Movies
[OMFG] ‘Prometheus’ Secrets Revealed: Movie Tie-In Tells (Almost) All!
When Prometheus: The Art of the Film arrived on my doorstep Friday afternoon, it took all of my willpower not to immediately crack open the hefty hardback. But since I wasn’t seeing the film until Saturday, I resisted the temptation. Good thing I did, because the gorgeously produced The Art of the Film not only fills in many of the blanks that have frustrated moviegoers, it’s a seriously in-depth exploration that has the potential to spoil the movie entirely.
This afternoon I sat down with Prometheus: The Art of the Film for a simulated Q&A over coffee and crullers, and the book indulged many secrets. But be warned, our fake discussion was candid in nature, and some very serious spoilers follow the break.
Have some of those major questions answered below!
[Editor’s Note: Information provided by director Ridley Scott, production designer Arthur Max, creature and special effects supervisor Neal Scanlan, and screenwriter Damon Lindelof.]
Q: So what’s up with that albino humanoid alien committing suicide in the prologue? Is he poisoning the planet’s water or something?
A: According to the Prometheus: The Art of the Film, the albino humanoids are known as “Engineers”, a superior race approximately 2-3 million years ahead of humans, that have learned how to seed planets with their own DNA. In the prologue, a sole Engineer is depicted seeding the planet Earth many, many, many years ago. His spacecraft departs moments later.
Q: What’s going on with all the cave drawings? If the Engineers are so bent on destroying us, why don’t they just wipe us out during one of their visits to our planet?
A: Arthur Max explains that “…the Engineers, playing the role of God in the universe, have visited Earth many times over millennia and given mankind genetic upgrades both physical and intellectual.”
Q: I don’t understand the importance of the big-ass human head sculptures in the pyramid. Explain that shit.
A: The giant head sculptures were constructed by the Engineers as a way to celebrate their place as God in the universe. A sort of self-effigy, if you will. Why is this celebratory head sculpture placed in a room with hundreds of ampules of black goo? It remains (purposely?) unexplained.
Q: Oh yeah, the black goo in the ampules. Where’d that shit come from?
A: The Engineers developed it as a biochemical weapon intended to wipe out all of planet Earth, but the creatures somehow turned on them. It’s not mentioned why the Engineers are so bent on eradicating Earthlings, but there are hints that they felt a complete planetary reset was in order.
Q: There’s a zombie in this movie. Why is there a fucking zombie in this movie?
A: The original concept of the zombie-esque “Babyhead” creature was “more alien than human”, but they liked the “strong performance” of actor Sean Harris, ultimately deciding to use less make-up since “the general feeling was it would be much better to hold on to the actor’s features, hold on to all the things that he would bring to the show.”
Q: The Prometheus is flying missions almost 30 years before we were first introduced to the Nostromo from Alien. Why is the technology so much more advanced?
A: While the Nostromo was a commercial towing vessel, a tug used primarily for grunt labor, the Prometheus is the company flagship. Hence the heavy-duty upgrades.
Q: What’s up with the arch-shaped display in the pyramid? Was that an altar?
A: Yes, it was an altar, with the depiction of an adult Giger-like alien at the center, apparently crucified. This indicates that the creatures from Alien have been around for centuries, and not first introduced in the final moments of Prometheus as some have speculated. The book is strangely coy in regard to the carving: “[The crew members] look at it and speculate briefly about it. But it’s not very clear what it is.”
The Art of the Film also reveals that some of the imagery in Prometheus was adapted from “archival work” leftover from the original Alien. For the curious, most of this imagery can be found in The Book of Alien, a slim movie tie-in first published in 1979. Arthur Max explains, “We went through [sketches and drawings from the original Alien] and Ridley was very excited to see all this stuff because he hadn‘t seen it in a long time. A lot of stuff he wanted to was included in this archive but hadn‘t made into the original film. He said, ‘Well, maybe we can base something on this,’ and there were drawings from all those original designers we took.”
(A few weeks ago, Titan Books, the U.K-based publisher releasing Prometheus: The Art of the Film, republished both The Book of Alien and the 1995 Aliens movie tie-in, Colonial Marines Technical Manual. Any self-respecting fan of the franchise should have all three on their bookshelf.)
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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