PROMETHEUS Sequel In The Works
It is, in my opinion, one of the stupidest movies ever to pretend to be smart and there's going to be more of it. 20th Century Fox have confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that they are moving ahead with a sequel to Ridley Scott's Prometheus with an eye to release in either 2014 or 2015.
Given that Prometheus has grossed just a hair over three hundred million worldwide thus far this would appear to be a slam dunk decision on the surface but it is actually far riskier than it may appear at first glance. Prometheus performed significantly under expectations and given the extensive international ad campaign to promote the film it is safe to assume that the film is still significantly short of the break even line once distribution costs and marketing spend are taken into account. Throw in a wildly polarized press response - a 65 score on Metacritic and a 73 on Rotten Tomatoes with most of the reviews judged positive in those tallies acknowledging significant problems in the film - and a similarly divided audience and the fact is that Fox is going to have to tread very carefully here. Prometheus was carried by an enormous wave of goodwill from fans of Alien and Blade Runner aching to see Scott return to science fiction, all of whom were going to see the film no matter what the press or public response was. That will not be the case with the sequel, with audience members who considered themselves burned by the first film likely to be far more cautious with the next. A promise was enough to carry Prometheus as far as its gone on the business front but the next film will actually have to deliver on that promise.
Fox and Scott are now in talks with writers to pen the sequel, the assumption being that writer Damon Lindelof will not be back.
Given that Prometheus has grossed just a hair over three hundred million worldwide thus far this would appear to be a slam dunk decision on the surface but it is actually far riskier than it may appear at first glance. Prometheus performed significantly under expectations and given the extensive international ad campaign to promote the film it is safe to assume that the film is still significantly short of the break even line once distribution costs and marketing spend are taken into account. Throw in a wildly polarized press response - a 65 score on Metacritic and a 73 on Rotten Tomatoes with most of the reviews judged positive in those tallies acknowledging significant problems in the film - and a similarly divided audience and the fact is that Fox is going to have to tread very carefully here. Prometheus was carried by an enormous wave of goodwill from fans of Alien and Blade Runner aching to see Scott return to science fiction, all of whom were going to see the film no matter what the press or public response was. That will not be the case with the sequel, with audience members who considered themselves burned by the first film likely to be far more cautious with the next. A promise was enough to carry Prometheus as far as its gone on the business front but the next film will actually have to deliver on that promise.
Fox and Scott are now in talks with writers to pen the sequel, the assumption being that writer Damon Lindelof will not be back.
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