How the Movie "Prometheus" Relates to the Movie "Alien"

The movie “Prometheus” marks director Ridley Scott’s first entry into the science fiction genre since the early 1980s. His last sci-fi film, “Blade Runner”, was released in the summer of 1982. Not only is he returning to a genre he once left an inarguable mark on, he is also returning to a franchise he created – the world of the “Alien” films. According to pre-release and promotional material, determining how “Prometheus” fits in with the other films in the franchise including “Aliens”, “Alien 3” and “Alien: Resurrection” is a bit more complicated than calling it a simple “prequel.”

The film that would eventually be called “Prometheus” started life very much as a literal prequel to “Alien”. In cinematic terminology, the word “prequel” means that a particular film takes place chronologically before a film that has already been released. Ridley Scott himself even identified “Prometheus” as such in promotional material included with the “Alien Anthology” Blu-ray boxed set, released in late 2010.

Though “Prometheus” started out very much tied to the previous film, things got a bit more complicated when writer Damon Lindelof became involved in the project. Lindelof, who many genre fans will know as one of the driving forces behind the hit television series “Lost”, rewrote an existing script and turned the film into something else entirely. His draft is the one that was used when production began.

The finished film “Prometheus” is still very much a part of the larger “Alien” universe – however, it has now just become one small part. Chronologically, the film still takes place an undetermined amount of time prior to the events depicted in “Alien”. However, the story of “Prometheus” no longer concerns itself with simply answering questions that were posed by that previous movie. Instead, it tackles larger questions like “Why are we here?” and “How did humanity come to be?”

Tonally, “Prometheus” shares a lot with “Alien.” The looks of the two films are very much in sync, with both being dark, gothic takes on similar material. Both films are also a blend of science fiction and horror, with thrilling elements thrown into the mix.

A staple of the “Alien” franchise since its creation has been the sinister Weyland Yutani Corporation. This is the organization that the characters in the first film worked for, and the entity that was behind the crew of the Nostromo checking out a mysterious distress call. “Prometheus” features the corporation in its infancy, when it was called Weyland Industries and before it ever merged with the Yutani Corporation.

“Prometheus” also features a character that was present in the film “Alien.” In “Alien”, a corpse of a large, hulking creature dubbed the “Space Jockey” by Ridley Scott himself makes an appearance early on inside a derelict ship. The film “Prometheus” also features creatures from this race, still very much alive.

When you sit down in the theater (or at home, to enjoy the eventual DVD and Blu-ray release), it is best if you go into “Prometheus” not expecting a literal prequel to “Alien” but instead an entirely new story. Though the story is set in the same world and features similar themes and production design, expecting to see pretty much the same thing again will only lead to disappointment.