Prometheus
is one of the most original films in Foreigner franchise, but the original script would have meant the film was much more connected to other entries. While Ridley Scott made a big splash for his incredible Foreigner 1979 film, the director largely stayed away from the franchise for decades after its release. Meanwhile, other acclaimed directors such as James Cameron and David Fincher continued the legacy with new entries that further expanded the film’s lore. Foreigner universe, and continued to explore the terrifying Xenomorphs.
When Scott finally returned to the franchise in 2012, there were incredibly high expectations for Prometheus. However, fans of the franchise were confused by the huge lack of Xenomorphs, the trademark aliens at the heart of the series. Foreigner films. Instead, a greater focus was given to the Engineers, which helped clarify why the film dropped the classic title in favor of a seemingly unrelated one. However, the the original plan for this film was very different.
Prometheus would have been a more cohesive film if the obvious connections to Alien hadn’t been cut
Prometheus had an important connection to Alien in the first draft
Initially, Prometheus was titled Alien: Engineerswhich suggests that the story will have a broader focus that would cover both the Xenomorphs and the Engineers. In an early draft of the script, the the film had a much more overarching story that connected the Xenomorphs with these ancient mysterious beings and included many of the other familiar creatures from throughout the franchise’s history. From Chestbursters to Facehuggers and more, the film would have included many other familiar items from the franchise.
However, in later rewrites, many of the scenes with the aliens were cut. This affected the overall flow of the stories, as it meant that some moments lacked adequate context to carry enough weight. Although it clearly simplified the film and changed the focus to David, the android who betrays the humans, and the Engineers, even these the elements felt somewhat diluted and like a strange addition for a franchise that already had a lot of worldbuilding and lore associated with it.
Although the original story was probably not entirely viable, because the sheer volume of narrative may have pushed the film’s running time far beyond reasonable limitations, the cuts made felt aggressive. Rather than simply taking strong elements of the original script and rewriting them, It looks more like the finished story was cutwhich left gaps in the story and led to many confusing details. This can also be seen thanks to the number of important deleted scenes in Prometheus that have already been released, which adds considerably more context to the film.
The final version of Prometheus would have worked better as a standalone film
Prometheus could have started a spin-off franchise
Instead, the film was released as a heavily edited final product that caused many fans to have intense and divided opinions about the story. Despite being a prequel, the film felt very different from the other entries, and it’s only been in the years since it was released, with many other entries based on this traditionwhich has become more widely accepted. But this confusion and frustration could have been avoided if there had been a simple change in the film.
Despite being a prequel, the film felt very different from the other entries.
Instead of releasing Prometheus as part of the main films, the prequel could have taken a different approach, similar to how the Predator the films function as a distinctly different franchise. THE Predator films even have crossovers with the Foreigner films. Prometheus Obviously there could have been more links to the Foreigner franchisehelping to unite these two universes, but by announcing it as a Foreigner film and failing to actually deliver a film where the expected aliens play a big role, Prometheus It only managed to be recognized for its own inherent value years later.
Ultimately, Prometheus It should have leaned more into the original series, including more of the Xenomorphs, or had more references, or it needed to take a big step back and be distinct. Scott is known for his work in science fiction, horror, and historical epics, but Prometheus I tried to combine these elements in a way that undermined each of them, rather than building on the previous foundation. If Prometheus Had it followed the original script, it could have been a completely different film, but it still expanded the franchise in significant ways.