Ridley Scott to begin filming Alien: Paradise Lost in Australia by January!

Ridley Scott's latest movie The Martian hits theatres today, and is a welcome return to the genre that made the British director a household name and Hollywood legend. While promoting the movie Scott was interviewed by news.com.au about it and his next movie, Alien: Paradise Lost - the sequel to his last foray into science fiction; 2012's Prometheus. In the interview the director announced surprisingly that filming may begin in Australia as soon as next January...

“I’m trying to get into the big Sydney studio there for Prometheus 2. We’re doing that … well, I’m kicking off now actually. We’re literally starting prep now and we’ve got to land somewhere very shortly because my team have to get themselves over there and get all their team together. The pyramid of personnel on a film like this could be anywhere from 400 to 600 people, so you’ve got to get going — you’ve got to move.”

“As we speak I’m literally drawing: I’m doing storyboards for the film in January,” said Scott, who is best known for his films of epic scale such as Blade Runner,Gladiator and Thelma & Louise. I’m one of those people who can multitask — I’m drawing the bridge of the next spaceship. I do the sketches and then I bring in the chaps to make it. It almost becomes industrial design, which these things ought to be because you need that strong sense of reality (on set). When you do these films that are so big, the manner of designing them is enormous.”

“It’s great, I got the figures and it’s very promising how well it’s doing in Australia. I’m not kidding myself, I’m not one of those people who says ‘Oh I don’t really care’ — I do care. I really do. I think it’s lovely when what you’ve done is appreciated as opposed to getting your head knocked off, right?”

It is uncertain if this means that Ridley, his cast and his crew will not be filming at either Pinewood or Shepperton Studios in the UK, though it is highly possible that the director has had to source out another large studio with the aforementioned British studios likely booked solid for the next few years by Disney, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm for the plethora of MCU and Star Wars movies that are about to overwhelm us in the coming next few years. It is also possible that Scott could be shooting on location in Australia, taking into consideration his visit there last year.

Big thanks to Scifiders Necronom 4 and Shambs for the heads up!