"Prometheus" makes world premiere in London

(CBS/AP) "Prometheus" is landing in London.

The world premiere of Sir Ridley Scott's new sci-fi thriller takes place in Leicester Square on Thursday night.

Stars Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Guy Pearce will join the director by touching down on a special blue carpet to meet fans.

"Prometheus" takes its title from the spaceship in the story. The vessel goes on a mission to explore signs of alien life and the origins of mankind.

The film is much anticipated because it marks Scott's return to the sci-fi genre after classics such as "Alien" and "Blade Runner."

"Prometheus" opens in the U.K. on Friday and in the United States on June 8.

Early reviews have already surfaced for the film. Here's a quick roundup:

Hollywood Reporter: "Ridley Scott's third venture into science-fiction, after Alien in 1979 and Blade Runner in 1982, won't become a genre benchmark like those classics despite its equivalent seriousness and ambition. But it does supply enough visual spectacle, tense action and sticky, slithery monster attacks to hit the spot with thrill-seeking audiences worldwide."

The U.K.'s Guardian: "It is a muddled, intricate, spectacular film, but more or less in control of all its craziness and is very watchable. It lacks the central killer punch of Alien: it doesn't have its satirical brilliance and its tough, rationalist attack on human agency and guilt. But there's a driving narrative impulse, and, however silly, a kind of idealism, a sense that it's exciting to make contact with whatever's out there."

The U.K.'s Telegraph: "This elaborate science fiction freakout takes gradual shape as a hot, writhing chop suey of ideas, not all of which necessarily belong in the same pot. Watching Scott slice and dice the ingredients -- and much of his cast, to boot -- is thrilling one minute, faintly deflating the next, like witnessing a masterchef trying to satisfy your order and top it with added, incongruous flourishes just because he can."