This article makes reference to fictional suicide.
Ridley Scott’sAlienprequelPrometheusserved as an unusual reunion between Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce after their 15-year-old post-apocalyptic survival thriller. Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce are two of the most talented actors currently working in Hollywood, and almost every movie they make is a hit. Despite their respective success, however, Pearce and Theron rarely work together, and there’s almost no overlap between thebest Charlize Theron moviesand thebest Guy Pearce movies.Prometheusis one of only two films they’ve ever collaborated on, and their roles in it were also much more memorable than their first collaboration.
Not only wasPrometheusthe second time Theron and Pearce worked together on a film, it was also much more successful than their first outing.Prometheus, though it wasn’t initially well received as anAlienmovie, was fairly successful. It earned a 73% score onRotten Tomatoes, and it earned over $400 million at the box office (viaBox Office Mojo). By contrast, Theron and Pearce’s first collaboration earned 74%, but only made $27 million against its budget of $25 million. On top of its better box office earnings,Prometheusalso finally put Theron and Pearce on the screen together.
Prometheus Reunited Theron & Pearce After The Road
Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce have only ever appeared in two films together: 2009’sThe Roadand 2012’sPrometheus.InPrometheus, Theron played Meredith Vickers while Pearce played Peter Weyland, and inThe Road, Theron played Woman while Pearce played Veteran. They are very different movies:The Roadis an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel and one of the most realistic andscariest apocalypse movies, whilePrometheusis anAlienprequel with all the sci-fi and body horror elements the franchise is known for. Different as they are, however,Prometheusstill serves as a reunion between Theron and Pearce after their appearances inThe Road.
Prometheuswasn’t just Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce’s first movie together sinceThe Road, it was also their only time being on-screen at the same time. InThe Road, Theron’s character, Woman, only appears in flashbacks where Man (Viggo Mortensen) remembers her suicide. Pearce’s character, Veteran, only appears at theend ofThe Road, after Man’s death.As such, Theron and Pearce were never in the same scene inThe Road. It seems like a bit of a missed opportunity to put Theron and Pearce in the same movie and put them in roles where they couldn’t interact, but luckily,Prometheusseized that chance.
Prometheus Hinted At The Movie’s Big Peter Weyland Twist With Two Interesting Clues
The reveal that Guy Pearce’s Weyland is on the ship is a big twist in Prometheus, but the Alien prequel drops two big hints about this early on.
Though Pearce and Theron never interacted inThe Road, they did get a substantial scene together inPrometheus.Towards the ending ofPrometheus, after Pearce’s Peter Weyland wakes up from hypersleep and has a conversation with Theron’s Meredith Vickers. While it was a short moment, it was quite important toPrometheus, as it revealed why Weyland funded the voyage in the first place and that Meredith was his daughter. On top of its importance to the film, Weyland and Meredith’s conversation finally showed how well Pearce and Theron could work together in a shared scene, albeit three years after their first chance inThe Road.
There Are Some Surprising Connections Between Prometheus & The Road
Pearce & Theron’s Characters Have Some Similarities, Despite Their Many Differences
ThoughThe RoadandPrometheusare very different films, Theron and Pearce’s respective characters each have some unexpected similarities.InPrometheus, Meredith and Weyland were obviously connected through a father-daughter bond, and inThe Road, Woman and Veteran both took on parental roles. Woman was the Boy’s mother and Man’s wife, and Veteran was an actual father to two children and an adoptive father figure to Boy after Man’s death. While their characters inThe Roadhad a similar dynamic together as theirPrometheuscharacters did, each individual character also had some similarities.
In Prometheus, Meredith and Weyland were obviously connected through a father-daughter bond, and in The Road, Woman and Veteran both took on parental roles.
For example, both of Pearce’s characters take on leadership roles and are searching for something. While their motivations and morality are definitely different, Weyland was the leader of a massive corporation and several employees who was searching for the key to eternal life, and Veteran was the protector of his family who was searching for a way to protect the Boy. Likewise, both of Theron’s characters met brutal fates: the Woman committed suicide because ofThe Road’s apocalypse, while Meredith was crushed by the Engineer’s ship while trying to run away at the end ofPrometheus.
The Road
Cast
Based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, The Road centers on a father and son who attempt to make it to the coast after a global apocalypse wipes out all plant and animal life on Earth. The Road was directed by John Hillcoat and stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Prometheus
Prometheus, released in 2012, is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It follows a team of explorers as they uncover clues about humanity’s origins, embarking on a perilous interstellar expedition where they confront formidable challenges to secure the future of mankind.
