In a couple of days critics will start seeing "Prometheus," in less than a week it opens internationally, and soon the lid will be off the box of Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi as we'll finally experience what the director has conjured up in his kinda-sorta "Alien" prequel. While diehard fans have been covering their ears and eyes hoping to go in fresh, the Fox marketing team has been on a blitzkrieg dropping numerous TV spots, clips and images from the movie. And well, a few more details have squeaked out in the New York Times profile of Noomi Rapace, adding another dimension to the upcoming film. Warning: there are spoilers so stop reading here if you don't want to know anything more.
By now, the broad strokes of the movie are known, with the crew of the Prometheus headed to outer space in response to what they believe is an invitation by humanity's creators, only to find something more sinister. For the most part, the connection to "Alien" has been kept out of the marketing entirely, but it seems on a deeper level there will be parallels between Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw and Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. As superfans of the franchise know, Ripley was returning to her daughter at the end of "Alien" and in a deleted scene in "Aliens" we learn that the daughter died during Ripley's trip back to Earth.
As the Times reveals, four days were spent shooting a scene "that takes Elizabeth Shaw’s desire to have children and twists it into 'everyone’s worst nightmare.' " Sounds innocuous right? Well Rapace demurred from talking about the scene, and wasn't able to answer any direct questions about it, and the studio didn't screen footage for the paper either. But this info adds an interesting element, and raises a few eyebrows. What does Shaw do to realize her dream of having children? As you might recall from the trailers, David asks "How far would you go, to get your answers? What would you be willing to do?" And later, Shaw screams "Get it out of me!" And also remember, we do see some signs of human mutation (Logan Marshall-Green's eyes). Could Shaw be using her body as some kind of vessel for the alien life form? Hmm…. Again, just random speculation, but the puzzle pieces are beginning to take shape. And it might explain some of the half-naked stumbling around she does in those trailers, as well her thrashing on some kind of gurney/bed thing as well.
But whatever it is, it seems motherhood/birth will once again be lurking in the story and shooting the sequence left an impression on Rapace. “…the reality and the scenes melted together, my whole spirit was really captured,” she said. “I actually dreamt a couple of times that I was dead.”
Also interesting to note, and adding another thematic undercurrent, the Times adds that Shaw is an archaeologist with "a strong faith in God," while her partner Charlie Holloway (Marshall-Green) is simply a scientist. It seems faith vs. science will also be an element riding through picture as well.
So a few more things to think about as "Prometheus" makes its way to theaters. The film opens in the U.S. on June 8th.