We all have moments in our lives wed prefer to forget, and so too do filmmakers.
So what do you do when a movie franchise starts to go off the rails?
Simple, just forget that the lesser films in the series never happened.
News recently broke that director Neill Blomkamps taking this approach to theAlienuniverse.
Of course, well have to wait and see exactly how all this pans out.
But its by no means the first time in history that a films been struck out of series canon.
The campy excesses ofSuperman IIIandIVwere conspicuously absent, as was any mention of their events.
Then came the risibly awfulJaws: The Revenge,which returns to Amity Island for yet more shark-related antics.
InThe Revenge,Mikes played by Lance Guest (The Last Starfighter), whos now a marine scientist.
The sniffiness wasnt exactly justified; panned by critics,The Revengemade far less cash than its predecessor.
In fact, bothThe HereticandThe Exorcist IIIare infinitely preferable to the thoroughly dreary prequel,Exorcist: The Beginning.
Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy, as does the originals theme.
This places it at odds with not only the cable movies, but even the original which inspired it.
A box office failure,The Returnled to theUniversal Soldierfranchise being put on ice for almost a decade.
This potential clash was actually brought to Scotts attention by Damon Lindelof, who rewrotePrometheuss screenplay.
He just sort of looked at me like I had just slapped him in the face.
That was the beginning, middle and end of allAlien Vs Predatorreferences in our story process.
Of course, it wouldnt take much to explain away this conflict in a future film.
