Ridley Scott is currently at the Toronto International Film Festival doing press for his newest sci-fi film, The Martian. But he's also a very busy filmmaker—one who's made 13 films in the last 15 years. Scott is someone who always has the next project ready to start as soon as he's finished with the previous one. So when Steve had the chance to sit down with the prolific filmmaker, he also asked the director about his goals for his next filmPrometheus 2.

Prometheus concluded when the lone survivors of the first film, Noomi Rapace’s Shaw and the severed head of Michael Fassbender’s android David, blasted off to try and get answers for all the strange, violent, and diseased things they encountered in the first film. So what questions do Shaw and David have when they arrive to their destination?


This is what the director had to say:

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It starts off with a very grand idea—or a grand question, really. Who are they and why did they create such evil biology and bacteriology? And [in creating], to protect themselves from what? So the questions are answered there, or rather, beginning to be answered in Prometheus 2.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

The "who" in question would seem to be the Engineer, whom they encountered at the end of Prometheus, before blasting off to the Engineer's planet in search of answers. At TIFF, Scott confirmed with Deadline that yes, both actors are still on board for the sequel.


It’s unclear if Michael Green's script is completed or going through a re-write, but Damon Lindelof took himself out of the running a few years ago—which should be music to ears of the biggest Prometheus naysayers who blamed all of the film's faults on Lindelof. From the brief exchange with Steve, less characters and more clear questions should help massage the fears of those whose expectations were not met with the first Prometheus, in which Scott did deliver some amazing cinematic centerpieces—the hologram Engineers being released, David alone on a ship while the crew sleeps—within a larger mess of a too-expansive story. And the question of what spooked the Engineers does give Scott a lot of potential for a nasty creature creation.

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Image via Alcon Entertainment.

Speaking of Scott and sci-fi sequels, Steve also recently got the chance to speak with Denis Villeneuve at TIFF about the sequel that Scott passed on making in favor of Prometheus 2Blade Runner 2. You can read about the immense pressure that Villeneuve feels to do the sequel justice, and his own personal read on Harrison Ford's Agent Deckard, here. As well as read Matt's review of The Martian, which he describes as a return to form for the director. And be sure to come back to Collider to see the rest of Steve's interview with Scott, and Martian cast members.


Whether you were a fan of Prometheus or a detractor, do Scott's comments on the sequel intrigue you? Or are the positive notices of The Martian already enough to send you back into orbit with the director? Sound off in the comments.

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