Did you have a chance to read Guy Lodge's thoughts on spoilerphobia today?

I have a friend who pretty much knows everything about "Prometheus."  He didn't actually work on it, but he was in a position to sort of see everything.  As a result, he's been dying to tell me everything for months now.  If the film comes up, I can see the actual physical effort it takes for him to not tell me every single detail that he knows, and even with him being as well-behaved as humanly possible, I've probably heard more than I should have.

Even so, I don't feel like the film is ruined for me.  When you go see a Ridley Scott film, I'd argue that the most important thing is the visual delivery of the ideas.  He has a painter's eye, and until you actually see a Ridley Scott film, I don't believe it can be "spoiled," per se.

Fox has been very, very careful about how they've sold this film, and there are a few things they've guarded, even while hiding them in plain sight.  I think they're having real fun in terms of what words they use when discussing the film, whether it's Damon Lindelof or Ridley Scott or the cast, and they've said more than people think they've said. 

I'm curious to see how people react to the film who aren't already pre-sold, people who don't even fully understand how it relates to earlier movies.  And since there's nothing in the title that suggests this is a sequel or a prequel or a sidequel or whatever you want to call it, I think a lot of audiences are going to have an interesting experience when, halfway through the film, they realize what they're watching.

The viral marketing for the film seems fun so far, and a nice follow-up to the TED talk that we posted in February was released today.  It's a video from Weyland Industries that introduces the David 8, a synthetic human, a precursor to the characters played by Lance Henriksen and Ian Holm in the "Alien" films.  Michael Fassbender looks to be a perfect choice for the role, and I'm glad to see they're not treating his identity like a big secret in the film.  That's too much like the structure of earlier films, and it's the sort of information that would probably be best given to an audience right up front.

In addition, there were clues released to various film blogs today that unlock new emotions for David at the Project Prometheus site.  You can see the /Film code here, for example, and then if you use it, you'll learn more about David 8.

We're getting closer and closer to this one.  Now that the summer movies are starting to screen, I feel like tuning out as much as possible, but I know that many of you are rabid for every little bit of information and footage on this one, and I have a feeling Fox is going to make it fun for you in the weeks ahead.

"Prometheus" arrives in theaters June 8, 2012.

Drew McWeeny
Film Editor

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A respected critic and commentator for fifteen years, Drew McWeeny helped create the online film community as "Moriarty" at Ain't It Cool News, and now proudly leads two budding Film Nerds in their ongoing movie education.