusMovie  and  @UK_Prometheus

YouTube:  www.youtube.com/Prometheus6812

“Building Better Worlds” visit:  https://www.weylandindustries.com/