Ridley Scott Elaborates on the Alien Prequel He'll Probably Never Make

A few weeks ago, while sorting through the mess of projects Ridley Scott has attached himself to direct since 2006, Movieline's Oddsmaking Dept. placed the chances of him realizing his reported Alien prequel at a modest 45-1. His new, cryptic bit of illumination as to what that prequel might include doesn't change those odds much, but at least we can all have a little better idea of the movie he has in mind. Sort of.

By "a little better," I really do mean a little: Talking to Empire Wednesday at the London premiere of his daughter Jordan's indie drama Cracks, Sir Ridley broke the news that -- are you ready? -- the story has a rough time period:

"It's a brand new box of tricks," said Sir Ridley. "We know what the road map is, and the screenplay is now being put on paper. The prequel will be a while ago. It's very difficult to put a year on Alien, but [for example] if Alien was towards the end of this century, then the prequel story will take place thirty years prior. [...] I never thought I'd look forward to a sequel," said Sir Ridley. "But a prequel is kind of interesting. I'm looking forward to doing that."

OK, so: "A while ago" from the doomed voyage of the Nostromo crew, and...? More ambitious, faithful minds than mine have attempted to parse this nugget into transparency, but the reality is that there's not even a script draft, shooting remains at least two years away, and his underdog Gucci is coming up (again) in the meantime with Angelina Jolie supposedly circling the lead role. And the dude's 72. I mean, we're all looking forward to it over here as well, but one thing at a time. Like, say, a screenplay. Or a greenlight. You know -- the basics.

· Excl: Ridley Scott Talks Alien Prequel [Empire]