Aliens – Can I Get Killed?
Ati
MemberPraetorianJune 01, 20173880 Views10 RepliesThe first draft (of Aliens) was handed into Fox in early 1984, and was received with enthusiasm by the studio. There was some sweat shed over the cost: Cameron’s partner and producer Gale Anne Hurd insisted the film could be made for around $15.5 million; Fox estimated it would total an unacceptable $35 million.
A bigger snag came when Cameron insisted that only Sigourney Weaver could play the lead. Fox protested that taking such a stance would allow Weaver a great deal of leverage over her pay, and that they would make Aliens without her if possible. In return, Cameron and Hurd left the project and, recently married, honeymooned to Hawaii. “We assumed it was a dead issue,” said Hurd, “and when we left for Hawaii we thought the movie was off.” But when they returned they found that the movie was still on, and that Weaver had been approached to resume her role of Ripley. Weaver, having found the script suddenly dropped in her lap, was impressed enough with Ripley’s characterisation to sign on. “The emotional content is much greater in Aliens,” she said.
“To begin with, Alien happened in space,” Cameron told Prevue magazine in ’86. “I wanted to take the character further, to know Ripley as a person, to see some depth and emotion. The movie is about her, every scene. It gets inside her mind, takes her back to face her own worst nightmare – and conquer it, so to speak. In a way, Aliens is about her revenge.”
Though the writing process was generally smooth, Cameron noted that “[Sigourney] tried to have an influence on Aliens, but it didn’t work! She said, ‘I don’t want to shoot a gun,’ I said, ‘No, you have to shoot a gun.’ ‘Oh, well, can I get killed?’ ‘No.’ When I saw the third film I cracked up, because it was all the things she’d asked for on the second film.”
Aliens finally went into production in September 1985, and would wrap in April 1986 on a budget of $18 million – half of what Fox had frightfully predicted. “If Jim Cameron hadn’t fallen in love with something about Alien,” stated Sigourney, “then a sequel wouldn’t have been made. No one really wanted to touch it … Luckily, Jim wanted to make his own movie.”
https://alienseries.wordpress.com
Would you like to see Ripley again? Would you like to see Ripley in a movie taking place after the events of Aliens? Would you like to see Ripley in a direct Alien sequel directed by Scott? Would you like to see Ripley killed again?
Ripley has had her time, and Life moves on. The franchise is in a state of change right now, trying to find it's new 'Ripley', as it were.
IN SPACE THERE IS NO WARNING
I am starting to get a little tired of the 'essential heroine' pivot-point of this franchise.
To be a bit 'spoilery' here's an excerpt of dialogue from ALIEN: Manticore. It involves a female character yes, but there's also a male character as they are working together.
Considering the Menace involved, going it alone is suicidal, whether your Human or Chimeran.
Declan: 'So what's the plan?'
Selina: (Hefting a pair of gooseneck crowbars) 'I figure I'll try breaking every bone in it's body, see if that works.'
Declan: (Dubious and noncommital sounds before) 'And Plan B?'
Selina: 'If this doesn't work, at least I'll have it's attention and you can blast the motherf***er. A wrecked hyperdrive is easier to take than a dead crew.'
One thing I liked in ALIEN 3 was that it was a group effort, and even then it was a damned hard job to pull off.
IN SPACE THERE IS NO WARNING
