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June 8-10 Weekend Actuals
1. Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) NEW [4,258 Theaters] PG
Friday $20.7M, Saturday $22.6M, Sunday $17.1M, Weekend $60.3M2. Prometheus (Fox) NEW [3,396 Theaters] R
Friday $21.5M, Saturday $16.0M, Sunday $13.6M, Weekend $51.1M3. Snow White & The Huntsman (Universal) Week 2 [3,777 Theaters] PG13
Friday $7.5M, Saturday $8.9M, Sunday $6.7M Weekend $23.1M (-59%), Cume $98.5M4. Men in Black 3 (Columbia/Sony) Week 3 [3,792 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.3M, Saturday $5.6M, Sunday $3.9M, Weekend $13.9M (-51%), Cume $135.9M5. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney) Week 6 [3,129 Theaters] PG13
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.5M, Sunday $3.4M Weekend $11.2M (-45%), Cume $572.3M6. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Week 6 [1,298 Theaters] PG13
Friday $940K, Saturday $1.4M, Sunday $938K Weekend $3.3M (-27%), Cume $31M7. What To Expect When You’re Expecting (Lionsgate) Week 4 [2,087 Theaters] PG13
Friday $924K, Saturday $1.1M, Sunday $756K, Weekend $2.8M (-37%), Cume $35.88. Battleship (Universal) Week 4 [1,954 Theaters] PG13
Friday $694KK, Saturday $918K, Sunday $664K, Weekend $2.3M (-55%), Cume $59.8M9. The Dictator (Paramount) Week 4 [1,651 Theaters] R
Friday $714K, Saturday $849K, Sunday $679K Weekend $2.2M (-52%), Cume $55.3M10. Moonrise Kingdom (Focus) Week 3 [96 Theaters] PG13
Friday $466K, Saturday $637K, Sunday $456K Weekend $1.6M, Cume $3.7M
SUNDAY 1:30 AM, 5TH UPDATE: Any worries about a Summer 2012 domestic box office slump are officially gone. Because overall moviegoing was a whopper weekend: $175M, or +32% from last year. To Hollywood’s surprise, Prometheus (3,396 theaters) edged Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (4,258 theaters) in a dog fight for #1 on Friday. But the toon came back with a +8% kiddie bounce on Saturday to end its opening weekend with a fierce $59.6M. By contrast, the scifi thriller plunged -22% from Friday to Saturday but still ended with a big $49.5M weekend result.
No one least of all Twentieth Century Fox expected its R-rated original playing in less theaters to outgross DreamWorks Animation‘s PG-rated 
family threequel on opening day. In fact Fox execs kept predicting no more than a $30M-$35M weekend result in a blatant attempt to lower expectations. But Prometheus in North America debuted to an overperforming $3.561M in midnight screenings at 1,368 locations, shooting its Friday gross to $21.4M. The tantalizing combination of Alien‘s Ridley Scott as director and Lost‘s Damon Lindelof as screenwriter, plus Fox’s Avatar-savvy teaser marketing that also kept Prometheus under wraps, really motivated moviegoers. But audiences only bestowed a so-so ‘B’ CinemaScore on Prometheus – because of huge plot holes big enough to drive Mack trucks through. And that did hurt word of mouth just as I predicted and drpped to $16.4M on Saturday. So the film should end the weekend closer to $49M than $50M. Which is stil a solid result for a film the studio claims cost only $125M because of UK tax credits and low CGI costs. (By the way, that ‘R’ rating was blamed on one really gross scene.)
Fox will update overseas numbers later this morning, but the actioner was on fire when it opened internationally a week earlier. Coming into Friday, Prometheus already had amassed $51M from territories that opened last weekend and posted strong opening day numbers out of Australia, Korea and Taiwan.
Audiences loved Madagascar 3 and gave it a straight ‘A’ CinemaScore as usual. And the toon distributed by Paramount took in $20.4M Friday and $22M Saturday to win the weekend with one of DreamWorks’ best results. Toon benefitted from pent-up demand because of the lack of family movies in the marketplace for some time. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted also stampeded out of the gate with early box office results internationally Friday. This weekend the family fare opened in 28 markets, including Russia, China, France, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico day-and-date with the U.S. and Canada. Russia logged the biggest opening day for any animated release ever, distributor Paramount announced today – $3.7M from 881 locations on Thursday. Korea, which was having a national holiday, took in $1.9M from 502 locations on opening day Wednesday. Also that day, France debuted with $1.9M from 685 venues.
As for holdovers, Universal’s Snow White And The Huntsman follows last weekend’s strong opening with another fierce finish while Sony/Columbia’s Men In Black 3 starts its third weekend still in double-digits. I’m told that each film should end their domestic runs with $160M-$165M all-in. As for Marvel’s The Avengers from Disney, the moolah keeps growing. It enters this weekend with $561M domestic and $816.6M foreign for a humongous global cume of $1.3B. It’s now the the #3 film of all time globally (behind only Avatar’s $2.7B and Titanic‘s $2.1B) as well as all time domestically (behind only Avatar‘s $761M and Titanic‘s $659M). It now looks as if Avengers will end up $600M all in domestic. Also, that Lionsgate blockbuster The Hunger Games came into this weekend with a domestic theatrical gross of $399.5M. Sometime today the bestselling book-turned-movie is crossing the $400M mark at the U.S. and Canadian box office. Adding The Avengers and assuming The Dark Knight Rises is a sure thing, this will be the first year where 3 movies end up with over $400 million in North American grosses. Its global cume is near $650M.
Top Ten based on weekend’s estimated North American grosses:
1. Prometheus (Fox) NEW [3,396 Theaters] R
Friday $21.4M, Saturday $16.4M, Weekend $49.5M
2. Madagascar 3 (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) NEW [4,258 Theaters] PG
Friday $20.4M, Saturday $22M, Weekend $59.6M
3. Snow White & The Huntsman (Universal) Week 2 [3,777 Theaters] PG13
Friday $7.5M, Saturday $9.1M, Weekend $22.9M (-60%), Cume $98.5M
4. Men In Black 3 (Sony) Week 3 [3,792 Theaters] PG13
Friday $4.2M, Saturday $6.1M, Weekend $14.2M, Cume $136.2M
5. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney) Week 6 [3,129 Theaters] PG13
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.8M, Weekend $11.2M, Cume $572.3M
6. Best Exotic Marigold (Fox Searchlight) Week 6 [1,298 Theaters] PG13
Friday $925K, Saturday $1.3M, Weekend $3.0M, Cume $30.8M
7. What To Expect When (Lionsgate) Week 4 [2,087 Theaters] PG13
Friday $920K, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $2.7M, Cume $35.7
8. Battleship (Universal) Week 4 [1,954 Theaters] PG13
Friday $710K, Saturday $925K, Weekend $2.2M, Cume $59.7M
9. The Dictator (Paramount) Week 4 [1,651 Theaters] R
Friday $675K, Saturday $800K, Weekend $2.0M, Cume $55.1M
10. Dark Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 5 [1,550 Theaters] PG13
Friday $410K, Saturday $700K, Weekend $1.5M, Cume $73.9M
FRIDAY 4:30 PM UPDATE: Rival studios now say Fox’s Prometheus is looking to open with a huge $26M Friday and $68M weekend. That’s rare indeed for an R-rated pic. But Fox, the studio that specializes in lowering expectations, disputes those numbers. “There is no mathematical scenario I know of that we hit $68M. Even at $26M for today, we get to $66.5M – and there is nothing on this green earth that shows us hitting $26M today,” a Fox exec huffed at me. “I could see us doing $22M today which would likely get us to $56M.” No matter, a great result. Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted also is burning up the box office with a massive $18M Friday and $57M weekend according to current projections. Prometheus in North America debuted to $3.561M in midnight screenings at 1,368 locations. That’s a $2,603 per-location average. Fox called it “a fantastic start”. The midnight numbers include $1.03M from 294 IMAX theaters.
For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Madagascar feels huge this weekend too.
This is DreamWorks’ negotiation leverage to either renew with Paramount or make a new deal with a studio like Sony.
Paramount clearly doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing in animation. They haven’t even hired a new exec to lead their Animation division.
Sony seems to need all the help they can get in animation — they haven’t made a fully-animated global mega-hit. Smurfs worked in live action, but that was all Lynton’s doing. They could use the animation product.
Or maybe Paramount will step up to the plate and face the fact that they need help. Will definitely be interesting to see.
I’m glad Prometheus is opening big too.
Very good point. Dreamworks did a great job of driving Paramount marketing to a huge opening number. Now Jeffrey has all of the ammo he needs to support a new distribution deal. Outside of Paramount (who need the animation product) and Sony, who else is left to distribute their movies? Fox maybe? Lionsgate? Warner Bros?
I’m interested to see what happens with Par’s animation division.
I doubt DreamWorks’ next movie with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny will be as big as Madagascar.
The bigger story is Prometheus.
NOTE TO MORONIC STUDIO EXECUTIVES!
An R-rating can do just as well as a G-rated family film. There must have been 200 teenagers at the screening I saw. No one checks I.D. anymore & you can buy your tickets online or from a machine.
The key is making a great movie.
madagascar 3 was rated PG
Prometheus’ opening will be deservedly huge, but me has the feeling to get ready for a huge drop off. I’ve been looking forward to see it for over a year, watched every trailer multiple times, and I am profoundly shocked and disappointed by the very weak script and lines that go nowhere delivered by excellent actors on grand sets.
I guess were now in an era where films like Prometheus never answer any of the questions in proposes and its cool that’s everything is still a big mystery when it ends (except for the weapons of mass destruction sub plot). The packed audience didn’t even applaud at the end. Not good.
it’s really not fair to compare Prometheus to Madagascar. According to the numbers (assuming i understood them correctly), Prometheus is playing in only 3400 theaters, while madagascar is playing in 4300 theaters, almost 25% more than prometheus. prometheus could have made more than $50M this weekend
Agree- the Prometheus script was quite lame. Just full of extremely obvious plot holes. I sure won’t be recommending it. It may be R-rated, but it’s most likely to succeed with folks who just like popcorn movies and not nearly among as many who actually want and/or expected something that succeeded at being more serious.
First! Also, that’s great.
Second! Fail.
HE’s actually third
YOU FAIL
He was actually second according to the time stamps, so in actuality it is you who fails the most my friend.
@ Leondre – from one reader to another – please don’t try to start your infantile, “first”, game here – so what if you are “first” (which you are not) – is that the best you can come up with to post here on this, “mostly geared towards entertainment business site”?
Count me in as one of the midighters. Got a cool special IMAX poster as well for Prometheus.
Saw it at the Cinerama in Seattle. Sold Out crowd. Almost a riot when the dips**t projectionist let the screen go black for about a minute and a half during what sounded like an exciting scene. Otherwise the movie was pretty awesome. Those humanoid things were freaking creepy.
My one bone to pick, this guy who wrote it obviously worked on LOST as the movie offers ZERO answers to anything and leaves behind questions that irritate the viewer.
If they want to go to Earth and destroy mankind, why don’t they just do it? And why would these things write maps on cave walls that only lead to a military installation for biological weapons.
And there’s a dozen other questions…
Spot on, Jack. How about the lines that go nowhere? Why does the Geologist say he’s in it for the money? Where’s the payoff? Why would a Geologist (after a 2 year nap) not investigate a structure made of stone on a moon?
If Meredith’s dad was so close to death why would she take on a four year space mission when she could engineer an earthbound corporate coup and take over Weyland Ind. instead?
I could on and on, but the dumbest one: Why would she tell her dying Dad, “If you go (to the temple/factory) you’re going to die in there”? DUMB.
Almost every line is drivel and TVesque. Maybe there needs to be a law that if you wrote for LOST its illegal to write SCI-Fi flicks.
I admit that I have not seen the movie yet. But, a Geologist studies soils. They do not interact with structures other than to determine the ability of soil to support a structure. TO look at a structure you would need a Civil Engineer with a specialty in concrete structures.
This is unless you mean that the geologist should investigate the material of which the structure is composed.
“Geologists study soils?”
Sometimes. But primarily they are interested in studying the structure of the earth by looking at ROCKS.
And I agree with the original poster: Any geologist who had taken a two-year journey to a distant planet would be all over the rocks–no matter where he found them!
So I read this below from “Anonymous Writer” and thought it answered my own big questions about the film. I’m passing it on verbatim: Spoilers:
Here’s why the aliens/map/armageddon plot makes sense:
When the humanoids visit Earth, the planet is completely barren and the one is dropped off by a flying saucer. He dissolves. He doesn’t just create mankind, he creates life, it’s why you see the guy’s DNA dissolve into the water on the barren planet. The humanoids, while they have incredible technology, don’t seem very intelligent. They seem more like clones designed for specific jobs. The lone piece of religious iconography on their ship has the xenomorph in the position of the creator/god. Prometheus doesn’t land at a bioweapon base – it lands at a meat-processing plant. The humanoids’ job is to plant farms of humans throughout the galaxy, then go harvest them for the original creators/engineers – who are probably the next stage of the xenomorph you see bust from the humanoid at the end and use flying saucers like the one in the beginning.
And, well it should.
Prometheus is intelligent, tense, stunning, great in all production aspects, and uses 3D to subtly enhance the depth of field, but never in any trick ways. It is one of the few times I thought 3D improved the experience, because you don’t think about it…you just watch.
Certainly, Alien and Aliens were classic, well produced and refreshing science fiction films.
If you judge Prometheus as a stand alone film…it works quite well…while also serving as an interesting prequel with, perhaps, more to come.
“If you judge Prometheus as a stand alone film…it works quite well…while also serving as an interesting prequel with, perhaps, more to come.”
No, it doesn’t: that ending only serves as sequel/fan-bait, and would mean nothing to those who have never seen an ‘Alien’ film.
Prometheus, even with with the excellent Naomi Repace and Elba Edcris doing their best to save it had no tension, no suspense, and worst, no shock or suspense and didn’t make sense.
The most bizarre bit is why channel David Lean and then direct a supposed intense sci-fi thriller at his leaden pace?
Naomi Repace and Elba Edcris really? really?
Is it me? Or is Idris Elba looking more and more like Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns, in every movie?
Some of us movie lovers actually revere Lean, and his movies, as I imagine Scott does. “Doctor Zhivago”–leaden pace? Really? Not everything can move at the pace of “Madagascar 3.”
‘Prometheus’ is visually fantastic and I echo FTCS in that the 3D is used to rare excellent effect (otherwise I’m a hater and will seek out 2D where possible). It’s just a pity about the script, which has more holes than a Titanic made of Swiss cheese.
Never been so stimulated and disappointed simultaneously during a movie.
The character development, dialogue and gaping plot-holes were atrocious.
The visuals and set-pieces were really awe-inspiring.
Only a master like Ridley Scott can fail so spectacularly.
Even with all its faults this is truly a film spectacle that must be seen in the theaters.
I saw Prometheus at the early show this morning.
You’re a little harsh, but it was very different from anything I’d expected.
I don’t regret spending the money or taking the day off to see it. Very visual, very much in keeping with the first Alien in tone. (Women were screaming behind me.)
I wouldn’t say anything about it disappointed me. But it was different, almost like a very good directing re-telling a space-based version of the first Alien-vs. Predator movie in the Antarctic pyramid.
I wish they had tightened up the script, I wish they had used Charlize Theron more/better than they did. But it was really worth seeing, and the ending was pretty cool, another strong woman for the franchise being her own woman. No reason to be harsh. A good movie.
I did not regret paying to see this in the theater. Even with all its faults, I actually enjoyed it more than the Avengers.
Totally agree
I predict declining numbers as the week goes on.
You mean, you’re predicting it won’t earn as much on, say, Wednesday, as it earns on Saturday? Man, you’re somethin’ special – you should work for one of dem dar tracking companies.
I think he is saying that the word of mouth won’t be great. People who want the spectacle will show this weekend, and then it drops off a cliff. All the reviews say the plot has more holes than a cathouse.
My own personal barometer, Chelsea Lately, says this is a bad film. When an above the title, A lister does the show (Theron) it is a DOG.
Chelsea Handler is your personal barometer for quality entertainment?
I like Chelsea Handler and her talk show, but seriously? The same Chelsea Handler that has that awful sitcom? And did a crappy job hosting the VMAs? She influences what you see? Good grief!
Go see for yourself. Really!
Just came back from a matinee. Go see in 3D. The film looks spectacular (kudos to prod design and the dp). Fassbender is excellent as David, the android. Theron and Repace are really good as well. Idris was kind of a head-scratcher for me.
The disappointment is that questions are answered with more questions, but the film is definitely worth the ride.
No, silly. He/she didn’t say Chelsea Handler’s actual personal views on the film were his barometer… Read it again, carefully.
No, I get what he was saying. He was saying if an A-lister goes on that show, then the project being promoted by said A-lister must be awful. I just thought his logic was flawed so I was having some fun with it.
No, what AH is saying quite gently is that the numbers are going to fall off a cliff.
When I was walking out the overall feeling was one of disappointment.
At least we all didn’t “Boo” at the end like Alien3.
I heard “I want to like it, but I think I don’t” — disappointment.
I heard “well it ain’t no Blade runner” that one made me laugh.
Some great characters, actors and set pieces/visuals. But WHERE WAS THE STORY???
To be fair, Fassbender will at least get an Academy nod, and the visuals are STUNNING another academy nod. But the storytelling got lost, and a lot of characters were just there. But not there for a reason. And the end was like someone else took over and decided to tie up a lot of loose ends in a contrived absurd way.
“less is more”
In the end I sat and watched this movie and it reminded me more of a teen summer slasher movie. “group of college students off to the shutdown summer camp to party the weekend out.”
You spend your time saying to yourself “don’t go DOWN THERE”
“DON’T touch THAT…”
Watching i was wondering about “how” they were going to dispatch the characters.
If you worked at one of dem dar tracking services, you might have been able to figure out what he meant: clearly, that the BO would drop disproportionately quickly compared to the average trends. Factors like weekend numbers being higher than weekday are obvious and I doubt anyone here needs to have the obvious pointed out to them.
And I’m getting a sense that this movie is going to suffer from bad worth of mouth, too. There just isn’t that excited buzz like for Avengers or even Hunger Games.
To all the naysayers predicting a huge drop off and bad word of mouth…let it be known that the drop will be from on high (68 MILLION) so the word of mouth cannot be too bad at this time in the digital age of social networking.
He’s saying spectacular visuals don’t conquer a weak and dumb story.
The fan base (me included) has turned out and once the word of mouth spreads (I’m supposed to see this 2 more times this week with friends) as to how stupid the story is, there will be most likely be a huge drop off starting next week.
This was the first midnight show I’ve attended ever. Only RS could get me out for a film like this.
I saw it in 3D and it was worth every penny. The opening sequence is so dazzling that people actually gasped. After the film, I was left with lingering questions but they are the kind that make you feel smarter for just knowing to ask them.
Four Stars.
Same here with regards to RS’ allure resulting in attendance at midnight show. Theatre = 35…ish dork me, the rest were shrieking teens. What drew them I wonder? Visually compelling but no story, not that I cared.
Madagascar 3 midnight screening at same theatre sold zero tickets.
Read the reviews in Europe and the comments on fansites. Prometheus is thought poor by many and won’t get repeat viewings. The numbers of disappointed viewers seems remarkable for such a big event movie.
Um. The reviews in Europe were MIXED, from positive to mixed, and it has a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sorry, buddy. It’s a great movie. Sure, it has some third act issues, but it’s better than 95% of what comes out of Hollywood these days.
third act issues? What a generic response.
Outside of the visuals the whole thing was pretty damn underwhelming on almost all fronts. Dialogue, character behavior, the whole philosophy/religion aspects fell totally flat. Besides the c-section scene, most of it was a mess. Felt like they didn’t know what story they wanted to tell.
Hands down, the best “inspired by a cool-looking chair” movie I’ve ever seen
That is the best description of Prometheus I’ve read. Bravo sir!
You have to admit, it was a cool f**king chair.
How many films do we have to sit through where ‘scientists’ are as stupid as teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake. If you see trouble, GET THE FRICK OUT OF THERE. Don’t go down dark hallways, follow procedures, and never, EVER poke a dead thing with a stick.
Prometheus’ success is a testament to the work he did on Bladerunner and Alien. Those two films engendered so much sci fi good will, fans will give him the benefit of the doubt. Can’t wait to see it.
The buzz is bad on Prometheus. Really bad. It will not do well the second weekend. I enjoy some of Ridley’s work, but fanboys (of which I’m one) can barely muster anything better than “just okay.” I’ll see the film, but mostly to watch the Django Unchained trailer on the big screen.
75% on Rotten Tomatoes, sparky. And everyone I know who’s seen it absolutely loved it. The only “buzz” you’re talking about is that some people have some issues with the third act not being as strong as the first third of the movie. But the reviews are overwhelmingly positive-to-mixed – which is BETTER than the reviews “BLADE RUNNER” had when it was first released. Get it?
What the hell are you talking about?! People had problems with:
1. The appalling plot holes
2. The incoherent plot
3. The badly written characters
4. The emptiness of the story
Even “positive” reviews alluded to these issues. And 74% on RT is not great for such a widely anticipated and promoted film
Any filmmaker anywhere will take 74% on RT. That’s 3 out of 4 critics saying “Watch this movie.”
I happen to think critics are bs anyway. Blade Runner, Full Metal Jacket and Fight Club (to name a few) were lambasted by more than half of the critics when they first came out.
Those movies are generally considered classics by today’s audiences.
Who cares about the rotten tomatoes reviews?
Most of the “fresh” ones have a lot of problems with the film. The guy above me lists all the aspects that flopped. Talk about the most underwhelming movie of the summer…and the score…YIKES. Where was the epic trailer music?
Promethius marketing genius my ass. All it did was rip off the best parts of the Alien campaign from years ago.
100% accurate.
Considering the Django trailer is already online it seems a ludicrous waste of money to pay for it on a big screen since it isn’t even that good a trailer anyway.
Re ‘Prometheus’ – I liked it a lot but it does lack a strong narrative running through it properly. And I’m not big on some of the final half hour which felt rushed. Lots of big ideas and themes though running through it and it does have legitimate flaws but I also absolutely don’t think this film was designed to be one of those films that spells everything out in capital letters. Unlike something like Battleship which you can forget as soon as you leave the cinema (or before it’s even finished really) Prometheus at least has something under the impressive production design and beautiful visuals. I’m still letting myself have a think about it all after a week and seeing it twice. I can’t say that about any other blockbuster released so far, even if The Avengers was more purely and shamelessly entertaining and fun, there’s little to think about afterwards.
Naturally, that won’t go down well with everyone in the audience so I expect it not to necessarily have legs and I would not be surprised to see the OW drop from the currently predicted $68 million. It will manage to clear $50 million though.
Prometheus is worth it alone just to watch that worm/snake thing wrap around he guys arm, break that bitch, then crawl up his suit, into his helmet, and then crawl in his mouth. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH BABY!
For all of you wondering why the gradual decline in the quality of studio movies over the last 30 years. . . look no further than the above post.
Prometheus isn’t going to hold your hand and tell you everything by the end. Sadly in this day and age, that doesn’t go over well with too many people. It goes against pretty much all modern day blockbusters i.e. outside the box and people don’t seem to like it too much (again sadly) when that happens. A shame that looking to next weekend, the movie will probably suffer a big drop because of it but that is just the world we live in.
Spot on. People keep saying the movie is full of plot holes – they’re unknowns people. Not everything gets answered in this movie. Just like the space jockeys weren’t explained in Alien. Let’s leave something for discussion.
I disagree. I love ambiguity in my films, and I hate how everything is spoon fed to the audience in modern pictures.
But Prometheus does something even worse. Every time something interesting happens, the narrative itself all but pauses to flash a spiffy title card on the screen with a melodramatic voiceover encouraging us to, “tune in next week, kiddies!”
That’s just schlocky. The whole third act of the movie was nothing more than setup for a sequel that may or may not happen. They didn’t hold back information so we’d go home and ponder. They’re already hustling us to tune in next week. Again, that’s schlocky.
I genuinely dug the movie, I just wish the class and deliberateness of the first two acts had carried into the third. It started at Alien quality, and ended at Alien Resurrection quality. Movies aren’t allowed to be self contained anymore. What a bummer.
Here’s some holes, and they have nothing to do with ambiguity:
SPOILERS
* Why did the Holloway character give up after six freakin’ hours, considering he is scientist who can spend years investigating a project.
* How did the geologist get lost, considering his job was to navigate the caves?
* How did an obviously in-pain Shaw outrun the medical officers? Where were they when she conducted her you-know-what? They just disappeared.
* Why did Janek not leave someone to watch over the two lost when he went to Vickers’ room?
END SPOILERS
This isn’t ‘ambiguity’: it’s sloppy writing. The characters do not make a lick of sense, and all their decisions are frustrating, something that a writer might get away with if the characters were high-school students, but these guys are meant to be scientists and professionals, guys at the top of their field. Or did the company cheap out on a gazzilion dollar project?
One thing i kept thinking was how did that guy in the red hair with the head tattoo’s actually get the job in the first place with the crew? He’s supposed to be a geologist, but he acts like an inmate, or mercenary from the Expendables. That guy wouldn’t have passed a job interview with his erratic personality for a trillion dollar mission to another planet.
The movie was disappointing, but i like RS and maybe i give him a pass where i wouldn’t other people. I recognize that. I wish the movie was better. Was really excited to watch some high level science fiction. Don’t regret seeing it though.
Seriously. I thought he was a trigger-happy marine or something. Then when he said “I’m a geologist!” I nearly burst out laughing.
What about the line “I’m in it for the money?” Hey you’re a geoligist who took a 2 year nap and you’re not interested in exploring a temple made of stone? Huh?
*****SPOILER*****
You forgot to mention why are there cave paintings all over earth that act as a map to what is essentially a military installation for bio-weapons that kill anything & everything?
Idris himself calls it that.
It doesn’t make sense. They visit Earth, create mankind and then leave behind maps so we can go wake some of them up in order to FLY BACK to Earth and wipe us out.
I liked the movie though. I’m not one of those guys that needs everything spelled out for him. But it does have some massive plot holes.
Spoilers:
Here’s why the aliens/map/armageddon plot makes sense:
When the humanoids visit Earth, the planet is completely barren and the one is dropped off by a flying saucer. He dissolves. He doesn’t just create mankind, he creates life, it’s why you see the guy’s DNA dissolve into the water on the barren planet. The humanoids, while they have incredible technology, don’t seem very intelligent. They seem more like clones designed for specific jobs. The lone piece of religious iconography on their ship has the xenomorph in the position of the creator/god. Prometheus doesn’t land at a bioweapon base – it lands at a meat-processing plant. The humanoids’ job is to plant farms of humans throughout the galaxy, then go harvest them for the original creators/engineers – who are probably the next stage of the xenomorph you see bust from the humanoid at the end and use flying saucers like the one in the beginning.
@AW
Okay, now that’s interesting. I like the idea of humans harvested as food (that sounded better in my head) but who left the cave paintings baring constellation coordinates? A slightly smarter humanoid? An attempt to warn us?
That does make more sense. And that’s kind of awesome. So we’re basically really smart cattle. They could have clarified this by having the scientist walk into a storage warehouse lined with cans of Soylent Green.
@Chuck
The humanoids are like drones that plant, tend and then harvest the crop. They didn’t seem emotional or sentimental, they seemed like clones – why else would they leave a pile of humanoid bodies in the hall like so much broken equipment? The cave paintings were left by the humanoids checking on the crop. Perhaps the Xenomorphs only find the food ready to harvest when it can spread out in the galaxy on its own, so the cave paintings point us in the direction of where to go when we’re ready for harvest. It’s as if an intergalactic McDonald’s had a production line run by cows from the field all the way to the cash register.
@AW
That’s f**kin bananas. But it makes sense and is a solid/cool foundation for the story.
Like Fassbender says to the one guy, “Imagine how disappointed you would be if your creator told you that…”
I guess Shaw’s in some big effing trouble.
“* How did an obviously in-pain Shaw outrun the medical officers? Where were they when she conducted her you-know-what? They just disappeared.”
That’s easy. You see, the medical officers were at the end of their shift when Shaw ran off, and they clocked off without leaving a FYI for the next shift.
You have to pay attention, Alan.
*Holloway was a thrill seeker as much as a scientist, and when it seems the godlike aliens they came looking for are long dead, he is depressed. Not sure what you mean by “give up”, he and the rest had to leave the dome because a storm was coming.
*The geologist was the first to intuit the danger they were in, which causes him to become unnerved and panic in the cave labyrinth. He studies minerals, he’s not an expert at spelunking.
*Shaw clearly knocked the medical officers unconscious, they were shown out cold, I don’t see how you could have missed that.
*Because he wasn’t worried about them, he thought they were overreacting. Which is a bit negligent, but the dome was supposedly devoid of life, and the two scientists weren’t his primary responsibility. His concern was the ship, not the scientific expedition, he wasn’t in charge overall.
You and Greg seem to think that the crew should have behaved more like top professionals, but you failed to notice that Weyland had a gazillion dollar agenda, which included using the scientific team as guinea pigs. The company characters, represented by David and Weyland’s daughter Vickers, are the cool pros. The science team are portrayed as risk taking explorer types, who have gambled their lives on a slim hope of finding something that they know nothing about, motivated by dreams, glory, or wealth.
“*Shaw clearly knocked the medical officers unconscious, they were shown out cold, I don’t see how you could have missed that.”
Really, I clearly saw one struggling to his/her feet as Shaw exited the room. Maybe he/she then fainted/slipped/fell asleep/whatever excuse turns you on.
The silliest part is clearly the scene a short time later where the bashed Medic Ford and Shaw are in the same room and both completely ignore the event. Maybe there was a cut scene where Ford complained to HR about Shaw. Who the f**k knows.
Clearly it was badly handled. It would have made more sense, and created more suspense, for them to chase her, and have Shaw try to operate before they shut her down.
It’s really inspiring to attack a movie for being ambitious. Apply this analysis to Avengers — which is supposedly a “great” film even though it’s shockingly superficial and banal and the most cynical money grab possible. Oh no, a movie has some big ideas in it. Oh no, it’s not perfect. So please go back to making completely empty and moronic fare please!! This is why studios don’t even try to be ambitious — the fanboy crowd gets even angrier for trying somehow. Look at the last 6 weeks of Hollywood releases and explain the intensity of this vitriol. Oh, and a cool campaign to boot — how dare Ridley Scott and Fox?!
??
Umm, there has to be some delivery to the execution. ‘The Avengers’ has zero ambition but delivers on that: ‘Prometheus’ starts as an intelligent science fiction film, then becomes an horror film, jumps to action spectacle and finishes with horror again.
If you want to see real ‘ambition’ in science fiction or fantasy, check out Duncan Jones’ ‘Moon’ (a film that owes a lot to ‘Alien’) or ‘Game of Thrones’. Those explores their ideas, whilst ‘Prometheus’ just throws ideas at the screen and then doesn’t expand upon them.
There are no big ideas in this movie, let’s get that out of the way first. “Was mankind created by ancient astronauts?” is not a big idea, just the usual 1970′s Chariots Of The Gods nonsense. Leaving motivations and themes unspoken in a film only makes sense when they’d be too subversive to spell out explicitly. All the blanks we’re meant to fill in in Prometheus about the selfishness of extending life artificially vs. achieving immortality through heirs would have better served the movie if it had been articulated. If they really wanted to get a little deep, maybe they could have shown some paintings or carvings on the planet representing Christian symbols or something. But none of that is in the movie.
I do look forward to the adventures of Noomi Rapace and Fassbender’s head on the Planet Of Albino Bodybuilders in 2015 though.
Exactly. And was anyone else bothered by the relentless music in this thing? Wall to wall generic loud score.
Yes, the theme that kept swelling up during every ‘emotional’ moment belongs in a ’70s paramedics drama, not this kind of movie.
I am a big fan of Ridley Scott, but I have to agree that Prometheus was just “ok”, spectacularly ok, but not a classic. Great visuals, wish the script and characters were tighter. Charlize, and Idris were underused. Michael Fassbender was fantastic. I also agree with the comments about the 3D – awesome experience, subtle and nuanced.
I just got home from seeing Prometheus in 3-D Imax and visually it was amazing…and the Imax makes such an enormous difference for a film like this one. Although I didn’t think the 3-D added that much to it (as compared to Avatar). But the movie is only so-so….not as much of a back story as one would expect given the $$ earned by the Aliens franchise, and the amount of time it took to make this film. I saw it in Century City and the theater was packed.
Am I the only one who thought Charlize wasn’t underused, but was the weakest performance in the film?
The way she delivered some lines, I thought she was reading off a teleprompter. So stilted and unemotive.
no you’re not.
Perhaps it’s deliberate, because some have speculated that her character is actually another “artificial person”.
Enjoyed Prometheus quite a bit. Not perfect like so many expected it to be, but certainly exciting with some interesting ideas and visuals. The movie really swung for the fences and I appreciated that. Love reading the many polarized reviews (Which are mostly positive I might add). This isn’t the Avengers or The Raid (Two recent geek favorites) Prometheus doesn’t play it safe and it certainly doesn’t hold your hand.
Although I hope Ridley has an extended cut planned for the Blu-ray, because the 3rd act felt quite rushed in regards to the characters.
The reviews for Prometheus on fan sites are about on par with Avatar and Inception on their first day. The fans were upset that Avatar sacrificed storyline for visuals. They were upset that it “reinterpreted” right-wing beliefs. They were upset that Inception left things hanging at the end.
But guess what? All those upset folks fueled the fires and got people off their duffs, made them curious. Which made both those films huge hits.
Prometheus has all these elements from Avatar and Inception: visuals over story, “reinterpreting” right wing beliefs, lots of questions unanswered.
Sorry folks, you guys are thinking too linearly. The real genius of Inception and Prometheus is to leave things unanswered so that people talk about it all the way home and spill it out onto the internet.
Avatar wasn’t that great of a movie but it was an event. I didn’t even really like it but I saw it twice in the theater. Inception, on the other hand, was actually a damn good movie. So comparing the two is a bit silly. Inception had great visuals but was actually compelling. I haven’t seen Prometheus yet.
The comparison isn’t silly when we’re talking about audiences getting ticked off over inconclusive elements. Inception, No Country for Old Men, Prometheus, Black Swan, Martha Marcy May Marlene, whatever.
However, the difference between Prometheus and those films is that, in Prometheus, Scott was obviously leaving the door open for a sequel. The film was very good, although some of the dialogue was iffy and the overall product obviously doesn’t live up to the brilliant trailers.
And yet, there are absolutely no plot holes. Inconclusive =/= plot hole.
“there are absolutely no plot holes”
Ummm, except for the whole cave paintings bringing scientist light years away to a moon that houses a military biological weapons facility.
If they created mankind, which is what the whole matching DNA implies, and left cave paintings for us to find them, why in the world would they send us there? & if they want to wipe out the human race, why not just fly to Earth and get ‘er done?
That’s a question, not a plot hole.
Why do so many people not know the difference? Something you don’t understand about a movie’s plot does not equal “plot hole”.
I haven’t seen the movie. But, if what you wrote is accurate, then that makes NO fucking sense at all. I think you raise some good points.
Look, I don’t want to be put in the position of defending this film–I thought it was really bad–but I don’t think the aliens are supposed to have made the cave paintings. Aren’t primitive human beings who *saw* the aliens supposed to have made the cave paintings?
If the aliens wanted to leave direct clues as to their visit to Earth, wouldn’t they leave something like, I don’t know, some advanced artifact like the 2001 monolith? They’re really going to go into some cave and start painting?
At the same time, the opening sequence in which they’re visiting the earth looks like it’s supposed to be some time before the existence of all (land) life on Earth.
I admit I’m confused. It doesn’t make sense to me.
There are many plot holes. I don’t expect to be spoon fed information when I watch a film and I’ve seen films that leave questions unanswered and that I’ve enjoyed but there is a huge difference between something that makes you think and something that does not make sense because it’s not well written. This film could have been a classic if they’d spent a bit more time developing the characters and the script.
“The real genius of Inception and Prometheus is to leave things unanswered so that people talk about it all the way home and spill it out onto the internet.”
Nope: the actual ‘genius’ of Nolan’s films was to create compelling, empathetic characters even in a fantastic scenario. That’s why you care and talk about the film, because you responded emotionally to these characters and connect to their needs. The characters in ‘Prometheus’ are one-dimensional morons who make poor decisions, so don’t deserve our sympathy.
These comments take me back to the opening of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
These are the same (plot) comments the critics made at that time.
Boy, did they, in time, change their tune.
– HAL
Yea but most of this felt like it was just borrowing from Alien, so there goes the mind blowing originality. Felt like it didn’t know what movie it was nor how much they wanted to tie to alien so in the end was just a mess.
PROMETHEUS is a big old mess. Sorry..I was SO excited for it but its sloppy, random and even in terms of the directing, the pacing is all over the place. It all felt very haphazard with many scenes seeming tacked on for shock effect (i.e. the dead character coming back to life as a rampaging unkillable ‘Termintaor’ like monster).
Fassbender and Charlize are great though.
“(i.e. the dead character coming back to life as a rampaging unkillable ‘Termintaor’ like monster)”
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The goo was a biochemical which weaponized organic life. Which is why the dead character (Millburn?) turned into an uncontrollable killer, and also why the harmless worm we saw earlier turned into a killer “snake”. It’s also specifically why Hollaways sperm turned into a monstrous fetus within Shaw (which resembled a giant facehugger BTW)
The character coming back to life makes perfect sense in the context of the story. It’s the whole concept of the biochemical.
I had my problems with the film. Mostly the less than perfect characters. But the concept the movie set up, and specifically the rules it set, all played out rather well. A lot of these “plot holes” I read about are answered within the film. They just don’t have a character who speaks directly for the audience because the movie assumes we’re smart enough to piece it together ourselves.
Everything you’re saying is true. I guess the closest the movie came to spelling it out is when the captain talked about how they were at a military installation where the aliens were creating weapons of mass destruction. He then goes on to say he won’t let anything like that escape the planet which sets up his final scene in the film.
It’s just the rest of the movie didn’t explain anything so that scene really stuck out for me. The scene tried to be subtle, but it might as well have had big lights spelling out “exposition scene” now. Would have been better to explain a little at a time over several scenes or drop hints here and there.
The weapons of mass destruction line from the Captain made me cringe. And ya, that whole scene was pure exposition. The final act as a whole felt like it was missing at least 10 minutes of characterization. That was my main problem with the film. But overall I really enjoyed it.
I’m really hoping Ridley has an extended cut planned that fleshed out some of the character moments.
Really…well, cos I’m kinda dumb, maybe you could help me with…
SPOILERS…. SPOILERS…. SPOILERS….
Why does the Geologist who maps the place get lost?
Why does the Biologist- who was freaked out by 2000 year old dead bodies – try to pet the live Alien snake like a Kitten?
Why, after Shaw’s boyfriend is infected, do they just open the door and roll out the red carpet when the Geologist turns up?
Why does Weyland need to stowaway on his own ship?
Why does Guy Pearce look like Lo Pan from “Big Trouble in Little China”?
Why do the Captain and crew seem less professional than Ice Road Truckers?
Why does the technology seem more advanced than technology thirty years later?
Why is there no pursuit of Shaw after she bashes the Med Officers and escapes? In fact, why is this attack and escape never really mentioned again?
Why does Shaw not say “Just an FYI guys…there’s some sort of alien squid creature in the med bay”?
How does the SJ know where Shaw is after the crash of his ship?
Why, given there are other ships, does the SJ want to punch Shaw in the face instead of continuing with his mission?
How come the atmosphere in the SJ ship mimics Earth’s atmosphere yet the SJ doesn’t need oxygen when he chases after Shaw? Did they create the atmosphere for guests they want to punch in the face?
Why do the SJs look like Jason Statham?
And finally, why does Shaw want to go to a world full of Jason Stathams who want to punch her in the face?
1 His drones mapped the place not him.
2 Valid point
3 They didn’t, they thought there was a threat that needed investigating.
4 He doesn’t stowaway. The people who “need to know” he’s there know he’s there. The rest aren’t told.
5 Valid point. Bad makeup.
6 That’s consistent with the first Alien movie.
7 Top dollar equipment versus later blue collar gear. The equipment used today by Delta Force is much better than whatever weapons will be fielded by soldier for hire grunts 30 years from now.
8 Only a few of the crew were in on the conspiracy to impregnate her and freeze her in cryo, which she thwarts and it is obvious from her scar that she has done so. It is weird that it isn’t talked about.
9 She thought it had been killed.
10 He’s smart. He can detect the remaining earth spacecraft.
11 He’s pissed. Gods don’t like getting their ship kamikaze-ed by a primitive pack of lowly earthlings. Also he doesn’t want her to do it again with the other ship.
12 Humans can survive for up to 2 minutes in the atmosphere of LV 223, the SJ is human but larger and much stronger so maybe he can last longer than that without a helmet.
“Why does Guy Pearce look like Lo Pan from “Big Trouble in Little China”?”
Oh, that’s easy: the filmmakers just wanted to ape the bat-shit awesomeness of ‘Little China’ because they knew the silly script wasn’t going to deliver it.
BOFL!!! (look it up…it’s the new lol)
Seriously, your questions/plot holes are hilarious!! And absolutely accurate no less.
Bravo!
I haven’t seen it yet, but might I add:
Why do creatures of an advanced society – possibly even our creators – leave clues/ maps by painting on cave walls? Why so primitive? Were they trying to mentor cavemen on interstellar travel?
Connecting cave paintings as a device for a “big idea” in story-telling seems like scraping the bottom of the barrel. But maybe when I see it, I will be “enlightened”.
Perhaps, this is to be the perfect annoyance.
Multiple Special Editions, a la Lucas, where failed practicals are CGI-ed to indifferent effect. Multiple Directors’ Edits revisiting the story with added narration, restored scenes, removed narration, removed scenes, a la…. hey, Ridley Scott.
Why can’t you just enjoy a movie and not nitpick it to death? I loved it and no movie is perfect. Also, since when is a ‘B’ a so-so score? It deserves an ‘A’ and 90% of the movies coming out usually deserve a ‘D’.
Prometheus came out the gate reaching for 2001 but ended up being Snakes on a Plane. Or Snakes on a Spaceship to be precise. Websters has already changed the definition of Love / Hate to a picture of Prometheus. Damn you, Scott.
“Prometheus came out the gate reaching for 2001 but ended up being Snakes on a Plane”
haha touché! Haven’t been this disappointed in a movie since Matrix 2. Never seen so many plot holes and unexplained character behavior. Script was a mess. Gorgeous photo as always in Ridley movies though
Matrix 2 disappointed me at first also, but after viewing it many times over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is one of the greatest action films ever made: the burley brawl, freeway chase, the fight in the Merovingian’s library/museum are classic action sequences. BTW, I saw Prometheus and, while all the criticism has merit, particularly why Shaw doesn’t mention to anyone that she pulled an alien creature from her womb and it’s in one of the other rooms, I still found the movie immensely entertaining and it has a mood, atmosphere and imagery that I’ll never forget.
Enough already with the studios lowering expectations so they can boast about exceeding their lowered expectations. We’re not stupid we understand what reverse psychology is and it doesn’t work or maybe it does but it’s unnecessary and so is Prometheus.
The reason is because they tried to merge two separate scripts from two different writers into one movie. I’m willing to bet that the pure prequel script Spaihts wrote was really good but they became insecure and decided to hire Lindelof for no reason except that he was red hot coming off of Lost. There was no need for Damon to be hired for this.
Eventually both versions of the script will be posted online somewhere and everyone will be able to read for themselves the Spaihts draft and the Lindelof rewrite. But it’s clear from what Ridley filmed and from the reactions to it that this is a schizoprenic movie. That’s what you get when you over-develop something.
Spaights’ script was a straight ALIEN prequel with LV-426 and the aliens all running around for most of it. At least that’s what’s detailed in THE ART OF PROMETHEUS book.
Uh, no, the Spaights script was pure genre crap a la the Aliens vs Predators movies that Fox all but killed the franchises with. Say whatever you want and there are holes in this movie, the resulting movie is a much better product than anything that would have resulted from Spaights’ script.
Yeah it sounded pretty underwhelming. Lindelof was right to try and excise the Engineer story from the Alien stuff. Sadly they didn’t quite pull it off in the end.