Just a little more info to show just how Lindelof changed the direction of "Prometheus".Tah Wikipedia.
"However, Scott instead contacted Lindelof and requested that he review Spaihts' script.[74] Within the hour, a messenger delivered the script to Lindelof and informed the writer that he would be waiting outside to take it back as soon as Lindelof had finished reading it.[75] Unaware of what the producers liked about the existing script, Lindelof informed Scott and the producers that he found the general concept appealing, but that the story relied too heavily on elements of the Alien films, such as the general concept of the Alien creatures life-cycle. As a direct prequel to Alien, it was focused on leading into that film's story, and recreating the familiar cues of that series,[74] and Scott was adamant that he avoid repeating previous accomplishments.[76] Lindelof clarified, "If the ending to [Prometheus] is just going to be the room that John Hurt walks into that's full of [alien] eggs [in Alien], there's nothing interesting in that, because we know where it's going to end. Good stories, you don't know where they're going to end."[76] "A true prequel should essentially proceed [sic] the events of the original film, but be about something entirely different, feature different characters, have an entirely different theme, although it takes place in that same world."[68]
Writer Damon Lindelof promoting Prometheus at WonderCon in 2012. Lindelof was hired to rewrite Jon Spaihts's original script.Lindelof suggested that the other parts of the script were strong enough to survive without the Alien hallmarks, such as the Alien creature which he believed had been "diluted" by the exposure it had received since, and the burden of "all the tropes of that franchise with Facehuggers and Chestbursters".[68][77] He offered that the film could instead run parallel to those films, such that a sequel would be Prometheus 2 and not Alien, and submitted an idea for how such a sequel could work. He met with the producers the following morning, and was hired shortly afterwards in late 2010.[77][39] Under Lindelof, the script began to divert from Spaihts' Alien prequel into a more original creation.[39] Scott and Lindelof worked together five days a week between July and August 2010, trying to piece together exactly what vision Scott was trying to convey and how the script needed to change, including scaling back the Alien symbology and tropes. Beginning in August, Lindelof spent four to five weeks writing his first draft before submitting it mid-September 2010.[62] Inspired by Blade Runner and Spaihts' script, Lindelof thought that it would be possible to combine an Alien story of action and horror with "the Blade Runner thematic",[74] to ask bigger questions that he felt were normally posed in science fiction films. Lindelof explained:
Blade Runner might not have done well [financially] when it first came out, but people are still talking about it because it was infused with all these big ideas. [Scott] was also talking about very big themes in Prometheus. It was being driven by people who wanted the answers to huge questions. But I thought that we could do that without ever getting too pretentious. Nobody wants to see a movie where people are floating in space talking about the meaning of life ... That was already present in [Spaihts'] original script and [Scott] just wanted to bring it up more.[74]
The only big question Bladerunner ever raised for me was "Was he a replicant or not." Is Lindelof trying to shift the blame for the Prometheus script now because the original writer for BR has got the job and not him? I am forced to wonder what the film could have been like had he not been brought on board. Does anyone have access to the original script before it was turned into "Lost in Space" hah hah!
