Tag Archives: Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott’s next journey to space stars Matt Damon as ‘The Martian’ stuck on Mars

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Ridley Scott, the director behind Alien and Prometheus, is going back to space with The Martian. Matt Damon stars as an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars when an expedition to the red planets goes sideways. The film’s official synopsis includes additional detail:

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return.

Damon’s Interstellar co-star Jessica Chastain joins him on this new mission and the rest of the star-studded cast includes Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Martian is based on the best-selling book of the same named written by Andy Weir.

Are you excited to watch Damon survive on Mars? As NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX continue their collective efforts to make a trip to Mars a reality, movies like Interstellar and now The Martian make for some good entertainment that also shines a light on our not-so-distant future.

The Martian releases November 25.

Comic Con: Ridley Scott debuts ‘Halo: Nightfall’ first look

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Here’s a first look at Ridley Scott’s original live-action digital series Halo: Nightfall. Though Master Chief is nowhere to be found in this debut trailer, the scene is set for a Prometheus-like adventure into the gritty unknown. Here’s the scoop:

Taking place between the events of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, Halo: Nightfall follows the origin story of legendary manhunter Jameson Locke (Mike Colter) and his team as they are caught in a horrific terrorist attack while investigating terrorist activity on the distant colony world of Sedra. Led by Locke, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) agents are forced to coordinate with a Sedran commander with a remarkable history and deep-rooted mistrust of ONI. As the plot unravels, they’re drawn to an ancient, hellish artifact where they’re forced to fight for their survival, question everything, and ultimately choose between their loyalties and their lives. Agent Locke is a new character in the Halo universe poised to play a major role in Halo 5: Guardians releasing on Xbox One in 2015.

Halo developer 343 Industries and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions premiered the trailer at Comic Con announcing the series’ director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Battlestar Galactica, Pillars of the Earth, Heroes) writer Paul Scheuring (Prison Break), and cast led by Mike Colter (The Good Wife).

“In science fiction, we’re always searching for new frontiers. We’re drawn to the unknown,” said Scott. “With Halo: Nightfall, we’re pioneering a new medium in terms of interactive storytelling on Xbox.  It’s going to be fun for long-time fans to see how the worlds come together with an ambition to attract new fans along the way with what we’ve created.”

Halo: Nightfall will come packed inside Halo: The Master Chief Collection and it will be made available to all Xbox Live subscribers beginning on November 11.

[Via Xbox Wire]

New ‘Prometheus’ viral video introduces Michael Fassbender’s David the robot

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So I guess Ridley Scott didn’t mind letting this cat out of the bag before unleashing his pseudo-Alien prequel Prometheus unto the world. Turns out Michael Fassbender’s character David is a robot! Specifically, he’s an android built by Weyland Industries that’s headed by Guy Pearce’s character Peter Weyland. Is it Weyland’s plan to “change the world” by inventing “technological, intellectual, physical, and emotional” sentient beings? That is still being kept under wraps, as are major plot details of the highly anticipated sci-fi action movie. In the video embedded above you’ll meet David; it’s his birthday so be kind.

Prometheus is out June 8.

Trailer: Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’ just became the most anticipated sci-fi movie of the year

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If you had any reservations about the legitimacy of Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi epic Prometheus, this newly released extended trailer should tip the scale and push you into extreme anticipation mode. On Saturday at Wondercon in Anaheim director Scott, co-writer Damon Lindelof, and stars Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender were on hand to present this wickedly intense new trailer for the pseudo-Alien prequel. It shines brighter than the other teasers we’ve been privy to not only because it is longer, but also because it sets up the story; Prometheus is the name of the spaceship that goes to explore an ancient, mysterious civilization in search of man’s origins, if you didn’t know. Scott’s doing a fine job at keeping the plot under wraps, but thankfully this new look at his grand project lifts the curtain up just enough to tantalize sci-fi fans everywhere. At Wondercon, Scott revealed that Prometheus is just the beginning. “If we’re lucky, there will be a second part of this [film],” he said. “The film does leave you with some nice big open questions.” So while you’re taking that in, hit play and get hypnotized by what I’m confident to call the most anticipated sci-fi movie of the year.

Prometheus opens June 8.

Trailer round-up: ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘Prometheus’

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After four extensive behind-the-scenes looks at Peter Jackson’s upcoming sequel two-fer The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings mastermind has finally released a full-length trailer. Return to The Shire in this beautifully edited clip embedded above. Part 1, An Unexpected Journey, hits theatres next December the 14th.

Jump after the break and you’ll find the explosive second trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and sneak peek at Ridley Scott’s sci-fi thriller Prometheus. Update: The full-length Prometheus teaser awaits. Continue reading Trailer round-up: ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘Prometheus’ →

Movie poster: Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’

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This week 20th Century Fox released the first official movie poster promoting Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi feature Prometheus. Though many think that this film will serve as a prequel to Scott’s 1979 classic Alien, that is not the case.  “While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn’t be more pleased to have found the singular tale I’d been searching for, and finally return to this genre that’s so close to my heart.”

After eyeballing this poster I think we can finally start speculating about what exactly Scott meant when he said, “…the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative.” The tagline reads: “The search for our beginning could lead to our end.” Will Prometheus attempt to pinpoint the start of civilization, or even grander, the meaning of life? What is the human in the poster flashing his light upon, some sort of giant ancient structure in the shape of a human head with strange markings on it? Now is the time to ponder what Scott has up his sleeves until a trailer releases into the wild. On June 8, 2012 answers will come.

YouTube documentary ‘Life in a Day’ premieres January 27

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Remember that crowd-sourced documentary film attached to filmmakers Kevin Macdonald and Ridley Scott I was telling you about back in early July?  Well it’s almost complete and ready for us to enjoy!  Here’s a quick refresher if you need it.  Life in a Day is described as “a historic cinematic experiment to document a single day on Earth.”  Director Macdonald and producer Scott asked people all around the world to film their day on July 24, 2010.  Over 80,000 video clips of people’s lives were submitted (over 4500 hours of footage), and a team of editors managed to whittle it all down into a 90 minute documentary film “that gives an honest and inspiring glimpse of our world.”  Of the 80,000 clips originally submitted, 1,125 of them made it into the final cut.  One of these chosen clips is embedded above; the beautifully shot clip called “Slim Up” was shot by by Toniu Xou and Patricia Martinez del Hoyoa of Spain and features a young girl climbing a human castle in the small town of San Jaume dels Domenys in the Spanish province of Tarragona.  This is just a sneak peak into what the film will encompass.  The film “really gives you a flavor of what it was like to be alive on 24th July 2010,” says Macdonald.

Life in a Day will premiere January 27 at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and it will be broadcasted live on YouTube for everyone to see that day at 8PM EST.  Following the premiere the director of the Festival will conduct an interactive interview with Macdonald and the 20 top contributors of the film.  Starting Monday, January 24 you can submit questions and maybe yours will get picked when the interview is streamed after the film.

Bookmark the Life in a Day YouTube channel and check back there on the 27th at 8PM to watch what promises to be an exciting and curious look into a single day of humanity.  Look after the break to watch a recent and informative interview with Macdonald and editor Joe Walker.

Update: National Geographic has partnered up with YouTube to acquire the rights to bring the doc to the States. If you missed Life in a Day when it streamed online, it’s expected that Nat Geo will release it in theatres on July 24, 2011; yes, that is exactly one year after all the footage was shot.  A DVD release with bonus content will follow.

[Via YouTubeBlog; Deadline] Continue reading YouTube documentary ‘Life in a Day’ premieres January 27 →

Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ prequel is now ‘Prometheus’

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Back in the summer of 2007, director Ridley Scott made it official that he was on board to helm a prequel feature film to his original 1979 cult classic Alien.  What has been referred to as “The Alien prequel” since then has suddenly morphed into something new and quite original.  Today studio-backer 20th Century Fox came out and formally announced the film as Prometheus and tacked on a March 9th, 2012 release date.

While the film will contain some “Alien DNA”, says Scott, it will explore new themes.  “While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn’t be more pleased to have found the singular tale I’d been searching for, and finally return to this genre that’s so close to my heart.”

Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek) has been working closing with Scott on the script.  “In a world flooded with prequels, sequels and reboots, I was incredibly struck by just how original Ridley’s vision was for this movie,” says Lindelof. “It’s daring, visceral and hopefully, the last thing anyone expects. When I sat in a movie theater as a kid, feet raised off the floor for fear that something might grab my ankles, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination I would one day get to collaborate with the man responsible for it. Working alongside him has been nothing short of a dream come true.”

As for casting, only Noomi Rapace has been signed on to play scientist Elizabeth Shaw and Fox says other roles “would be cast soon.”  I’m really looking forward to Prometheus.  If you recall, the three Alien sequels were helmed by different directors (James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, respectively), and so I’m intrigued that Scott is so confident he can inject new life into his original creation.

[Via Deadline]

Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project

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Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.

Life in a Day, a YouTube compilation video to be largely edited by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and executive produced by director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner), will attempt to tell such a story.  It’s being hailed as a “historic cinematic experiment” that relies on you (yes, you) to contribute to the short film.  If you want to participate in the effort, all you have to is capture events that happen in your own life on July 24 and upload your video to the Life in a Day channel by July 31.  Here are some suggestions from Google: “You can film the ordinary — a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary — a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.”  Head over to the channel for other ideas that may inspire you.  So here’s the deal: If your footage is selected to be put into the film, you’ll be credited as co-director and if you’re lucky you’ll get to attend the premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with 19 others.  If you don’t make the final cut, Google reminds you that your submitted footage will live forever on the channel “as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.”  Sappy, but it’s true!  It’s so easy to do these days, you might as well give it a shot.  On the 24th, whip out your Flip cam and take your dog for a walk.  Who knows, maybe you and Scrappy will make it big.  Need some words of encouragement?  Look after the break for a pep talk from Ridley Scott; the Nike shout-out aside, it should get some creative juices flowing.

[Via YouTubeBlog] Continue reading Ridley Scott invites you to become part of history in ‘Life in a Day’ film project →