Despite the sequel pulling something of a vanishing act recently, Prometheus 2 is still very much moving ahead at 20th Century Fox, despite some mixed reception to its 2012 predecessor. While doing press rounds for his upcoming novel-to-film adaptation, The Martian, which comes to theatres on October 2nd, director, Ridley Scott even announced that the movie has now gotten an official title. In fact, it won’t even be billed as a Prometheus sequel!
According to Scott, the sequel will be titled, “Alien: Paradise Lost.” This will bring its connection to the Alien franchise front and center, since Prometheus was meant to be a distant prequel to Alien, taking place many centuries before the events of Scott’s original 1979 sci-fi/horror opus. A post-credits scene in Prometheus even revealed how the first alien Xenomorph was created, officially confirming speculation that it shared continuity with the Alien movies.
The title is meant to reference two things, with the first obviously being the famous epic poem by John Milton, Paradise Lost. The second however calls to mind a flashback by protagonist, Elizabeth Shaw in Prometheus, whose father spoke to her about the idea of the afterlife, labeling it, “Paradise.” It’s possible that the sequel’s plot may deal with the alien Engineers possibly inventing humankind’s idea of the afterlife, or maybe even having some sort of plot related to departed human souls. If that’s the case, it may also be an excuse to bring back actors whose characters perished in the original Prometheus, though so far, only Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are confirmed to be reprising their roles as Elizabeth Shaw, and android, David, respectively.
On top of confirming the movie’s title, Scott also confirmed that he has plans for at least three sequels to Prometheus, and that a direct link to the events of the Alien movies won’t occur until at least the third movie. Thus, despite the title, don’t expect any direct bridging between the Prometheus saga and Alien saga in Alien: Paradise Lost.
Alien: Paradise Lost, back when it was referred to as ‘Prometheus 2‘, was targeting a premiere window of 2014, though script writer, Damon Lindelof dropped out, which bumped the movie to a planned 2016 debut. Fox quietly delayed the movie again however, when Scott opted to make The Martian first. Alien: Paradise Lost is still without a release date for now, but will begin production in early 2016. Fox is also apparently developing a separate Alien sequel with director, Neill Blomkamp, tentatively titled ‘Alien 5‘, which will see original Alien lead, Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as protagonist, Ellen Ripley.
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