Inside Movies & DVD with Drew McWeeny

Fox moves 'Prometheus' to summer 2012 as Michael Fassbender joins cast

Giant SF films will not go head-to-head after all

By Drew McWeeny Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011 7:10 PM

<p>Ridley Scott was originally going to explain the backstory to the infamous 'space jockey' from his 1979 hit 'Alien,' but now he's set to make an original SF film called 'Prometheus' instead, and now it's set for June 8, 2012</p>

Ridley Scott was originally going to explain the backstory to the infamous 'space jockey' from his 1979 hit 'Alien,' but now he's set to make an original SF film called 'Prometheus' instead, and now it's set for June 8, 2012

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Just looking at next year's release schedule and the passionate battles being fought over release date real estate is already giving me a headache.

I get it. 2012 is going to be a huge year, especially if you're a mainstream genre nerd. Each and every weekend will be carefully scrutinized, and there are some giant gambles the studios are making, and they want to make sure that they've got room for their films to find their audiences.

When the story broke recently that Ridley Scott will be making "Prometheus," the film that evolved out of what was once a prequel to "Alien," 20th Century Fox also announced a release date of March 9, 2012. That part of the year has become a fairly important date for the studios, and once Fox had claimed the date, suddenly Disney announced that they'll be releasing "John Carter Of Mars" on the exact same day.

So it shouldn't be a huge surprise to see that "Prometheus" has now moved, and it's sort of funny that they'd be heading to June 8, 2012 instead, since that is the date "John Carter" used to have.

It looks like Fox is getting into the Michael Fassbender business in a big way, betting on him as the young Magneto in 'X-Men First Class' and now also casting him as an android for "Prometheus."

No matter what, every weekend is going to be a battle next year. I'm glad Fox moved the film, though. It seems suicidal to me for two giant studio SF films to try to compete for the same exact three days, when I know I plan to see both of those films. I assume the audience in general would be interested in both. Why cannibalize your own business by engaging in that sort of direct head-to-head combat?

I'm not sure what direct competition they'll have, but it looks like "Prometheus" will land sometime between "The Avengers" and the new "Spider-Man" film. It'll be one big giant summer… so let's hope the films live up to that.

Related Searches: Alien, Ridley Scott, Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindeloff, Prometheus, Passengers, Lost, prequel, michael fassbender, Noomi Rapace

Oh man, I'm really excited for 2012. Like you said, if the films live up to the potential 2012 could be a landmark year for genre film.
January 26, 2011 at 8:46PM EST Reply to Comment
DefRef

I don't understand the premise underlying, "Why cannibalize your own business by engaging in that sort of direct head-to-head combat?"

Are these movies only going to be showing this weekend or could people see one on the opening weekend and the other the following weekend? It's not as if two of your favorite bands are playing in your town on the same date.

When did the idea of a film having legs get checked for "#1 opening frame or death"?
January 27, 2011 at 12:01AM EST Reply to Comment
- TallBoy66 When mainstream movie releases, espicially science-fiction movies, barely have legs nowadays. Big budget sci-fi movies tend to open huge and drop fast, it just depends how big that opening weekend is to make a chunk of the cash upfront. Avatar aside, but that broke several rules anyway.
  
  And despite Drew's insistence, I still say there's a connection to the Alien universe. We got android casting! And Scott's press release said the astute fan will see the Alien project DNA in there. Just with no Aliens in it. Probably a space jockey movie. We'll see. The fabled "part 2", if it ever happens, would be the actual Alien aspect of it. Or I could be wrong. Find out in 2012. Before the world blows up.
  January 27, 2011 at 1:16AM EST
- drew Unfortunately, opening weekends often are life or death at this point, at least from the studio's POV.
  January 27, 2011 at 4:45AM EST