RUMOR: Fox Burned After Damon Lindleof's Exit Of The PROMETHEUS Sequel, After Convincing The Studio To Make A Trilogy?

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.

If Prometheus Performs Well There Could Be Sequels

When the Alien Prequel was originally announced it was pitched as a two part project. Later on when Damon Lindelof signed on for rewrites the film's connection to the franchise was almost severed. Leaving a few bits of franchise DNA in the newly titled Prometheus which seemed it would focus more on the origins of the company and the space jockey. Along with being very android focused perhaps telling the story from the prospective of David (Fassbender). There is now word from HollywoodReporter that if Prometheus does well at the box office which is very likely Fox will pursue more installments.

His directing wishes could be altered by how well his sci-fi epic Prometheus, which stars Charlize Theron and Noomi Rapace and opens June 8, 2012, performs at the box office. Insiders at Fox say the studio is already exploring sequel options"


It was stated that this film would be set thirty years before the events of Alien so there is a little wiggle room for more movies in the Alien universe. It's unknown how many if any crew members will come out of the film alive to reprise their roles. I believe it's box office success might end up coming down to it's rating while an R rating will appease fans of the franchise in the minds of the studio. A PG-13 rating is domestic gold and helps sell the movie overseas. However, all four of the original films were rated R and have been nothing but profitable for Fox. The Matrix trilogy being one the biggest successful R rated franchise it might be hard to get those kind of numbers.

Ridley also was expecting to make a bunch of sequels for Robin Hood before the Universal Pictures project went over budget and did very poorly at the box office. The film was an origin story rebooting the legend of Robin Hood which was setting up sequels along the way. Scott might be itching for franchise security since he's never really done one besides creating the Alien franchise. Only to hand it off to directors like James Cameron and newcomer David Fincher which cemented both of their careers. When he visited the set of Avatar it was said he felt the gauntlet was thrown down by Cameron. It's unknown if Ridley will return to the director's chair as he has many projects in development which includes a new Blade Runner film currently in the script phase.

My take is that I believe this world is rich enough to explore a lot of different avenues and I believe there are many stories that could be tapped in new films. Maybe developing the origins/exploring off-world colonies and even the united systems military. I feel the space marines are an important aspect of the franchise since they're eventually an arm of the company. It could be interesting to see Fox focus a movie on them establishing the bug-stompers. It was hinted in Aliens they've been up against similar hostile organisms before. While xenomorphs are tempting I wouldn't mind seeing other creatures or threats. Of course a completely new take could be just as exciting.


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