'Write' Place, Wrong Film: 'Prometheus' Writer Knows Where the Alien Films Could Go Next

When #RidleyScott's Prometheus entered the uncharted territory of an #Alien prequel, hopes were high for a faithful continuation of the horror franchise's legacy. However, even an all-star cast and a fleshed-out script from Lost's #DamonLindelof couldn't save the 2012 film from mediocrity.

Opinions are currently undecided on the latest film in the series when Scott again returned for #AlienCovenant. Although Lindelof was busy wrapping up his show The Leftovers instead of penning the sequel, it hasn't stopped him passing judgement on the ill-fated mission to the cosmos and hinting at the future.

Screaming For More

Speaking to Collider, Lindelof spoke about what his plans would've been for a Prometheus sequel and where Scott's #scifi slaughterhouse could go next:

“I think that one of the conversations that we had at the end of Prometheus is, Shaw and David have basically locked in on the coordinates of the planet where the Engineers came from. What does that place look like? Ridley called it ‘Paradise’. What happens when they land on that planet? It doesn’t feel like they’ve gotten there yet in Covenant, Covenant felt like it maybe was a detour prior to them arriving at the place of origin so I don’t want to spoil any place that he might still be wanting to go, but the conversations that he and I had about where the story goes next were largely about the place where the Engineers were from and less the events of Covenant.”

Interestingly, it seems that the planet we find ourselves on in Covenant is just some sort of Engineer outpost rather than the homeworld of the species. It is certainly an interesting thought to have, and with Lindelof being so close to Prometheus, can we take it as fact? It would also conveniently explain Covenant's major plothole around how those Xeno eggs make it onto the Space Jockey ship from Scott's 1979 classic.

It's Just The Beginning

The end of Covenant saw the mechanical maniac David gain access to a cargo hold full of potential test subjects and vomit himself some gnarly Xenomorph embryos into cold storage. The film alluded to the ship's original destination, Origae-6, which some people are hoping will eventually be revealed as the planet LV-426 from the original series. With the survivors and David heading out to an unknown destination, place your bets now. "Paradise" from Prometheus, LV-426, or just a colony planet, expect Origae-6 to come into view as we head into Scott's planned third film in the prequel series.

As for Covenant, although audiences can't seem to decide whether it is brilliant or a blunder, Lindelof himself managed to sing its praises:

“I can’t respond to Covenant along the lines of ‘I like it’, ‘I don’t like it’, ‘It’s good’ or ‘It’s bad’ because of my relationship to that material. That said, anytime I go to a movie I’m going to the movie because I want to like it and I was able to do that with Covenant. I really wanted to like it and therefore I was able to like it. I thought that Fassbender’s performance was off the hook. I love Ridley Scott’s filmmaking and there’s some incredibly beautiful filmmaking in that movie, so I programmed myself to enjoy the experience and I was successful in achieving my programming, I will say that.”

Covenant certainly left enough open threads of creation stories to warrant a continuing story arc, while Scott is reportedly keen on fast tracking the next movie. So, with The Leftovers now finished, is there a chance that Lindelof could return to write the third installment? He certainly seems to have the ideas and the knowledge in place. Whatever happens, expect the next Alien film to carry on the themes of gods and monsters rather than the spaceship horror it became famous for — take that whichever way you want!