--- description: You know, if the Vulture blog is to be believed, we might as well just start running a regular feature called "Natalie Portman is rumored... title: New Alien Script Pleases Studio, Director And Tempts Portman image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) # New Alien Script Pleases Studio, Director And Tempts Portman by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Oct 14, 2010 6:00 PM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Oct 14, 2010 6:00 PM CUT You know, if the Vulture blog is to be believed, we might as well just start running a regular feature called “Natalie Portman is rumored to be starring in The Next Big Sci-Fi Movie” right now. Fresh off the rumor that Portman – who’ll be seen in next year’s _Thor_ – was the frontrunner for the lead in Alfonso Cuaron’s _Gravity_, now [we’re being told](http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/10/fox%5Fflips%5Ffor%5Fdamon%5Flindelofs.html "undefined") that she’s become the frontrunner for the lead in Ridley Scott’s upcoming _Alien_ prequel. But that’s not all that Vulture is spilling about that particular project; it’s also claiming that Damon Lindelof’s just-finished rewrite of the screenplay has made 20th Century Fox very happy altogether by staying away from expensive set-pieces, possibly defusing the clash between the studio and Scott over the proposed cost of the movie. In addition, Lindelof’s screenplay may manage to make peace between Scott and Fox by keeping things tense but also PG-13-friendly: --- > “” --- Clearly, if Lindelof’s script is this good, we should expect a movie that will being about world peace – even if it does so by terrifying us about the possibility of phallic alien killers. **More On Techland:** [Noomi Rapace Is The New Sigourney Weaver – Maybe](http://techland.com/2010/10/08/noomi-rapace-is-the-new-sigourney-weaver-maybe/ "undefined") [Are The Alien Prequels In Trouble Already?](http://techland.com/2010/10/01/are-the-alien-prequels-in-trouble-already/ "undefined") [Exactly What Alien Movie Is Damon Lindelof Writing?](http://techland.com/2010/07/29/exactly-what-alien-movie-is-damon-lindelof-writing/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7245110/new-alien-script-pleases-studio-director-and-tempts-portman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7245110/new-alien-script-pleases-studio-director-and-tempts-portman/"},"headline":"New Alien Script Pleases Studio, Director And Tempts Portman","datePublished":"2010-10-14T18:00:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:54:18.511Z","description":"You know, if the Vulture blog is to be believed, we might as well just start running a regular feature called \"Natalie Portman is rumored...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7245110/new-alien-script-pleases-studio-director-and-tempts-portman/","keywords":["Tech","Alien"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7245110/new-alien-script-pleases-studio-director-and-tempts-portman/","name":"New Alien Script Pleases Studio, Director And Tempts Portman"}}]}] ```