Upcoming: Prometheus 2

The rumors have been confirmed. After the mild success of Prometheus just one year ago, Prometheus 2 has been announced and while we don't yet know much about it, we do know that Ridley Scott is returning to write the story. Despite that kernel of hope for the film, it's unfortunate that he has not (yet) officially signed on as the director and whether or not he may do so is still up in the air.

One person we know will almost certainly not be returning is Damon Lindelof, the official writer of Prometheus, not to mention Lost, saying that he's not willing to commit to that kind of work. In his place, it is rumored that Jack Paglen, writer for the upcoming sci-fi movie, Transcendence, will be there. What has been confirmed that Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, two actors who played Elizabeth Shaw and David, respectively, will be reprising their roles in this direct sequel.

So besides all of that technical business, what do we know about the movie itself? Unfortunately, we know nothing aside from these couple of images which may or may not even be affiliated with the movie at all. As it stands, the movie is still far from production.

My only worry for the film so far is my doubt. I'm a little concerned that it may be too soon to dive head-first into another sequel. With the Alien franchise, there's typically a ten-year division between installments, whereas Prometheus 2 will likely see release in 2015. I'm not sure how I feel about that and it makes me wary that Fox is rushing it and that Ridley Scott will be taking on too much too fast. Also a concern of mine, there was a lot of upheaval towards the first movie that it raised too many questions. I think most people were expecting a summer blockbuster of sorts but what they got was deeply intellectual and prodded at the meanings behind life, evolution and God. I loved it and I wish more movies would go for that mind-bending style. So why am I concerned? Prometheus only garnered mild success, around $400 million to be precise, on it's $130 million budget. That makes me fearful that Fox will want Scott to sensationalize and dumb it down for a broader audience. Where was all of the gore and the aliens and the explosions? I'm pretty confident in Scott and he seems confident in the story, so perhaps these concerns are unfounded but you never know...

Scott said in an interview that this sort of thing takes a lot of time and that he's in no way trying to rush the project. While many people will find that agonizing to hear, I find it reassuring. It means that careful work is being put into the story, they're not just trying to find ways to make a sequel work (let's resurrect Michael Myers again!), because, honestly, when I saw Prometheus, I didn't think a sequel would be possible. Apparently it is, but God forbid, I just don't want it to be forced.

With no official release date and a lack of a full crew, don't expect Prometheus 2 to launch for awhile. I just hope that's a working title and they call it something different.

Prometheus 2: Prometheus Harder