Question about "Prometheus" **Spoiler Alert***

Comments

• TonyDP Inside the MonolithPosts: 4,303MI6 Agent

  April 2013

  My understanding is that the birth of the xenomorph at the end of Prometheus was inserted as a last-minute bit of "fan service" The film was originally envisioned as a more direct prequel to Alien, then drifted away into its own story that took place in the same universe and made use of some of the same archetypes. In the end I think the filmmakers got a slight case of cold feet and decided to add in the more overt tie-in to the prior film.
• Asp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,504MI6 Agent

  April 2013

  As it is supposed to be PT 1 of a trilogy, it should be more than just a fan insert. Ridley Scott wouldn't just add that insert to please fans. He is not one for caving in to that kind of thing. In fact he would alienate (no pun intended) fans, rather than compromise on what he thinks should be up on screen. He never intended this to be a prequel. But much deeper.

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• TonyDP Inside the MonolithPosts: 4,303MI6 Agent

  April 2013 edited April 2013

  Asp9mm wrote:

  As it is supposed to be PT 1 of a trilogy, it should be more than just a fan insert. Ridley Scott wouldn't just add that insert to please fans. He is not one for caving in to that kind of thing. In fact he would alienate (no pun intended) fans, rather than compromise on what he thinks should be up on screen. He never intended this to be a prequel. But much deeper.

  
  Maybe "fan service" was too strong a statement, but Ridley Scott has a history of second guessing himself and changing his mind a lot during his projects. He likes to operate in a "stream of consciousness" mode and is not afraid to change gears in mid-stream. Try checking out the documentaries to Alien and Prometheus (or even Blade Runner for that matter) on their respective BluRays sometime and you'll see just how fluid the whole filmmaking process is for Scott. He always starts with a solid, completely storyboarded premise but will tinker endlessly with it right up until the film's release. Indeed, just check out some of the deleted scenes from Prometheus and you'll see how much they would have changed and clarified the story had they been used. Likewise, Jon Spaiths' original script to Prometheus was very much an Alien prequel before the Damon Lindelof rewrite veered into new territory only to have the xenomorph birth reinserted late in the production process.
  
  The xenomorph scene from the end of Prometheus really comes out of left field as up till that point the alien engineers' weapons of mass destruction had all taken the form the deadly goo that infected and changed its victims. Even the creature that was taken out of Shaw looked and acted nothing like the traditional facehugger.