Ridley Scott's Prometheus is one of my most-anticipated movies of the summer, and Fox has done a pretty good job keeping the details under wraps.  We know it has Alien-DNA, that the last eight minutes will tie into Scott's 1979 seminal sci-fi horror film, and a few other assorted details.  Last May, we reported that Guy Pearce had joined the film, but there were no details on his character.  In a recent interview, Scott may have revealed who Pearce is playing.  I don't consider this is a major spoiler since A) the publication is in question; and B) if it is true, the director had no problem giving away the info in an interview.  I can understand wanting to keep the secrecy going on a movie that's managed to keep us in the dark so far (and hopefully will continue to do so up until its release), so don't click ahead if you want to avoid a minor spoiler.

Hit the jump to find out who Pearce might be playing.  The film also stars Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, and Michael Fassbender.  Prometheus opens in 3D on June 8th.

Before revealing who Pearce might be in Prometheus, it's important to point out that the chain of info is a bit in question.  The Hungarian site FilmSite.hu picked up an interview with Scott from "IC Press" but provides no link (it could have appeared in a magazine), and here's how Alien Prequel News [via Empire] translated a quote from that interview:

"When the first 'Alien' movie and 'Blade Runner' were made, I thought that in the near future the world will be owned by large companies. This is why we have the Tyrell Corporation in 'Blade Runner', and Weyland-Yutani in 'Alien'. They sent the Nostromo spaceship.

The Prometheus is owned by an entrepreneur called Peter Weyland, and is played by Guy Pearce. That's the connection between the two films, and nothing more. Prometheus is a new film, a new world, and is full of new ideas. And of course new monsters as well."

Assuming this quote is real, it possibly falls into a bit into conflict with Scott's early statement where he said that the last eight minutes of Prometheus would evolve into "a pretty good DNA of the Alien one."  Then again, he could be saying that Weyland doesn't have any connection beyond being on the ship rather than having a direct influence on the Weyland-Yutani's acts in the future movies, and he could be part of those final eight minutes.

While I feel that such a connection makes the world a little smaller, it would provide a bit of a nice tie-in to why the Nostromo would go to the Space Jockey planet, especially since Ash (Ian Holm) says that he was ordered to bring the creature back to the corporation.

Finally, to provide a "canon" time-line, Alien vs. Predator, which introduces Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen), takes place in 1972.  Prometheus takes place in the 21st century (considering the technological advancements, probably late in the 21st century), and Alien is in 2122.  We don't know what Yutani was doing during this time span because clearly no one gives a shit about the poor guy.