A critically acclaimed yet controversial installment from one of Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott‘s biggest franchises invades the streaming charts 13 years after its premiere. The Alien film series prequel, Prometheus, is now one of HBO Max‘s most popular titles.
Via Flix Patrol, Prometheus climbed up the streaming charts domestically on the HBO Max days after its release on the streaming platform. The Alien film ranked 9th on the chart on Sept. 5, featuring on a list dominated by The Conjuring franchise and topped by the critically panned comedy The House. On Sept. 6, it had already improved its position to No. 7.
Released in 2012 and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Prometheus is the fifth installment in the Alien franchise, which dates back to 1979 when Scott helmed the beloved original film. Scott developed ideas alongside Aliens director James Cameron for a prequel for years, with the project being dormant for several years before entering production in 2010. Prometheus boasts an impressive ensemble cast that includes award-winning actor Noomi Rapace and Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron. It also features appearances by Idris Elba, Guy Pearce and Logan Marshall-Green.
Set in the late 21st century, Prometheus chronicles the crew of the titular ship while spotlighting a star map discovered among the artifacts of various ancient Earth cultures. As they seek the origins of humanity, the Prometheus crew ends up on a distant world and discovers a serious threat that could wipe out humanity.
Rapace plays the main protagonist, Elizabeth Shaw. She is an accomplished archeologist driven by her belief that an alien race known as The Engineers exists. Shaw spearheads the mission to their homeworld to find human origins. Fassbender plays David, an android designed to be indistinguishable from humans, who joins Shaw to track down the Engineers. Elba portrays Janek, the Prometheus ship’s captain, while Theron stars as Meredith Vickers, an employee from Weyland Corporation, the funding company of the mission.
Prometheus received solid reviews upon its release, garnering a 73% Certified Fresh critical rating and 68% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the prequel remains a divisive film to this day, with its script and character arcs widely questioned. Prometheus was also alleged to have deviated from Alien’s established concepts while leaving several significant plot points unresolved. Nevertheless, Prometheus earned many accolades, including Academy Award and Saturn Award nominations. The sci-fi blockbuster was also highly profitable, grossing $403.4 million worldwide against its $130 million budget.
What’s Next for the Alien Franchise?
An Engineer waits seconds after testing a new pathogen before it tears his body to shred in Prometheus.
Prometheus sparked its follow-up, Alien: Covenant, which Scott also directed and produced, generating positive reviews and grossing $241 million against a $111 million budget. Scott offered critiques of the Alien sequels in recent years, at one point suggesting that he was done with the franchise. However, he recently provided a positive progress report about potentially finishing his Alien prequel trilogy, hinting at making one if the right idea emerges. Scott also has a different Alien project in the works, and details are kept under wraps.
The most recent Alien film was 2024’s Alien: Romulus, a standalone movie set between the original movie and Aliens. The sci-fi film earned an Oscar nomination and became a critical and commercial hit. It will also receive a sequel, with director Fede Álvarez set to return to write and produce, but will not direct the new entry. On the small screen, the franchise continued with Alien: Earth, Noah Hawley’s sci-fi horror series set two years before Alien, which debuted via FX and FX on Hulu domestically and Disney+ internationally in August. Alien: Earth features a 95% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and has been a major streaming hit since its debut.
Fans can stream Prometheus now via HBO Max.
Release Date
June 8, 2012
Runtime
124 minutes