First I saw that there would be two Alien prequels.
Fine, I thought, especially since Ridley Scott is directing. Perhaps he can find something worth making two films for (apart from the vast amount of money it will probably make).
Now I've just heard there's a Planet of the Apes remake in production. One of the old films had a prequel vibe to it, and it wasn't too bad, perhaps it will mean that Mark Wahlberg/Tim Burton effort can be forgotten about forever.
Wasn't sure whether to class The Hobbit as a prequel, since as a book it stands very well on its own.
Firstly, what are people's thoughts? Secondly, what other films would it be better for a prequel treatment rather than the reboots/remakes and sequels we've seen so often?

I'm pretty sure The Thing is getting a prequel as well.
I'm not planning to see any of the prequels unless they get really good reviews. They're generally just a way to cash in on a movie's popularity and generally aren't very good.

First of all, it seems a sure sign that Hollywood is seriously running out of ideas. Every other movie coming out seems to be a remake of an earlier movie these days.
That said, I think two Alien prequels focused on the "space jockey", as they call him in the article, could turn out very well, but I bet they won't. Just as Aliens vs. Predator could have been a very good movie, but wasn't.
If that's going to be the obvious prequel story and it's not in Norwegian (which I'm guessing it won't be), then I'm pretty sure it's going to suck.
EDIT: Oh look, here it is. Well, to be fair, they seem to be sticking with the Norwegian angle, but by throwing an American main character into the middle of it, you can be pretty sure that most of it is going to be in English. And Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen is cast as the Norwegian scientist running the research station, because Americans won't be able to tell the difference between a Danish accent and a Norwegian one anyway. Still, he's a good actor, and may actually be able to affect a passable Norwegian accent. In American movies, he's usually cast as a Russian, for some reason.

That made me think about this guy.
"Russian components, American components, all made in Taiwan!"

See, the difference here is that the UK is (at least officially) one country with one language, whereas Denmark and Norway are two separate countries with different languages.
But then lots of actors get parts where they play characters from other countries than they themselves are from. As long as they make it believeable, it's okay I guess. I just think that people who do know what the accent sounds like will often be able to tell the difference.
My point was basically that even though Hollywood movies are shown all over the world, they tend to focus exclusively on the American audience.

Very true.
Ever since voice-acting appeared in games, there has been more of a noticeable shift for this in gaming too.
All spoken English becomes American-accented.
It does mean you get some laughable accents in films though, I often hear about how the film Silent Hill is the best video game adaptation, and yet I found the film poor just because of Sean Beans strange American accent. There's no reason he couldn't have used his normal accent as far as I'm aware, it just sticks out horribly for me.

Not a prequel, but they just started advertising Predators here. Looks interesting in this trailer.....but that's what trailers are supposed to do, aren't they? :P
The Hobbit is definitely a prequel to LotR, as it's the story of Bilbo finding the One Ring. The other is The Silmarillion, which I've heard rumours is being considered as a film....and, IMO, wouldn't really be a good thing to watch. Family trees are usually boring, even when they're your own family, let alone fantasy-inspired.

Not sure what Predators will be like... I think it could be a cheesy-but-fun sort of film.
The Simarillion would surely suit some sort of big, well-funded TV series (Battlestar Gallactica sort of money required). Never managed to read the book, didn't find it as interesting as the hobbit or LOTR.

Other films getting prequels:
The Passion of Christ
Titanic
Jaws

It looks pretty cool. I wouldn't mind seeing Laurence Fishburne kicking some Predator ass. It would be awesome if they finally went ahead and showed some more of the Predator culture, but sadly I doubt that will be the case. That is why I like the books so much, especially the Aliens vs. Predator ones. They don't tell the story only from the human perspective.

The Matrix

That could be interesting, some background was seen in Animatrix though, specifically in "The Second Renaissance".