Prometheus Screenwriter Damon Lindelof Talks Movie Errors, Online Negativity

Ridley Scott’s (sort of) “Alien” prequel “Prometheus” left many fans hyped about its release a bit disappointed, mostly because of what they perceived to be “errors” within the narrative. They’re not really that, scribe Damon Lindelof says in a new interview.

Response to “Prometheus” has been amazing compared to other films but somewhat underwhelming compared to other Scott movies, particularly “Alien,” to which it was more or less related.

The blame for whatever went wrong with it was laid at Lindelof’s door, the same man who took the fall for the disappointing manner in which the highly successful “Lost” TV series ended.

In a new interview with WSJ blog SpeakEasy, Lindelof says his work is meant to open conversations on lots of topics, so “Prometheus” is no exception.

He welcomes a smart negative comment about his latest film and, while he tries to ignore those that are just plain mean, they still get to him.

“I am amused if somebody says something cleverly negative about it,” Lindelof says when asked why he responds to “haters” on social media.

“The mean negatives, there is nothing pleasant about that experience whatsoever for me. I try to not address it unless it’s so horrible that I feel the need to tell everybody who follows me, ‘Just so you know, there are people out there who says this’,” he adds.

“If somebody says something positive it’s something I want to keep to myself,” explains Lindelof.

Even though he admits that being criticized more or less “comes with the territory” where he’s concerned, Lindelof defends his latest oeuvre, “Prometheus,” by saying that many of the “errors” perceived as such in the film weren’t even that.

People who say these things rarely stop to think about them properly before they say them, he seems to argue.

Lindelof also offers two examples in this sense: in one case, the “error” was intentional, while in the other it referred to a line that wasn’t even in the script, so he can’t be held responsible for it.

“My feeling is: this is what I signed up for. I am driven and captivated and interested in these open-ended stories that have a high level of interpretation to them. There’s a certain level of frustration that comes with that package,” Lindelof says.

As we reported earlier this week, Ridley Scott is believed to be already working hard at the sequel for “Prometheus” but Lindelof’s return is uncertain at the moment.


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