Hmmm. To address your last paragraph — because I'm not particularly interested in either Alien or Prometheus, and have no intention of going to see it in the cinema anyway — I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing? Look at the way fandom is structured around recreating and reinventing stories that have already been created by other people, and look at the way originality can shine out of it.

Now, it sure as hell is a bad thing when it's done poorly, but the fact is that remaking and rewriting and inventing prequels and sequels to already existing works is part of the artistic history of this era, I think, and when well done it can be as thought-provoking and engaging as any "original" (for a given value of the word, obvs) piece of work.

Doesn't excuse Prometheus from being a piece of crap, though. It's certainly disappointed a lot of people around me — I think I'll go see Snow White & the Huntsman instead. (Dark and gritty reimagining of a traditionally cheesy fairytale with lesbian undertones and two female main leads? Damn.)