April 29, 2012

Joss Whedon Deserves Another Shot At The 'ALIEN' Franchise With 'PROMETHEUS' Sequel


It's a little more than month before Prometheus finally hits theaters answering questions raised by the original Alien film. Ridley Scott is back in the sci-fi genre after a 30 year absence. Blade Runner being his last movie in the genre that released back in 1982. The trailers and footage have wowed diehard fans (including myself) and even have created new ones in the process. While the outcome of these films usually don't leave much room for more than one or two cast members to return there is already talk of another film.

Originally, Fox and Ridley had planned a two-part Alien prequel before the studio quickly severed ties to Alien. This gave the impression the second film had been scrapped and this was going to be an original concept set in the Alien universe. I assume this stance was appease the fanbase before the trailers were released. As it's clear that the xenomorphs do play a small role in the latter part of the movie and it's indeed a prequel. There has been zero official announcements pertaining to this second film but it's expected an outline from screenwriter Damon Lindelof (Star Trek 2) could have been included with his rewrite duties.

While Damon Lindelof should return I'd love to see Joss Whedon also involved. Whedon had been brought in by 20th Century Fox to write the fourth film in the franchise Alien Resurrection. The studio hounded him to make several changes to the script leading to many scenes being created, cut and dismantled. Notes from studio executives apparently butchered his original visions for the film and many scenes he didn't even write were eventually added to the final draft. Things like the new born alien and underwater scene were studio/director creations. Whedon's aborted scenes had apparently been compiled into a new script for Alien 5 as a direct sequel. However, Sigourney Weaver was opposed to the idea of an Alien film set on Earth so the fifth film never saw the light of day.

I believe that Joss deserves another shot at the series since he is a true fan and has the goods. Two films that he wrote are gaining critical praise this year which includes the horror comedy hybrid Cabin In The Woods and the more commercial blockbuster Avengers. He's able to write witty banter just as well as thrilling action scenes and not to mention an ability to collaborate with other writers.

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