do you think this will find a mainstream audience

I think the film will release to good reviews from critics and will have a strong weekend release, but sadly it will drop considerably. The landscape of films have changed in 30 years. The build up of mystery and suspense is all but lost on CGI, explosions and giant robots. The first Alien film was a different animal. There was nothing, anything like that at the time. It was considered THE scariest movie EVER made in 1979. The other factor is revisiting old franchises are not doing as well as suspected. The Thing prequel and Predators as well as some others I can't think of at this time haven't done very well. Film goers have a short attention span and want action NOW! Nobody cares about the build-up anymore. Even Super 8 was said to harken back to old school film making and got good reviews, but I don't believe it did as well as the studio hoped and everybody I spoke with didn't care for it and thought it was too slow. I truly hope I am wrong and that it blows-up at the box office, but I don't think it's gonna happen. I will be there on opening night by the way.

I think if all clichés are avoided, backed by a rock solid story, captivating performances, shot in a no nonsense manner, it may not be a blockbuster but it gains financial traction through its cult followers. I just realized that there has been NO trailers on broadcast tv for this film. This seems like it was made for us, and not "them" if you know what I mean. Most people react in either a negative or dismissive manner, when I mention PROMETHEUS and Ridley Scott helming the project. The sequels have been a significant contribution to this reaction. If it is really made for us, then all I have to say is "Thank you very much Mr. Scott!"

i feel the days of the major blockbuster films of the mid to late 1970's (sadly) are long gone i think it is possible for a film to become somewhat of a phenomenon, Avatar was the last film that i can recall, that had even the hard to please U.S. audience spending their hard earned money on repeat viewings of that film. other than that, it's been a long time since a sci-fi film really captured the imagination of the public at large with that said, i think PROMETHEUS will do a decent amount of the all important "box office" that the suits are demanding, but it will all hinge on it having a solid story. the visuals as i have now seen already have me almost in a sweat to see the film, but i think i am the minority i do hope, that PROMETHEUS does fantastically at the box office, if not there, then on DVD / Bluray sales, which a LOT of films that have "bombed" at the box office, tend to make up for it in DVD sales making thrice the money a film costs to make, these days, almost assuredly guarantees a sequel will be in the works what worries me the most, is that Fox will be demanding a PG-13 rating, when i can imagine that Ridley himself wants a solid R rating. given the fact that Fox (and the rest of the studio system) tends to be all about the bottom line, i think we will be getting a PG-13 version this June, with the true R rated version being released on DVD time will tell...

I agree with you Shardy. I had some of the same sentiments as yourself (posted on page 2 of this thread) Look at John Carpenters The Thing when it came out. Bombed at the box office, but got a cult following on DVD and I believe made plenty of money since.

@craigamore Film school visual. Not Michael By ADHD visual. Though I have to admit I haven't seen much Scott has done in recent times as the content just does not interest me. I can't see his attention to detail and focus on story holding the modern mainstream film crowd. I haven't seen Avatar. I won't see it. It has no appeal to me. The only modern Scifi film I enjoyed was Moon. I still need to watch "Children of Men", the film version of "The Road" and "Melancholia". If anyone else has suggestion for good scifi made in the last 10 years i am all ears. Don't say "District 9" that was a total piece of early Peter Jackson influenced crap. Good first 20 minutes, the rest was shit.

yeah robin hood was his most recent flop....i actually think the film will do better with an r rating...

I don't think the movie will flop. Or I should say I don't think it'll be the movie's fault if it doesn't do well - it's the audiences that have flopped. People have gotten to used to Michael Bay style movies, they just want to turn their brains off and be entertained by quick-cut flash-bang drivel. Most people don't really want to think too much, don't want to be challenged - I'm glad I'm not one of them and I suspect the majority of the members here aren't either.

wow, came in here for the first time this morning {it's 8:10 am with only 85 days to go, 78 if your "FRANTZ"} and I saw the words "This could Flop". I thought it would be safe to come right inwithout anything else in the entire thread and say what I have said from the get go..."I Have Complete Faith In Ridley Scott & H. R. Giger"... That's it...just that...have a great day everybody!

A quote I read somewhere: "fucking up the back story of Star Wars was like fucking up - boiling water, or making super noodles!" Lucas managed it in massive style! I personally believe Scott hasn't gone insane like Lucas did. In fact, I think he has learnt from Lucas' critical errors. Lets hope!

@Spartacus I have faith in R. Scott and H.R. Giger. I don't have faith in that average movie fan in North America. This is why I think it might flop. Nothing to do with the talent behind the movie, more to do with what the average consumer wants from movies now.

OK, that makes sense Shane...so...I guess the it depends on how you define a "FLOP'. If you mean it will not be a commercial success I think that's just flat out impossible...just out of a love for this franchise and of movies of this nature people will FLOCK to it. If you mean the avg movie fan will NOT like it but YOU like it why would you even care...let's say 50 million see it in the first week and noone likes it...but the critics love it...does that make it a flop? My Point is there is NO WAY ON EARTH...THIS FILM WILL EVER BE CLASSIFIED AS A FLOP...EVER! IF THERE WERE EVEN A CHANCE OF THIS FOX WOULD HAVE PUT A STOP TO IT A LONG TIME AGO AND RIDLEY WOULD HAVE STOPPED IT EVEN BEFORE THEY DID! just my lowly 2 cents... stop worrying! Have Faith !That means knowing in your heart it cannot fail...No Chance !

I live in Ga. I expect to hear a lot of moaning from the Bible beaters. Always thought it was funny how people with such strong beliefs get threatened by movies, etc. I guess it's easier to believe in a magic baby, when you never have to think.

I don't have a lot of faith in a world-viewership that made the 2 most successful movies of all time: 1. Avatard 2. Titanic While I did find the following to be entertaining: The robotic motions of the 3D shipmates during the XLS's in 2. and the over-the-top VFX in 1... Prometheus will need a solid, deep, and thought-provoking story to capture an audience that is already saturated (and frankly spoiled) by outrageous special effects and insipid stories. I'm also worried about the release of other fantasy/adventure/sci-fi films before the release of Prometheus, like John Carter, Clash of the Titans, The Immortals (on DVD), etc... overwhelming said public and watering down it's reception. Bottom line... no one ever sets out to make a bad film (well, maybe Corman). It's just factors like the extremely rare convergence of the planets that allows it to happen right. It is a rare thing indeed.

what lucas did with the prequels was this..he thought the fans would eat them up just like the origional films so what he did was fill the movies with as many toys as possible..he literally made so many ships and so many stupid characters because his goal was to sell millions of toys millions of pieces of merchandise related to the prequels like he did with the original trilogy...but george lucas is an idiot his prequels did well at the box office but were nowhere near as populaur as the origonal trilogies...george lucas is an idiot howard the duck? red tails? speilberg is the reason indiana jones was cool george lucas is a moron

John Carter, Clash of the Titans, The Immortals Just FYI all of these will have little significance because of this... THE HUNGER GAMES !!! BELIEVE ME...THOSE FILMS ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE...BUT THIS ONE IS !!!

might be good for all of us old timers ,,no line ups and noisy teenagers bugging us ( like the one i got) , then after the first week out ,,,,,ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE AT THE BOX OFFICE ,,,it can not fail.

Hipsters, hipsters everywhere.