Why Prometheus Got More Interesting After It Left Theaters…
Curiouser and curiouser!
Prometheus comes out on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, which means we’ve been seeing a lot of interesting tidbits about the either genius or confusing and muddled (depending on who you ask) film. And while we already knew there will be a good 35 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes on the Blu-ray set, we now also know that they’re forever going to be confined to the “special features” submenu, as director Ridley Scott is refusing to do a Director’s Cut.
As it says on Bleeding Cool:
Scott was asked by Fox to make a new cut of the film for Blu-ray but refused, saying the theatrical version is his Director’s Cut. There are some 35 minutes of altered, extended and unseen scenes in the set, but not edited into the film because Scott didn’t want them in the film.
Huh. Apparently some of that extra footage goes a long way toward explaining some of the movie’s pesky plot holes, so while I understand Scott wanting to keep exposition-heavy scenes out, I’d kinda be interested to see a three-hour version of Prometheus that actually makes sense. If only the studio had forced him to add a pointless voiceover this time, too…
And speaking of Blade Runner, a special feature on Prometheus’ Blu-ray release makes the film even more interesting by tying it into the Blade Runner universe. Included as an entry in the journal of Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), who in the film was obsessed with creating artificial life, is the following gem:
A mentor and long-departed competitor once told me that it was time to put away childish things and abandon my “toys.” He encouraged me to come work for him and together we would take over the world and become the new Gods. That’s how he ran his corporation, like a God on top of a pyramid overlooking a city of angels. Of course, he chose to replicate the power of creation in an unoriginal way, by simply copying God. And look how that turned out for the poor bastard. Literally blew up in the old man’s face. I always suggested he stick with simple robotics instead of those genetic abominations he enslaved and sold off-world, although his idea to implant them with false memories was, well… “amusing,” is how I would put it politely.
The “mentor and long-departed competitor” can be no one other than Dr. Eldon Tyrell, who created Blade Runner‘s replicants. With Scott already working on a Blade Runner reboot (or sequel. Knowing Scott, it’ll be a quasi-sequel/reboot “companion film” set kind of but not 100 percent really in the same universe. Who the hell knows.), the crossover potential between the two films is looking high.
And finally: An interview with original screenwriter Jon Spaihts reveals that the original Prometheus was a hell of a lot more creepy than the one we saw. It included facehuggers, one of which David (Michael Fassbender) played with like a kitten (no, really), as well as a eurgh-inducing scene where a facehugger-infected Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) has a little alone time with Shaw (Noomi Rapace):
“In my draft, he returns to his cabin, is embraced by Shaw, who is delighted to see him having feared that he had died, and the two of them make love. And it’s while they’re making love that he bursts and dies. So that lovemaking sequence echoed my original lovemaking sequence where he explodes! It was messy.”
So. A coherent Prometheus with facehuggers and a probable Blade Runner connection. I want to see that film.
(via: Empire Online, io9, blastr)
Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
