Idris Elba joins Ridley Scott's Prometheus. Film not a prequel to Alien afterall?

With so many rumors and idle speculation swirling around the story for Prometheus, it feels good to get back to plain ol' casting news. The Daily Mail notes that three Brit actors have been added to the sci-fi epic's cast. The most notable is Punch Drunk Critics favorite, Idris Elba(The Losers, The Wire). After getting screwed royally losing out to Tyler Perry for the Alex Cross role, the guy deserves this. I mean he does have Thor coming up, but still. His role is unclear at this point. 

The other two actors are Kate Dickie(Red Road) and Sean Harris(Red Riding). Never seen Dickie in anything before, but Harris was very good as Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People. Everything about that movie was top notch.

The story highlights the especially secretive nature of the script, and the extreme precautions Ridley Scott is taking to prevent leaks.

Scott: "I was insistent that the script not leak onto the internet, where it gets dissected out of context, which spoils it for everyone"

He did however reveal one detail which could throw everything we've learned about the film into question. Here's the quote taken from the Daily Mail's story...

Prometheus, Ridley declared, was not — as some have suggested — a  prequel to his classic sci-fi shocker Alien. But he refused to divulge more.

What does that mean? Does it take place sometime during the Alien movies we've already seen? Have all the details we think we've learned been a smokescreen?  There's a lot more to the story, which you can check out in full by clicking here.