Damon Lindelof's Alien prequel probably getting made, possibly starring Natalie Portman

The somewhat murky news that Lost creator Damon Lindelof may or may not be writing the next Alien prequel has reached a satisfying, crystal-clear conclusion that explains everything (Ehh? Ehhhh?), with Vulture reporting that Fox is “very pleased” with the draft Lindelof recently submitted. One reason for their excitement: It won’t cost the studio tons of money to make, which has been a point of contention between Fox and director Ridley Scott, who these days doesn’t bother climbing out of his script fort for a budget of less than $150 million.

Fortunately for the studio, Lindelof’s take on the story—which is set 35 years before the events of Alien—is said to have “no expensive set pieces,” and instead will follow the more suspenseful white-knuckle horror formula of the original, rather than the effects-heavy, “nuke it from orbit” sci-fi action of its sequels. Of course, that lack of balls-out violence is also part of its somewhat-disheartening aim to land a PG-13 rating—not that one necessarily needs the word “fuck” to battle aliens, but that would certainly seem like an appropriate time to drop an F-bomb, no?

Naturally the most crucial factor is finding the right actress to fill Sigourney Weaver’s considerable panties as the tough female Colonial Marine general, and the top candidate as of now is reportedly Natalie Portman, who recently freed herself from Pride And Prejudice And Zombies and passed on another "lost in space" tale, Gravity. The next name on the list is Noomi Rapace, ass-kicking star of the original Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, while Scott is also said to be considering Carey Mulligan and Abbie Cornish, which is just silly.