Exclusive: Tony Scott Confirms Carl Rinsch is Directing New ALIEN Movie. And it’s a PREQUEL!

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted:May 29th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

alien_xenomorph_01.jpgA few days ago, Bloody-Disgusting reported that 20th century Fox was going to remake “Alien” and director Carl Rinsch would be helming the movie. Immediately fandom exploded with venom. I think one of the main reasons is that the original is a classic, and 20th Century Fox hasn’t been making films of that caliber recently.

So at today’s junket for Tony Scott’s new film “The Taking of Pelham 123″, I went up Tony after the press conference ended to ask him what was up with the remake.

The big news is he confirmed Carl Rinsch would be directing it and that it’s a prequel to his brother Ridley’s classic!

What Tony told me is after the jump:

Collider: 20th Century Fox is talking about remaking or redoing the original Alien. What’s going on with that?

alien_xenomorph_02.jpgTony Scott: Yes, Carl Rinsch is going to do the prequel to Alien. He’s one of our directors at our company.

Collider: I’m going to be blunt about this. Fox has not been doing a great job recently with their movies.  They haven’t been an artist friendly studio. Are you guys going to have some creative control and make this a kick-ass film?

Tony: Yes! But Fox is our home. They finace our production company.

Collider: And I’m very happy that you guys have the financing. But a lot of the films they’ve been doing at the studio level, they’ve been nickel and diming and not giving fandom what they want. So I guess my question for you is…are you a little nervous about reengaging the franchise or are you excited.

Tony: I’m excited cause Ridley created the original and Carl Rinsch is one of the family.

Collider: When do you envision this film getting in front of cameras?

Tony: Hopefully the end of the year.

Collider: Will it be a summer of 2011 movie?

Tony: Honestly, I don’t know.

While I wish I could give you more info, I only had moments to talk with him. Look for more “Alien” info as I get it.

Tags:
, ,

Related Links
  • Fox Tries Make ALIEN Prequel by Hiring Ridley Scott. AS THE DIRECTOR.
  • Fox Only Wants a New ALIEN Movie If Ridley Scott Directs
  • Fox Looking to Rehatch ALIEN?
  • Would-Be ALIEN 5 Director Carl Rinsch to Instead Count 47 RONIN with Keanu Reeves
  • Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon Dead at 63

    • « FANBOYS DVD Review
    Danny McBride talks YOUR HIGHNESS, EASTBOUND AND DOWN and MR. MACHINE »

    Comments

    • Jojo
      I suppose if it's a choice between prequels or remakes in this case, I'll take a prequel. Those often don't work any better than a remake, but at least they'll try a little bit and the Scotts will still be involved. But if it's PG-13, then 20th Century Fox can suck it.
    • InfiniteMonkey
      I second that! This had better not be for the kids and shite like that or its going to bomb big time! Aside from that, I'm in!
    • Yakoub
      You have got to be kidding me?! Can't the money grabbing-idiots in Hollywood leave well enough alone? So when is the Jaws remake coming, or Gone With the Wind? How about Casablanca starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson? Or maybe Bladerunner starring Wil Ferrel I think I am going to be ill..
    • keith
      Please leave the original alone it is one of the greatest scifi horror films ever made!Do a prequel and don't find a way to get Ripley in it heck don't have humans in it at all since they hadn't ever made contact before Alien!Do something between Alien2 and Alien3!
    • adrian
      Jaws Begins.

      Humans hadn't made contact? What about AVP 1 & 2? It's a shambles.
    • chris
      I'm completely tired of all of these remakes and prequels. Can Hollywood just completely NOT come up with anything original anymore? I haven't seen an original Hollywood blockbuster since... The Matrix??

      Since the first Alien movie was about humans first contact with the aliens, what is this going to be, a Discovery special like Planet Earth only on the Alien home planet?

      Worst idea for a prequel ever.
    • lonny
      Wasn't AvP 1 supposed to be a prequel?

      These chaps are old and don't care anymore. It'll suck unless they really pay attention to the first film and build from there.

      Otherwise expect something pointless.
    • philmphan
      Come up with an alien language(s) and subtitle the whole thing and make it revolve around the alien ship that the Nostromo's encountered. Now that I'd watch, unfortunately too few people want to "read" a movie. Meh.
    • baldouting.blogspot.com
      who knows, it might be good. there's always a chance it might be good. then again, that hope has caused me to pay for a lot of crappy movies.
    • Vixremento
      Unfortunately it'll probably suck anyway (they should start labelling these films with "MADE FOR KID-CINEMA - GUARANTEED TO SUCK"...just look at all of the crap we've been given lately. The AVP movies were horrible - they just just leave the Alien franchise alone now - close the door and lock the vault before they shame it even more.
    • Sean Meaney
      Will this be my oft desired Alien Prequel - where an egg is brought back from South America by Conquistadors in a clay shell to keep it from hatching - only to have it stolen from the Spanish by a Vatican Monk (who is pursued by Soldiers) and dropped off in an Isolated Monastary (based on the original art for Aliens 3) where it hatches and slaughters all the monks and the Soldiers who finally catch up with the thieving monk?
    • Ray LePera
      I'd rather see a prequal than a remake. You can't remake a classic. But I think there's a story to be told. As we've seen, the crew of the Nostromo discovered an alien ship on LB427(?) over run with xenomorphs. What happened? And how will these aliens be portrayed? Maybe they're Predators. Hopefully not Klingons or ET's. Could be interesting or could be a dud.
    • shashi
      you're a fucking dud. moron.
    • Mooshell
      Oh come on! Can't anyone these days come up with something NEW and original without having to go back 20-30 years and pillage the past for movie ideas? Leave Alien alone!
    • wanker666
      The whole awesomeness of the original premise was we had to imagine where the alien ship/space jockey came from and that just added to the mystery. Now we're gonna see it in all its CGI glory with a PG13 rating. F*** no if you think any fan of Alien will watch this, Unless they are gonna come up with an incredible different premise.
      Why Ridley why???
    • Guest
      Agreed. Hope it BOMBS!!!!
    • danny
      EXACTLY RIGHT!! Fox "studio" movies SUCK! Look at their output over the last 15 months with THE HAPPENING / 12 ROUNDS / DRAGONBALL / THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (terrible remake) / MAX PAYNE / BABYLON A.D. / STREET FIGHTER / MIRRORS / SHUTTER / JUMPER / XMEN ORIGINS / ALIEN VS PRED and I'm sure there's others I cant remember but look at this list!! And for next year the list is also horrible with titles like THE A-TEAM! THE A-TEAM????? hahahahaha is it any wonder they need to try and suck any little marrow left in the bone of the ALIEN franchise??? they are bankrupt creatively!
    • bobthebuilder
      A-Team, LOL!
    • irishlad
      yea the A-TEAM is such a stupid idea. kinda like a prequel to Alien
    • The death of Hollywood began with the death o the "R" rated films. Teens want action and video-type stories and that's what you get with PG-13. If I movie isn't rated "R" which non-are these days — and I mean action flicks — they will suck. Take T4 for example or Die Hard 4. If they would get back to adult stoylines with solid action and violence that isn't just plain gory Hollywood would have some fun movies. Problem is they're making a ton of money doing crap for the teens so don't expect any change. Just imagine how good "Taken" could have been if it had an "R" rating. The problem is the directors are being edited. Could you think how much Scarface would have sucked if it had been made today. It would have been worse than Indy 4.
    • Space Jockey
      The good thing about this is that Ridley and Tony Scott will be involved.. What I dont understand is why a prequel? Ripley is half human and half alien and this is the perfect time to explain her roots.. the alien roots, so I think a sequel is better because you know how a prequel will end. Ripley needs to find out where her loyaly is, she needs to find the "cure" for her alien genes.. ergo looking for the Alien homeworld, getting into the roots and finding out what the creatures are all about and how they relate to the Space Jockey. I always thought of the alien's original organism to be some sort of a germ, I think the Space Jockey crashed on their planet and got infected itself, or maybe it was a "science lab" experiment gone wrong. Maybe this movie will be a paradox to a brand new level or Alien story telling we had never seen before. So be open minded about it, I am sure Ridley and Tony are feeling the pressure to deliver.. not only from 20th Century Fox but for also the fans, I am sure they wont come up with a crappy film. They are talented!
      Signing off...
      ...please wait
      End of transmission
    • Robbie
      Personally I think they should just go the whole hog and remake everything.

      I've always believed that Lawrence of Arabia would be much better if it had Ryan Reynolds and dune buggy's in it.

      I'm watching you Fox, I know this ideas gold!!! At least in your boardroom anyway.
    • FOX Studios Rep.
      Dear Robbie,

      We appreciate your idea. In fact, we intend to use it to its fullest and most useless extent. Thank you for feeding our desperation.

      Love from SCUM. xxoo

      FOXy
    • Jimbo
      The first Alien movie was near perfect the second was a damm good movie since then total rubbish. Only Alien Movie I would want to watch now is a major invasion of earth with LOTR size battles between Earths 21st centuries armies and thousands of Aliens. But I agree with most of the posts... make something original atho I so want to see that Lawerence of Arabia remake.
    • Alan
      Does anyone even remember the original Alien? Ash was sent to collect the lifeform, so somebody at Weyland-Yutani was aware of it's existence before the crew touched down on LV 426.

      I don't really have high hopes for any new Alien material given the utter catastrophes that were the AvP films (and Alien Resurrection), but the original film DOES lend itself to having some backstory that involves humans, aliens, and the 'alien astronaut' species as well.

      Telling a story that explains the ship crashed on LV 426 could be interesting IF done right.
    • JediTray
      No, "The Company" did not know ahead of time. It was in Ash's programming to collect and bring back any organism found of interest.
    • spacejocky
      No, Jeditray go back to star wars and leave aliens to its true fans
      Actually the company did know , thats why they placed Ash aboard
      and redirected the ship from the core systems
    • Iceman
      I agree, telling a story of how the ship crashed on LV-426 and how Weyland-Yutani found out about it could be highly interesting. As for the AVP films goes, if they had done the movies based on the PC games (particularly "AVP 2"), the movie itself would've been a bigger box-office hit.
    • dek
      Personally, I would love to see a modern, big-budget, LOTR-scale take on Dune that does justice to how incredibly f-ing epic the actual book is.
    • dbt77
      lookng at that list above from Danny showing all the Fox movies makes me shake my head in astonishment how bad their films are......little hope that any kind of Alien movie would not be just as bad.....and hearing that the A-Team is part of their upcoming releases confirms that nothing is going to change.
    • o0soul
      Xrist Frosty, did you even read your own damn article? You asked Scott what was up with rumors of remaking or redoing the original Alien. Scott replied "Yes, Carl Rinsch is going to do the prequel to Alien. He’s one of our directors at our company. "

      So, now that you've got the idiotic bait and switch headline are you going to fix it? Where in your interview did Scott say ANYTHING at all about a REMAKE of the original? He's only talking about a single movie here, there is no mention what so ever about a remake AND a prequel. Only a prequel.
    • carlcarlson
      Who the F*CK is Carl Rinsch? Does he have any good films under his belt? I have this image in my head of a fat plumber with a fat crack. Am I crazy? i checked imdb.com and he doesn't have anything to his name...
    • Face Hugger
      It could be okay. I don't see why everyone's upset, though. If Alien 3, 4, and AvP 1 and 2 didn't discourage newbies from checking out the first 2, then this one certainly won't, either - their reputation is cemented.
    • Space Jockey
      I have made my poster design for the film

      http://h1.ripway.com/dvonnesoneek/Alien Prequel Poster.jpg

      let me know what you think.

      Signing off...
      ...please wait
      End of transmission
    • Space Jockey
      I have made my poster design for the film

      http://h1.ripway.com/dvonnesoneek/AlienPrequelPos...

      let me know what you think.

      Signing off...
      ...please wait
      End of transmission
    • seattlejohn
      rinch is a german director of music videos and commercials...Entertainment Weekly is currently running a really cool clip of his work (EW.COM) that is vaguely like original alien artist hr giger...dark horse paperbacks have some really well-done original alien novels including STEEL EGG by the tremendous john shirley which makes me hopeful the alien series isn't totally tapped out yet
    • parker
      Who the hell is Carl Rinsch?
    • parker
      note to self: realize there's a page two before asking
    • last man standing
      This movie will suck.. bottom line.
    • Steve
      At least it's a prequel, and ignoring the vomitous AvP movies, you can have human contact with the alien... there just can't be any survivors.
    blog comments powered by Disqus
    • Follow Steve on Twitter
    • Follow Matt on Twitter