Although Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" is a prequel to his 1979 film "Alien," don't expect those icon aliens to play a significant role, at least according to Tom Rothman, CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment.

"Prometheus" is an epic sci-fi feature sharing some elements of "Alien" as it tracks mankind's infancy with manned deep-space flights.

There have been conflicting reports on how much of Scott's new film will take cues from his original sci-fi epic. Now Rothman is hoping to alleviate some of the speculation.

"I will tell you, here's the way to think about it; if you looked at the whole movie, 95 percent of it is entirely unto itself," Rothman explained in an interview with MTV. "Ridley said it right: If you're a fan and you look closely, you'll spot strands of DNA.

"I'll tell you the great thing: It's way bigger than that. The ideas are way bigger, way more original and -- it's a scary word ... way more profound."

Damon Lindelof ("Lost") penned the project's script based on an idea from Scott and an initial draft by Jon Spaihts.

Scott promises a "really tough, really nasty" film that involves gods and engineers of space.

In addition to directing the film, Scott will produce it along with Walter Hill, Tony Scott and David Giler.

"Prometheus," which is set to hit theaters June 8, 2012, stars Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Logan Marshall-Green.