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The Original Plans for Prometheus

Breakdowns & Blockbusters

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Before Prometheus became Ridley Scott’s divisive sci-fi epic, it began life as Alien: Engineers — an unmade Alien prequel script packed with xenomorphs, facehuggers, and a story set on LV-426. Written by Jon Spaihts, this original version connected directly to the 1979 classic. In this video, we break down the Prometheus original script, how it differed from the final movie, and why Hollywood changed course.

⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:22 Alien: Engineers
5:44 What Went Wrong?
7:10 Alien Jesus
8:12 Reception

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#prometheus #alien

20 Comments

@ofidiotabagista5259 11 months ago

If Prometheus had been a direct prequel to Aliens it would be fine.
If Prometheus had been another story set in the same universe it would be fine.
Prometheus wanted to be both and neither of those things at the same time.

@lukeswan7776 11 months ago

"With good stories you don't know where they're going to end. I should know because I've never finished writing one".

@halorin 11 months ago

Lindelof comes in, jacks up the story, and dips for the sequel. What a guy.

@mikeg5397 11 months ago

If he had only trusted the original screenwriter and his ideas, we would have gotten a great movie

@fabrislemos 11 months ago (edited)

5:48 First rule of good screenwriting: never ask Lindelof's option

@Jordacar 11 months ago

So it was Lindelof, in the study, with the lead pipe. Got it.

@LILGHETTI 11 months ago

I think the original script sounds better than what we got

@tremorsfan 11 months ago

Damon Lindelof is on record thinking that explaining things is lazy.

@classicsonicthewild6051 11 months ago

Fun Fact: Guy Pearce was originally supposed to play Peter Weyland solely as a young man, while Max von Sydow would play him as an old man. Ridley Scott also considered Rutger Hauer as an old Peter Weyland as well.

@sylviatamieanan4088 11 months ago

"What went wrong?"

- Damon Lindelof enters the story

"Ok, it makes sense now"

@dripfreddyfazbear1246 11 months ago

Fun Fact: Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Gemma Arterton, Carey Mulligan, and Abbie Cornish were all considered for the role of Elizabeth Shaw.

@BeeHatGuy 11 months ago

It makes sense that one of the writers of Lost shut down a great story like this

@GreenGrugach 11 months ago

Showing anything to Damon Lindoff is basically a lot of questions with zero answers....ever.

@14loosecannon 11 months ago

6:05 "Good stories, you don't know where they're going to end" - And that, folks, is exactly what went wrong with Lost in a nutshell

@paracyntrix 11 months ago

The Alien Engineers script is available online. I read it. It's a perfect prequel and ends directly where Alien starts.
Also, i read somewhere that Fox themselves wanted more prequel movies before reaching the starting of Alien , just to "milk the franchise".

@baronvg 11 months ago

In a parallel universe, nobody messed with the original script and they made a good movie.

@asnierkishcowboy 11 months ago

I think the worst thing about Promotheus is that it ends with a cliffhanger and then Covenant comes out and Shaw is dead. I never felt so betrayed by any sequel ever.

@Omar-wq9dz 11 months ago

Jon Spaihts also wrote 2016’s Passengers, which could be a possible What Could Have Been, since the script’s ending was different from the finished film

@stsolomon618 11 months ago

Prometheus had a lot of potential.

@gerardomoreno9877 11 months ago

A prequel to Alien was always a horrible idea, but that original script at least had the skeleton of something coherent. Funny, they handed it over to Lindenof and he immediately screwed the whole thing over. “A good story is one you don’t know where it’s going to end,” yeah, cause that work so well at the end of Lost.