Damon Lindelof Explains Why He’s Not Involved With ‘Prometheus 2’

Sure, Prometheus was a huge disappointment, but it made quite a bit of money, and a sequel is in development. So why doesn’t writer Damon Lindelof want a piece of the pie?

Jon Spaihts was the original screenwriter for Prometheus, and his draft, Alien: Engineers, was regarded as superior to the final version of the film by many fans of the franchise when it made its way online. Lindelof (LOST, Star Trek Into Darkness) spoke to Collider about his conversation with Ridley Scott, and why he chose to not return for Prometheus 2: Electric Boogaloo.

“The thing about Prometheus was it was a rewrite. Jon Spaihts wrote a script and I rewrote it. And still it was a year of my life that I spent on Prometheus, kind of all in. The idea of building a sequel to it—from the ground up this time—with Ridley is tremendously exciting. But at the same time, I was like, ‘Well that’s probably going to be two years of my life.’ I can’t do what J.J. [Abrams] does. I don’t have the capability.

“I’m usually very single-minded creatively. I can only be working on one thing at a time. So I said to him, ‘I really don’t think I could start working on this movie until I do this other stuff. And I don’t know when the other stuff is going to be done.’ And he was like, ‘Well, okay, it’s not like I asked you anyways.’ He and I are on excellent terms and it was a dream come true to work with him. But much to the delight of all the fanboys, I don’t see myself being involved in Prometheus-er.“

Bloody Disgusting opines that they “can sort of respect his decision,” and we’re inclined to agree. Lindelof is a pretty decent writer, but there’s a large fanbase out there that find themselves continually frustrated by his “pointless questions with no answers” style.

Maybe part of Lindelof’s reason for backing out of any Prometheus 2 involvement was simply that. After Prometheus did so poorly with fans, who would want to be involved in the follow-up?