Prometheus with Jon Spaihts

May 10, 2022

Jon Spaihts, co-writer of Prometheus, discusses his bold take on the Alien franchise, introducing existential contemplation and freaky robots. He delves into original draft ideas like Jesus as an alien in Alien: Engineers and the collaborative process with Ridley Scott. The conversation explores the intricate universe of Alien technology, character development in Prometheus, and hints at exciting future projects in the sci-fi genre.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 4min

Reflections on the Legacy of Prometheus

04:25 • 12min

Exploring Biblical and Alien Themes in Script Draft

16:33 • 2min

Exploring the Intricate Universe of Alien Technology

18:26 • 6min

Excitement, Pressure, and Secrecy in the Early Stages of a Project

24:50 • 5min

Exploring Character Development and Story Themes in Prometheus

29:48 • 20min

Into the Future: Exploring New Narratives

49:47 • 4min

A decade before his recent Oscar nomination for his work on Denis Villeneuve's Dune, Jon Spaihts co-wrote Prometheus – a bold prequel to the Alien franchise that celebrates its tenth anniversary this month. It was a philosophical sci-fi horror odyssey like no other, that upended expectations and made the New Yorker one of Hollywood's go-to names for science fiction drama that both provokes and thrills.

You might know Jon as the man who co-wrote the first Doctor Strange movie along Scott Derrickson and past Script Apart guest C. Robert Cargill. He’s also shepherded his own sci-fi worlds to the screen, such as Passengers – a Jennifer Lawrence-starring romance among the stars that hit cinemas in 2016. Prometheus was his introduction to the world, however. He’d written a couple of impressive spec scripts that got him into rooms with high-powered Hollywood directors. Ridley Scott was one of them. As you’ll discover in this episode, the idea of an Alien prequel was kind of sprung on him. In an instant, he blurted out an idea for an epic that took the franchise and its mythology in a bold new direction, switching up the series’ visceral frights for grand existential contemplation and freaky robots.

In this fascinating conversation, Jon delves into about his original draft for the film, titled Alien: Engineers. It followed roughly the same beats as Prometheus but with a few notable exceptions. For starters, Engineers made the bold move of suggesting that Jesus Christ was an alien, and therefore related to the Xenomorph of the first movie. It also had a different ending that set up a planned trilogy of movies with these characters, which Jon explains in detail. You might also want to listen out for Jon’s pitch for a Star Wars series – one of the few sci-fi sandboxes he’s not had a chance to play in yet…

This is a spoiler-filled conversation – in space, no can you hear you scream that we ruined the plot for you. Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, or email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.

Support for this episode comes from ScreenCraft, Arc Studio Pro and WeScreenplay.

To get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon.

Support the show

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.