I expect that everyone has seen the recent articles going around online which recounts Sigourney Weaver’s comments from the London Film and Comic Con this weekend gone. In it she remarks that the Alien vs. Predator films depressed her and that the reason she wanted Ripley to die in Alien 3 was due to finding out Fox was interested in the idea.
Bloody Disgusting got in touch with Peter Briggs, the writer who first took pen to Amstrad to adapt the concept made popular by the Dark Horse comic series to screenplay. His response is quite lengthy and talks about the timelines of development between Alien 3 and the original Alien vs. Predator script:
“Larry Gordon would later tell me “Alien vs Predator” had only been discussed for the first time at Fox literally days before Steve gave him the script in September 1991, which is why I was in the right place at the right time to make my first sale. Maybe they were in a panic about “Alien 3”…I have no idea. And so when I hear Sigourney Weaver recounting her killing off Ripley in “Alien 3” because she’d heard Fox were talking about doing “Alien vs Predator”, despite the fact our project was first spoken about and initiated well over a year (not even counting Vincent Ward’s involvement!) after her movie had gone into active production, I really have to roll my eyes at her claims.”
Sigourney Weaver also remarked that Ridley Scott had dropped his involvement due to the interest in an Alien vs. Predator film which also didn’t add up. This was something that was brought up in relation to a potential Alien 5 by Ridley. You can read more about that on AvP Galaxy staff member Valaquen’s blog Strange Shapes.
Be sure to head on over to Bloody Disgusting to give Peter Briggs’ response in its entirety.
I see your point. But how do you feel if they attempted to do an origin story in an AvP movie?
Spoiler
Even though Predator would win
And they'll never let one win over the other.
I honestly enjoyed AvP, and it might be frowned upon but it was the film that solidified my fanaticism with the Alien and Predator franchises.
The one thing that upset me however was the origin stories. Hence why I firmly believe that before we see another AvP movie let's wait for the standalone titles to provide us more substance for the monsters through origins and characterizations before they enter a crossover so that they can come in established and without the need to be explained in the crossover film.
Also:
Spoiler
...If they had polished the script as much as everything else, we'd have had a winner.
I didn't say it was bad, hell, most crossover concepts never struck me as bad. They just require a lot of strategic planning to make sure it delivers a good and long lasting impression. In the case of AvP it's just not practical yet. There's a difference between the expectations in the presentation of a comic, game or movie so this shouldn't be an excuse to conclude the theory. Besides, not all of the comics were good outside of artwork and not all of the games were good outside of their mechanics.
I wrote an expository essay about what are some things that make the AvP concept not ready for cinema (if I ever muster the courage to put it on here one day I will). But some of the points were relevant to this statement here: You have two different contenders competing to win and you want to make the arena something only one of them are familiar with? I could just as easily say:
I'm still waiting for that AVP movie that is in the vain of Predator but has the AVP narrative of the comics and games.
But that wouldn't be fair to the potential of the film. This is a big reason why the two films were criticized; the feeling that the circumstances were going in the favor of only one of the monsters.
Regardless; my opinion on a new AvP title: Wait until we have enough resources from upcoming standalone titles so that we could develop a strong enough universe for these two creatures to fight it out on the big screen.
http://youtu.be/QYHR8VhbpxU?t=6s
The final design are fairly close to what was established in the comic anyway, but I personally prefer the designs in later comics that support the more individualistic designs that were indicated in P1 and P2.
That being said, the predators looking pretty much identical had probably to do with logistics and budget, as the ever increasing tight schedules and preptime do not allow for too much variation without spending time and money on it.
I hope Fox just holds of and perhaps reboot in a few years time, fitting it in new Alien and Predator movies while trying to copy Marvel's Cinematic Universe.
Well the first film was made by a pretty terrible director who's gone on to become one of the biggest hacks in Hollywood. I think it screamed 'B-grade cash grab' to just about every former fan of both series. Even then, there are some parts in AvP that are surprisingly decent despite it being a huge failure overall. You can see how it could've worked.
The original comic, however, was and still is very excellent. If it was adapted directly to film by a competent hand and the subject matter treated with more respect, it would've been very good.
Iirc, the comics introduced the idea that the Predators spread the Alien across the universe via their hunting. Maybe that's what he was thinking of?
If they did, they would all still be in eggs.
The 2010 AVP game suggested it, but in a scientist-theorising-about-possibilities-out-loud kind of way. Nothing more than that.
And Weaver wanting to kill off Ripley to stop the AVP movie from happening? Holy f**k, did she think that would truly prevent an encounter between Aliens and Predators from being plausible? Maybe she did think that Ripley killed the whole species in A3. Or that "Alien" actually refer to Ripley as much as the Alien itself.
Weaver's a great actress, and Scott and Cameron are great filmmakers. But that doesn't mean their opinions are fact.
I suspect he just doesn't want to admit he's watched it, or is deliberately avoiding it, to excuse the similarities.
We'll find out when 'Panzer 88' gets released.
He's admitted he's never actually seen it. I've said before I'd love to see his face if he does, considering how he's panned it, only for several elements to have featured in 'Prometheus'.
After Weaver's additional comments, I'm beginning to suspect she's the one who might have influenced his view on the concept.
Ridley Scott seemed hesitant to give an opinion on the film itself. When asked about it he responded that he wanted to be careful with what he says because he has a good relationship with Fox.
While James Cameron was the main factor as to why the Alien project he was going to work on with Scott never happened. He said "To me, that was Frankenstein Meets Werewolf. It was Universal just taking their assets and starting to play them off against each other...Milking it."
While asked about it he said they've really screwed up the franchise.
However upon seeing the film he admitted to enjoying it. "it was actually pretty good. I think of the five Alien films, I'd rate it third. I actually liked it. I actually liked it a lot."
It wouldn't be a case of just getting a team in and going, "Hey, make us an Alien." Especially given how realistic the creature work and - most importantly - motion was in the 'District 9' stuff.
Yes, but ask yourself why. Why would the director suddenly remove more or less completed practical effects and be forced to waste a chunk of his very meagre budget to replace it all with unconvincing CGI if the work ADI did was indeed 'spectacular?' Seeing behind the scenes videos is one thing, but the finished item is much different.
I was as pissed about that design decision as anyone, especially with a creature as iconic as The Thing, but there had to be some motivation behind it.
I just think that if another effects company were given the chance to create the Alien, I believe it will result in a more memorable incarnation of the creature. In fact they would do well to make it look worse. I may be coming across as harsh, but that's my honest opinion.
Hmm, in 2004 as far as Ridley was concerned, another Alien movie would have depended on the success of AVP, according to his interview with Famitsu Wave.
The Thing 2011 was such a tragedy. ADI did spectacular work and then the director just took a dump all over it.
As for ADI, look at their work for the prequel to 'The Thing'. They did some breath-taking Lovecraftian stuff for that. Most of it got swamped over with bad CGI (when the plan was for it to merely augment the transformation process). When they're given the right direction and budget, they can work visual miracles.
And then there's this:
We know that Blomkamp and Scott have both worked with Weta, which means they'll probably be somehow involved, too.
Thanks for linking that video, I've just added the information to http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/2004/07/sigourney-weaver-vs-alien-vs-predator.html
And look what they did to the Predator. Granted Anderson wanted them bulkier and with more armour, but ADI did the faces and of course decided that Scar needed to be more heroic and look how that turned out. I won't even go into the rubber dreadlocks and plastic wrist blades.
I've seen their work on other projects and it's fine, but they cannot do justice to the Alien and they have had enough attempts at trying now. People defend them seemingly because there's nothing else to compare them to when it comes to Alien, minus Giger. It's time someone else was given a chance.
People keep laying the blame on them and I think it's really unfair.
At the end of the day, they produced the effects the director told them/paid them to do.
AVP might have made money but let's face it, it was beyond awful and is pretty much universally despised barring a small cult following. It wasn't successful enough for someone to take a chance with a big-budget reboot is what I'm saying. Doing an AVP3 with a modest budget just screams cop-out, with Fox looking to make money on the franchise license alone rather than any hope of actually making a decent film. It will only attract sub-par actors and a director whose track record isn't exactly great.
Think of the money and the hype that is being poured into the likes of Batman vs. Superman. That will never happen with AVP now, but had Predator 2, Alien 3 and Resurrection been highly successful it might have done at one point.
Prometheus got the backing because Ridley Scott returned. Would Fox had given it so much if Alec Gillis was directing off a Peter Briggs script I wonder?
Alien 5 is likely getting big treatment because it can be connected to Prometheus and because Sigourney Weaver has been attracted back by Blomkamp's vision. It will also do Prometheus 2 and Scott a favour if he wants to move further away from the xenomorph as Blomkamp's film is there to take care of that fix.
I think AVP as a cinematic franchise is dead in the water.