Sure, Prometheus was a huge disappointment , but it made quite a bit of money, and a sequel is in development. So why doesn’t writer Damon Lindelof want a piece of the pie?
Jon Spaihts was the original screenwriter for Prometheus , and his draft, Alien: Engineers , was regarded as superior to the final version of the film by many fans of the franchise when it made its way online. Lindelof ( LOST, Star Trek Into Darkness ) spoke to Collider about his conversation with Ridley Scott, and why he chose to not return for Prometheus 2: Electric Boogaloo .
“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. “
Bloody Disgusting opines that they “can sort of respect his decision,” and we’re inclined to agree. Lindelof is a pretty decent writer, but there’s a large fanbase out there that find themselves continually frustrated by his “pointless questions with no answers” style.
Maybe part of Lindelof’s reason for backing out of any Prometheus 2 involvement was simply that. After Prometheus did so poorly with fans, who would want to be involved in the follow-up?
