Everything we learned from the LACC 2018 panel for Prospect

By Paul Zuniga | Oct 31, 2018

Sophie Thatcher, Chris Caldwell, and Zeek Earl attend Los Angeles Comic-Con 2018 for Prospect (2018).Image Credit: Photograph comes courtesy of Scandal Co-Active Public Relations. /

We recently attended the Los Angeles Comic-Con and caught the Prospect panel to bring you the scoop!

At this year’s Los Angeles Comic-Con, a panel for the sci-fi western Prospect (2018) was held. It’s the first feature-length film to be developed by Gunpowder & Sky’s label DUST, but is already being hailed as a cinematic achievement. Here’s a breakdown of everything we learned from the Prospect panel at LACC 2018.

While the Gunpowder & Sky content studio has built the DUST brand around original short films, the studio is expanding its focus to developing feature-length films — the first of these projects is Prospect.

Teases of the sci-fi western have been slowly released over the past few months but nothing substantial has been shown yet. Fortunately, the featured panel at Los Angeles Comic-Con 2018 provided us with a bit more insight into the masterpiece created by Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl.

During the Prospect panel at LACC, the cast and crew were on deck to discuss the film’s production and work therein. Not everyone was able to attend the event, but the film’s main stars and directors were; most noticeably missing from the lineup was Pedro Pascal.

The first topic they touched upon dealt with how Prospect differs from every other sci-fi features out on the market. An oversaturation of content in the media has caused the sci-fi genre to become somewhat fatigued. Because of this, most sci-fi features are overlooked or overshadowed by blockbuster-sized features. Prospect, however, stands out among the dozens of others for a few particular reasons.

For one, Prospect takes place in a universe all its own. Rather than being set in a dystopia or world that we’re familiar with, Caldwell and Earl crafted a unique time and setting for their sci-fi western. The film borrows elements from classics like Ridley Scott’s Alien but there’s a mythology unlike any other here.

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Caldwell and Earl touched on that aspect during the Prospect panel, acknowledging how various characters and settings were designed to possess their own unique origins. They went on to add that even an alien language was created to help establish a deeper history.

Secondly, Caldwell emphasized how the struggle of space-travel is very prevalent in this universe. Getting from one point to another isn’t the difficult part, it’s the travel accommodations that are difficult to work with. The problem is people who travel to distant worlds utilize old-dilapidated ships to make these voyages — and these old spaceships are extremely compact for long trips.

Earl and Caldwell spoke about how they commissioned their mock space shuttle to be tiny so their actors’ performances would be believable. Jay Duplass and Sophie Thatcher both testified to how cramped and uncomfortable shooting was in the small shuttle, proving that Earl and Caldwell’s plan worked out.

Apart from the panel’s discussion portion, a clip for Prospect also premiered at LACC’ 2018. The clip doesn’t show much but it gave the audience in attendance a first look at the budding relationship between Cee (Sophie Thatcher) and Ezra (Pedro Pascal).

When the clip begins, Cee has her back pressed up against the interior of the pod while she points a harpoon-like weapon at Ezra. The latter apparently killed Cee’s father and is now face-to-face with the potentially dangerous teenager. Ezra attempts to talk Cee down but she’s not budging from her position.

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As the tension continues to build, Cee appears to be readying herself to shoot Ezra. She doesn’t make any sudden movements that would suggest action but the emotions expertly portrayed by Thatcher give the audience the impression that a violent confrontation is imminent. Unfortunately, the clip cuts to black before we can see how Cee and Ezra’s dilemma is resolved.

To close out the Prospect panel, a compilation comprised of short films developed by DUST was shown to the audience. The teaser doesn’t identify or label any of these shorts but the compilation definitely had fans in attendance intrigued.

While the collective shots tease very different stories, these glimpses into DUST’s projects give us hope that future projects will be just as superb as Prospect. A full lineup of shorts and films being developed hasn’t been announced but we should anticipate more reveals soon.

Prospect opens in theaters on November 2. The film stars Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, and Pedro Pascal. Written and directed by Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl. Developed by Gunpowder & Sky’s DUST label.