October 13, 2010 Ridley Scott's "Alien" prequel has been in the works for quite some time now. The screenplay, which was being reworked by "Lost" series writer Damon Lindelof, has been written and, apparently, 20th Century Fox executives love it so much, they plan to make "Alien 5" their big franchise hit of 2012 -- with Natalie Portman as the star!



Vulture reports:

Vulture just got word: Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof turned in his new draft of the screenplay for Ridley Scott's Alien prequel on Saturday, and 20th Century Fox execs are very pleased with it indeed! We’re told all involved parties have been made to sign nondisclosure agreements about the plot, but our spies have been able to glean several interesting nuggets about the project, which is set roughly 35 years before Scott’s dystopic classic.

The script is apparently both excellent and not expensive to film, making it more in line with the original "Alien," which Ridley Scott also directed.

The big news is that Vulture reports that Natalie Portman is in talks to star in the film.

Some very, very bad news, however. The movie may be a major sell-out with a PG-13 rating.

"The thinking," explains one insider, "is that if the original Alien were released today, minus the F-bombs, you could still get a PG-13. Alien is a very Jaws-ian movie: There’s no sex, and while there’s lots of violence, most of it is off-camera. Maybe you’d have to cut away from certain scenes two seconds earlier, but it could be done."

Sounds a bit ominous.


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