When I wrote yesterday about Ridley Scott revealing the character that Guy Pearce will play in Prometheus, I teased him a little for being unable to keep the lid on a project he claims he wants to be secret. As it turns out, Scott was way ahead of me-- the identity of Pearce's character Peter Weyland, head of the corporation that sends out the Nostromo spaceship at the center of Prometheus, is key to a new viral video for the film, which went online today at, of all places, Ted.com. You might be familiar with the TED Talk series, in which geniuses of all stripes talk about topics they know a lot about. Now watch below as Peter Weyland speaks from the year 2023 and sets you up for the world of Prometheus.
We get a little more info in the text that accompanies the video on the TED page:
Peter Weyland has been a magnet for controversy since he announced his intent to build the first convincingly humanoid robotic system by the end of the decade.Whether challenging the ethical boundaries of medicine with nanotechnology or going toe to toe with the Vatican itself on the issue of gene-therapy sterilization, Sir Peter prides himself on his motto, “If we can, we must.” After a three year media blackout, Weyland has finally emerged to reveal where he’s heading next. Wherever that may be, we will most certainly want to follow.
You can tell Weyland is a man with no lack of ambition or self-regard, kicking off his speech by quoting T.E. Lawrence. But you could say the same of the video's director Luke Scott (son of Ridley, of course) and writer Damon Lindelof, who show us this-- a major piece of marketing for their movie-- and tie it very deliberately to the great Lawrence of Arabia. I like the ambition, though, and the neat way of giving us a glimpse of this future world, and this key character in Prometheus, through a completely roundabout way. When Weyland says "We are the gods now," you know immediately that it's hubris that will probably lead to no good end in the movie. It's an excellent tease for a story that, in truth, we still don't know that much about.
It comes as no surprise that Lindelof is a veteran of Lost, where archival and viral videos were a key element of storytelling between seasons. The viral game may very well continue at WeylandIndustries.com, cited at the end of the speech. I don't see much there yet, but keep an eye out for what might pop up in the future. With just a few months left to go before Prometheus's June 8 release date, there's lots of time for more fun stuff like this to pop up.
