The first trailer for Ridley Scott’s Alien spinoff Prometheus wastes no time pushing “What the hell?” buttons: A spaceship floats through space, someone in a spacesuit lifts a glob of goo, a woman collapses to her knees screaming, and — in case that doesn’t catch your attention — Charlize Theron does push-ups.

Scott made his intentions for Prometheus clear this summer at Comic-Con International, when he told a crowd of geeks, “Of course, what I want to do is scare the living shit out of you.”

The new teaser, with its ominous music and stark astro-horror imagery, strikes the same tone (as does the official synopsis: “A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe.” There, they face “unimaginable horrors.”).

The studio and filmmakers have kept details under tight wraps, but there are numerous reasons to hope for the best when the sci-fi horror flick opens next June.

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof co-wrote the script, which was polished at the behest of Theron. To dramatize the outer-space meltdown, Scott cast edgy talents at the top of their game, including Noomi Rapace, the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, who plays scientist Elizabeth Snow. Michael Fassbender, who followed this summer’s X-Men: First Class appearance by playing a sex addict in Oscar-buzzed Shame and portraying deep thinker Carl Jung in A Dangerous Method, plays android Robert.

Prometheus, named after the heroes’ spacecraft, gives Scott an opportunity to regain some storytelling mojo by revisiting the science-fiction realm that informed his landmark pictures Alien and Blade Runner.

While few filmmakers approach Scott’s genius for deploying fluid camera work to capture spectacular action vistas, most of the British director’s recent movies (at least since 2002’s brutally excellent Blackhawk Down war movie) have fizzled. Kingdom of Heaven, Body of Lies and Robin Hood succeeded as exercises in master craftsmanship but failed to catch fire in moviegoers’ imaginations.

By populating a faraway civilization with A-list actors and utilizing splendid visual effects in service of a super-creepy storyline, Scott might just add another title to his roster of cinematic masterpieces.

Prometheus opens June 8, 2012, in 3-D.