“Prometheus” – the trailer gets a trailer.

The Girl With The Funny Bubble Helmet? Image via AVP Spectrum.

This phenomenon has already besmirched the world of video games – now, movies are getting in on the act of having a teaser trailer for a teaser trailer.

That level of meta calls for gif-based commentary, wouldn’t you say?

Is this real life?

Yes, “Prometheus” hype commenced last night in earnest on Apple’s trailer page, with an initial trailer for a full trailer which arrives properly on Thursday.  I’m biting, obviously, as I’m writing this post and linking to the trailer but you do have to wonder what the thinking is behind treating a teaser (which is, after all, an advertisement) as though it’s a major pop cultural event worthy of an advertising campaign of its own.

Are we still in the van, or are we in the hotel now?  I admit, I’m confused.

 

 

“Prometheus” poster promises large craniums, darkness.

"Prometheus" teaser poster via Alien Prequel News.

If you’ve been following the gestation of Ridley Scott’s return to cinematic sci-fi with “Prometheus”, you could be forgiven for getting slightly impatient at the wait for the first trailer for the movie.  And, no, that heavily circulated camcorder-off-screen job didn’t count (you couldn’t see anything, anyway).

You might have killed some time for the first glimpse of the film by, say, getting up early one morning recently and watching the awesome Blu-Ray transfer of “Alien” on your Projector at home, heading off the spectre of insomnia by being so wigged-out by Scott’s horror classic that sleep isn’t really an option afterwards.

Purely hypothetical, that one, FYI.

The take-away from that viewing is that Ridley Scott’s eye hasn’t diminished in the intervening years – he’s still the great visual artist that he was back in 1978/9 and his return to the genre is my most eagerly anticipated film of next year.

Even if Michael Fassbender appears to be playing Barbie’s mate, Ken.  Or Ian Holm’s grand father (wink, wink).

The trailer is expected imminently – I’m going to bet that it might show up in front of “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” or “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”.

New “Prometheus” stills online.

So, Ridley Scott’s returning to Sci-Fi in 2012 with “Prometheus”, making a film kind-of, sort-of, maybe perhaps set in the “Alien” universe or sharing some sort of as-yet-undefined DNA with his classic 1979 chiller.

Behold! A dude! Carrying a case! Possibly in space!

In keeping with a lot of major SF event movies, the film has been made under a veil of secrecy and few concrete details have leaked into the wild.

We’ve got human explorers in space, mysterious alien planets, crashed ships of unknown provenance and some kind of last act shenanigans which apparently ties things into the events of “Alien” and beyond that it’s anybody’s guess.

Entertainment Weekly‘s new issue has a bunch of stills from the film – you can check them out via Den of Geek today.

The best thing about this is that I’m sure it’s the first salvo in the ramping up of the publicity campaign and I’m damn sure that we’ll be seeing a teaser for trailer for this film by the end of the year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see something in a couple of days, to be honest.  Can’t. Wait.