Sequel? Even if beaten by Madagascar?

I believe there will be a sequel at this point no matter what. There will be no more Alien movies created, but a whole new franchise that may eventually explain the origin of species (Xenomorphs ect.) but only as a secondary objective.

Of course it's not bad, a lot of people didnt even know what Prometheus was, and just on the strength of it looking like and being something new, folks went to see it, some may not get it, other like us are left making theories and asking a heapload of questions and creating theories and hypotheses. However if a Madagascar forum exists I'm willing to bet it wont be 1/10th as interesting as this one. It has no depth and it's for kids. Prometheus wont be a mind-blowing success because its almost impossible to completely explain, as you see some of us have went to see it a second time just to wrap our heads around a few things, and we still have questions. The only other movie to have that effect on me was the first Matrix movie....which took off slowly but became a phenomenon. But I'm getting longwinded and off-topic. You're comparing apples and oranges, M3's success will do nothing to hurt or help Prometheus imho. I'd have worries about a sequel if it's global revenue is low and a buzz isn't constant.

In business terms it is very simple, if Prometheus is not profitable (at least 400 million dollars grossed worldwide) you should not anticipate a sequel. If it is just barely profitable (almost exactly 400 million dollar gross) you can look forward to a sequel with a much smaller budget. If it earns in the 600 million dollar or above range you can probably bet on a sequel. Keep in mind that the (in my opinion) truly awful second Transformers film managed to earn $836,303,693 worldwide despite having a rotten tomato score of 20% and that is why it got a sequel. In the end, it is all about the money.

@drakeequation nice summary! after my first viewing, a week early for media, I posted on here that it would struggle to break 200M in the US. after second viewing last night, i'm not so sure on that number either way. I liked it better the second time around, but my theater had maybe 30 people in it.

@Orange: I think it'll do better overseas than it will here in the US. I think it'll be half and half in terms of moviegoers, some will want to see the Alien timeline, others will want to be creeped to hell. Either way I agree with you.

Drakeequation said "In the end, it is all about the money." Absolutely. I felt I'd been present at the launch of a pilot vehicle for a fresh revenue source rather than watching a finished film. If a follow-up hinges on the surviving characters' players' involvement that complicates the mix a wee bit. Can't see Scott helming it, and they cried so loud and long about what a thrilling Wolf was heading our way when it turned out to be a pup that I hardly care anymore.

Oh the facts of money.... Going to go watch Back to the Future now.

Pretty high. Will you take your kids to see prometheus? Most parents wont. Madagascar forces income on behalf of the parents. Frankly because how else there kids are going to see this. Just like reason Nintendo is still around. Prometheus will hit over 500million worldwide by the end of the month mostly because alot of people want to see it again to see what they missed or get a better understanding of the movie.

Prometheus actually outperformed Madagascar per theatre, it grossed more even as it opened in hundreds of less theathers than Madagascar. Since Madagascar opened in more theathers this weekend than Prometheus, it therefore only beat Prometheus that way. Technically then, if opened in even number of venues Prometheus would hands down be the winner for opening weekend doemestically.

here's the article... Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi, "Prometheus," invaded theaters in second place with $50 million. The $130 million Fox thriller, which stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, and current box office (ice) queen Charlize Theron, conjured an impressive $14,723 per theater average from 3,396 locations (ahead of "Madagascar's" $14,123 average from 4,258 venues). "Prometheus" notched the best debut for an R-rated picture since "Paranormal Activity 3's" $52.6 million bow in October

Can somebody post this to other websites, it's absurd to say Madgascar out performed Promethus when it's really not the case at all.