"MPAA, get your house in order,” Ridley Scott said earlier this year as he was in the final stages of getting "Prometheus" ready. And while there was some concern that the highly anticipated film might be neuteured for a PG-13 rating, fans were relieved when it was officially confirmed that the film will be rolled out in theaters with an R-rating. But it seems Scott still had to make some sacrifices to get the movie out there.
"It has to be be about the movie, so I've made concessions. There's a moment where you don't want to harm the movie," the director admitted to the BBC (via Prometheus Fourms). In the U.K., the film has a 15-rating as opposed to an adults only 18-rating, and Scott is cognisant of what shutting out a teenage audience would mean on the bottom line saying, "it could be the difference of $80m or more." And with the studio taking a bit of a risk on a big budget sci-fi flick led mostly by lesser known names, making sure the movie earns back some dollars is something Scott does have to consider.
But don't think that ratings boards have been let off easy by Scott. "I have monsters. Like the monsters in 'Lord of the Rings,' for kids they were pretty scary but they got a PG-13 because their blood was black, that's rubbish," he says, but we think he may not realize just how much more intense and graphic "Prometheus" is. We won't spoil anything, but we will say that we were hardly surprised to hear from our pals at Rope Of Silicon that during their press screening last week, somebody fainted. And when this writer saw it, there were definitely audience members visibly squirming in their seats.
However, the movie is done and out of Scott's hands and when it comes to the eventual Blu-ray and DVD, don't expect some kind of extended, unrated or director's cut. "No, I think this is a good length," he told JoBlo when they asked him about it. "But that said, I think that now the fashion of actually putting out a couple of discs is here to stay, which will comfort you on all other kinds of conversation about how the movie was made. All you’ll really do is see extended scenes in the menu. Other than that I think this is a pretty good length, the dynamics of this are about right."
This falls in line with Scott's comments a couple of months back about the theatrical version being his cut of the movie, and believe us, "Prometheus" certainly isn't holding back by any stretch of the imagination.
The film is currently playing internationally and hits theaters in the U.S. on Friday. A couple more *spoiler heavy* TV spots for the movie have landed (via ComicBookMovie). You can watch them below or do yourself a favor and just go see the movie this weekend.
It was a very poor film.
Nothing remotely scary in it and no tension at all.
No character development whatsoever.
Ending tagged on as well as Theorns death.
Bits from the trailer never made the final cut.
Perhaps the 2nd and 3rd movies will be better
This contradicts his live interview with Mark Kermode on BBC radio last Friday.
Scott said there was stuff he wanted to add and would consider a Directors Cut "Never say never" were his exact words.
Removed for spoilers. –editors
I'm calling bullshit on this one. As I've pointed out before, Scott is infamous for his Director's Cuts especially when one of his films receives some sort of critizism (such as Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood etc) and it appears Prometheus is getting some mixed reviews especially concerning the ending. This puts it in perfect position to get a different cut on bluray. Scott (who is a trained painter) also has been quoted as saying a film is like a piece of art on a canvas and is always a work in progress.