Patrick Wilson added to the stellar cast of Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel and a first official look at Prometheus (2012)

Nearly completing production, news broke of the casting addition of Patrick Wilson (Watchmen, Insidious).  The legendary director Ridley Scott began working on an original science-fiction story while simultaneously entertaining the idea of an Alien prequel, and Prometheus (2012) is the result.  Reports claim the official synopsis is as follows, along with the first official photograph of the film:

Visionary filmmaker Ridley Scott returns to the genre he helped define, creating an original science fiction epic set in the most dangerous corners of the universe. The film takes a team of scientists and explorers on a thrilling journey that will test their physical and mental limits and strand them on a distant world, where they will discover the answers to our most profound questions and to life’s ultimate mystery.

Indeed, Scott has helped define the science-fiction film genre with Alien (1979) and the highly influential Blade Runner (1982).  Thus, his return to the genre via the Alien franchise (though not an all-out prequel) is great news by itself, not to mention it is co-written by Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of Lost.

When you add in the incredibly outstanding cast, Prometheus quickly rose to the top-five of my Most Anticipated Films.  Wilson joins a cast that primarily features Noomi Rapace (the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Hollywood stars Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, and the highly underused/underrated Guy Pearce and Idris Elba.  If Scott can recreate the gritty, isolated look and feel of the original film, then audiences are in for an amazing film and some exceptional performances.  In fact, if The Dark Knight Rises (2012) didn’t come out in the July of 2012, then this would easily be the most anticipated blockbuster of the summer; alas, audiences shouldn’t be too upset that 2012 will feature numerous extremely anticipated films from renowned directors, such as Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), Peter Jackson (The Hobbit, part 1), Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), Sam Mendes (Bond 23), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), and Kathryn Bigelow (Untitled BIn Laden Thriller), not to mention a number of other superhero series and franchises returning to theaters.  In sum, 2012 should be a great year at the movies.

Prometheus opens in theaters on June 8, 2012.

This is from the 1979 movie, but the "Space Jockey" is said to be an important part of this film's plot

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