Midnight box office: Prometheus earns $3.56 million at 12:01am. Weekend looks to be around $64 million.

For the first time since The Avengers, a major summer movie has landed where its midnight grosses are actually somewhat relevant.  The hotly anticipated Prometheus, Ridley Scott's kinda-sorta prequel to Ridley Scott's Alien earned $3.56 million in midnight screenings last night.  The math is pretty easy on this one.  It's basically being viewed as a geek-centric sequel/prequel and thus falls into the same boat as heavily anticipated and somewhat niche geek properties.  As such, we're looking at the film having earned between 3.5% and 6.5% of its weekend gross just last night.  That gives Prometheus a probable opening weekend of between $53 million and $100 million.  Realistically speaking, a 5.5% figure is probably where it ends up, giving the $130 million science-fiction thriller a terrific $64 million for the weekend.  Obviously we'll know more in about 10-12 hours.

Scott Mendelson

Alien prequel/spin-off Prometheus gets two very Alien-like trailers.

This looks entertaining, it's well-cast, and yes there are moments that suggest a pretty large scale, but at the end of the day, it still looks like an Alien-type horror film.  Which means it will seemingly follow a certain template and hit specific plot beats along the way.  That's okay, but I have to wonder if this film weren't actually directed by Ridley Scott if all the hyperventilating geeks wouldn't be screaming 'Dude, it's an Alien rip-off!'.  Anyway, feel free to disagree, but I'm certainly hoping it will be a winner come June 8th.  Moreover, the first teaser played much better on a big screen (which partially inspired by rant about that last two weeks ago), so I'll presume the same is true about this IMAX-specific teaser.  This one drops in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.  As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson

Ridley Scott's 'not an Alien prequel' Prometheus gets a trailer that looks an awful lot like an Alien prequel, or an Alien rip-off.

If I seem a little less excited about this project than others, it's because A) I'm not an Alien junkie (I love Aliens, like Alien and Alien: Ressurection, and respect the comprised vision that is Fincher's extended cut of Alien 3) and B) Ridley Scott is just as likely to make Robin Hood or Hannibal as he is to Kingdom Of Heaven or Blade Runner.  Actually, as I scroll down the list of Scott's movies over the last 20 years, I actually find far more I didn't like (1492, American Gangster, GI Jane, Black Hawk Down, etc) than ones I did enjoy (Gladiator which I still think is vastly overrated, Matchstick Men which is underrated, Thelma and Louise, etc).  Aside from that, the project feels a whiff desperate, as if Scott just decided to return to the franchise that made him a name after a few costly flops.  Now having said all of that, the footage on display does look quite impressive. The scale is pretty large and the cast is aces, but I could have said the same thing about Body of Lies.  And the preview is certainly selling the movie like either an unofficial Alien prequel or a big-budget variation on the template that Alien established (think Event Horizon or Virus).  But for now, there is no reason not to give everyone involved the benefit of the doubt.  This one drops on June 8th, 2012.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson

Ridley Scott scraps Alien prequel, goes ahead with original Prometheus.

Fascinating stuff, this is. Just days ago, we heard reports that Fox and Ridley Scott were butting heads over whom to cast as the female lead in the upcoming Alien prequel(s). Ridley Scott wanted Noomi Pace (Elizabeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), while 20th Century Fox wanted that box office dynamo Charlize Theron. Well, nevermind to all of that, because Ridley Scott and writer Damon Lindelof are instead going with an original story instead, apparently based on a script by Jon Spaihts. Prometheus will be released on March 9th, 2012. Little is known about the project, except that it will have bits and pieces of what might have been the Alien prequel at an earlier point in time. Noomi Pace has been cast as the main character, with bigger-name actresses (Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, etc) circling around a major supporting role. Fascinating...

'Rumors from the crazy guy on the corner': Ridley Scott wants $250 million for an R-rated Alien prequel?

According to Bleeding Cool, 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott are at odds over the upcoming Alien prequel that Scott has demeaned himself by taking on. Whether or not the world needs an Alien prequel, there is something a little sad about a past-his-prime director returning to the franchise that made him a name in order to salvage his box office bank-ability. Nevermind that the mediocre Robin Hood is his third-biggest worldwide grosser with $310 million, the insane $200 million budget and reliance on overseas dollars has rendered the film as a, at best, near-miss. But I digress, the issue at hand is Scott's insistence on an 'R' rating (fair enough), and his desire for a $250 million budget. Oh, well that... wait, what?!?!