Ridley Scott’s planned prequel to Alien appears to have hit something of a snag…
The plan, up to this point, has been this: Ridley Scott is to make at least one, probably two, prequels to Alien. We know that they're to be in 3D, we know that Jon Spaights had written a script (based around the backstory of the space jockey from the original film), and we know that Lost co-showrunner Damon Lindelof had been brought in to do some work on it too. It was also looking likely that the Alien prequel would be Scott's next film, although that had not been confirmed.
It's also looking a little in doubt, too, according to a report at Script Flags. The site has the news that Ridley Scott and 20th Century Fox are seeing the film in a slightly different way, and that this is causing problems.
According to the site, it's the project's budget, and creative differences, that are at the heart of the matter.
Script Flags reports "It would seem Scott wants a budget of around $250m to make it a sci-fi spectacular, and is also pushing for an 18-rated level of violence and horror. Fox, however, don't plan on investing anywhere near that sum, and are keen to get a 15 rating to maximise the audience appeal."
Neither Fox nor Ridley Scott has had anything to say on this, so how close to the truth it is remains unclear. There is a sound of plausibility to it, though. It's hard to think of any studio that would pump over $150-200m into any project if it came back with an 18/R rating.
We'll wait and see how this one pans out. Here's hoping it gets resolved quickly...