BloodyDisgusting is reporting that 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott are upset over the exit of screenwriter Damon Lindelof. The writer came in for rewrites and sold the studio on the idea of a trilogy before jumping ship after the release of Prometheus. Instead of Ridley's original two-part Alien prequel the film went into a massively different direction. The studio is looking to keep things moving and are looking for writers who can develop two more films. They are apparently taking pitches from potential writers. It's first time we've ever heard about Fox's plans for an actual Prometheus trilogy. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are seemingly locked in for future films.
Ridley is currently finishing up his drug crime thriller The Counselor and has a few other projects in development including a Blade Runner sequel. It's possible if they're able to come together with a new writer that is able to put together a script soon it could go into production. Jon Spaihts who wrote the original script isn't mentioned and seems like he's being kept from moving forward with the new films. BD points to an old interview with Jon via Empire that first revealed his plans for multiple films.
“I did have a plan for multiple films and the conversations I had with Ridley was about a new franchise, from the beginning. We talked about a possible trilogy, or a duology, but more often as a trilogy. And I did have pretty broad notions as to how we were going to get from this world to the original Alien – the baton pass, closing the circle, if you will. So yes, I did have plans for two other films. I came up with an even more twisted sequence than the Medpod, but I cannot tell you what happens…
“My vision of the trilogy would have involved the arrival of the Yutani Company and a couple of other major plays around the Engineers themselves: the revelation of an additional grand Engineer design, and the possibility of seeking an Engineer homeworld. That shot of the ship flying at the end offers a lot of creative ways to play with this. But it feels like it brackets you into the search for the Engineer homeworld and home civilisation. That’s an interesting challenge.”
I have a couple of writers in mind that could tackle this franchise. One writer I could see jump into this world is Drew Goddard. He recently took on the role of director with Cabin In The Woods but like Damon has ties to the complex series Lost. Drew also wrote sci-fi films Cloverfield and adapted Robocaplyse or Steven Spielberg. Scott Z. Burns is another solid screenwriter who could develop a solid story. He's written sci-fi scripts for 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes (another Fox production), Side Effects and Contagion. Not to mention spy flicks The Bourne Ultimatum and the original script for The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
