Christopher Webster [Celluloid 12.20.12] scifi action thriller adventure



In some not so shocking news, infamously divisive writer Damon Lindelof has turned down working on Ridley Scott's planned Prometheus sequel. Personally I'm disappointed that Lindelof won't be back to the burgeoning franchise, but I can't say I'm totally surprised given how the first film ended. Regardless of your opinion of Lindelof as a writer, here's why it's a bad thing that he has left and why Prometheus 2 may be doomed to development hell.


Firstly, here's what Lindelof confirmed to Frostry over at Collider:
"The thing about Prometheus was it was a rewrite. Jon Spaihts wrote a script and I rewrote it. And still it was a year of my life that I spent on Prometheus, kind of all in. The idea of building a sequel to it from the ground up this time with Ridley is tremendously exciting. But at the same time, I was like, "Well that's probably going to be two years of my life." I can't do what J.J. [Abrams] does. I don't have the capability. I'm usually very single-minded creatively. I can only be working on one thing at a time. So I said to him, "I really don't think I could start working on this movie until I do this other stuff. And I don"t know when the other stuff is going to be done." And he was like, "Well, okay, it's not like I asked you anyways." He and I are on excellent terms and it was a dream come true to work with him. But much to the delight of all the fanboys, I don't see myself being involved in Prometheus-er."


I think Lindelof too easily throws his work on Prometheus away as being simply a "re-write" job when in fact his input sent the film down an unheard of and kind of nervy path. The film severed all ties with the comfort of its Alien connection at the end which means capturing a story that tracks the further adventures of Elizabeth Shaw as she searched the cosmos for the answers to life's biggest questions will be very unwieldy to handle for even the most veteran writer.

The problem is really this: Prometheus 2 has absolutely no trajectory. The first film relied on the Alien world for an identity and then left it behind. Lindelof or no Lindelof, I can't see anyone nailing a direction for Prometheus 2 that would satisfy a studio. Even the Engineers are sort of left behind on LV-223, so what's the hook? As much as I would LOVE a sequel, I think it's likely doomed.

So, how can Lindelof help? Well, considering it was his idea to lead the "prequel" down a path away from the entrenched Alien mythology, it seems only fitting that he should stay on board and help his "masterplan" find sure footing. All due respect to Scott, without Lindelof leading the story ship, I doubt we'll be seeing a Prometheus 2 anytime soon. And if we do, it will likely be a big mess.

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nooner (8 years ago) Reply

Completely agree!

uncleB (8 years ago) Reply

sphaits script was better than the rewrite

agentorange (8 years ago) Reply

He's a good writer, yeah. Though The Darkest Hour? Meh.

Koolz (8 years ago) Reply

Prometheus 2 Doomed Get a clue!
the thing is coming out. and who cares if Lindelof is on or not. He tries to hard to create complexity with out resolution, to much exposition with explaining what he doing leaving to many questions.
I think Prometheus 2 will be fine.

Digger (8 years ago) Reply

Prometheus was a disaster in every way that it mattered, the writing was terrible, the characters were unrealistic and poorly thought-out, their actions defied logic, and so forth. I would say without this "writer" at the helm, a sequel can only be an improvement.

angryb0b (8 years ago) Reply

Lindelof took the best bits of a half decent script and concocted a butchered mess. And no agentorange, he's not a good writer, he's a hack.

rbk (8 years ago) Reply

"And no agentorange, he's not a good writer, he's a hack."

Exactly.

JUDGEFARGO (8 years ago) Reply

Lindelof was hired because Scott wanted him to change the script and asked him to put certain things in thathe wanted, all of which Scott at the end of the day approved of.

angryb0b (8 years ago) Reply

if thats the case then scotts lost it.

JUDGEFARGO (8 years ago) Reply

Scott ruined the 'Nottingham' script that was the basis of Robin Hood.

ToeCutter0 (8 years ago) Reply

Um, wow? How can Lindelof getting excised from anything to do with the Prometheus be a BAD thing? The guy is a freaking hack and Prometheus, despite all it's promise, was the most disappointing film I've seen in ages. The sequel has no trajectory? Prometheus was a face-plant, a flaming insult to the genre, and Lindelof lit the match. Not at all what I expected from a QE op-ed?

Jason (8 years ago) Reply

This "theory" is so bullshit. You're right that Lindelof left the film in a position that is hard to pick up. But that's the problem with the fucking idiot; he creates stories that end up nowhere and always become a big mess. Look at all the bullshit he did with LOST, and even the small "WTF-holes" in Prometheus. What Lindelof has done is ruining the story of one film, and always ruining the opening path for the sequel.
Everyone who has seen Prometheus can agree on one thing: It's visually impressive. But that's only because that's the part that Scott had control over (and if you think back on the film, it's only the parts with minimal or no dialogue that are good. Like for example the operation, the intro, and so on and so forth).

MrSatyre (8 years ago) Reply

"Prometheus" is a complete disaster, for which Lindelof and Scott share equal blame. None of the paths taken with this film were "nervy" or anything else other than just plain stupid. Folks, I don't CARE about the whole Alien Connection(s), but if you ARE going to do ANYTHING with that backdrop as a basis to writing and directing a film, then you had better be as obsessive to detail and plain old common sense as you were in the first film. There are waaaay too many parts in "Prometheus" which are either not well-conceived or well-executed, or any combination of the two. None of the characters act like real human beings, let alone scientists. None of their reactions or thought-processes are even remotely similar to what you or I would do or think under identical circumstances.

I realize that this story is Scott's story, exactly as "Star Wars" is Lucas's baby, and they can both do whatever they hell they like, and we have zero input. And that's the way it should be. But c'mon! When you take the incredibly WTF-ery of the alien pilot and spacecraft design from the first film and casually morph it into Gee, it was really just a giant dude in a strange space suit, you really are basically saying "Fuck you" to the audience. Scott could have had the exact same story as filmed, sans-giant pale humans, bu this time with a truly physically and ethically alien race with creationist technology from which the human race sprang---and you would have had a much more compelling philosophical argument to make.

I could go on, and on, but you get the point. And the point is, we're not all so easily impressed or mollified.

atlantean (8 years ago) Reply

Thank god he left/ was fired. I don´t really care. What a black hole of human being.

Ed Farnsworth (7 years ago) Reply

Prometheus is so chock full of creationist nonsense it can't be called Science Fiction. Which one is the fundamentalist? Lindelof or Scott?

Godlike (7 years ago) Reply

Damon Lindelof couldn't write an intelligent plot hole free screen play if his life depended upon it. Good riddance.

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