As one of many fantastic ways in which the 40th anniversary of Alien has been celebrated this year Titan Books published “The Making of Alien”, a fantastic deep dive into the journey that eventually brought Alien to the big screen. I loved it.
Much to my delight, J.W Rinzler is returning to bring that same behind-the-scenes thoroughness to the story of Aliens’ production! Birth.Movies.Death shared the following press release.
“Following on from the success of this year’s THE MAKING OF ALIEN, Titan Books is delighted to announce that J.W. Rinzler will turn his extraordinary ‘Making of’ eye on its sequel in THE MAKING OF ALIENS.
As one of the most highly regarded movie sequels of all time, Aliens quickly embedded itself in the minds of cinemagoers around the world when it was released in 1986. Driven by the singular vision of director James Cameron and guided by producer Gale Ann Hurd, its relentless action and unforgettable characters helped cement its place as an undisputed classic of 1980s cinema.
THE MAKING OF ALIENS tells the complete story of how Cameron and Hurd, together with their immensely talented cast and crew, brought heroine Ellen Ripley back to the big screen—and upped the stakes by introducing a whole army of aliens for her to face. Interviews with the cast and crew, alongside revealing photography and fascinating concept art, illustrate the film’s eventful journey from its beginnings as a sequel that nobody wanted to make through to its transformation into one of the highest-grossing blockbusters of the decade. “
BMD also shared the following quote from Rinzler himself:
“After The Making of Alien, Fox asked if I’d write The Making of Aliens – and we were off. A great opportunity to write about one of the greatest sequels of all time – James Cameron’s follow up to The Terminator! – with the same level of brilliant collaboration and innovative filmmaking. The result: action-packed joy. Our book strives to be a reflection of their achievement.”
The Making of Aliens is currently scheduled for release on the 21st of April 2020, just a few days prior to next year’s Alien Day. The book is expected to retail for £35/$50. Thanks to Nightmare Asylum for the heads-up.
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That's a nit worth pickin'!
Clearly Rinzler's not as savvy with the interwebs as he is with movie archives.
Hopefully they won't go out of print any time soon and I can pick them up a little further down the line.
Just told the missus, the kids and my boss that I'm taking a month off and they won't see me at all for that time. Taking 2 books with me. Guess which ones?
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Ditto to the last sentence.
Only need to find the time to read it (along with ALIEN and the STAR WARS trilogy 'making of' books).
I believe they also just ran out of time too.
I'd take a Rinzler book for Resurrection, if purely for him digging up the Newt pitch.
and.....
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The making of snaliens...
I just don't think we'll ever see a complete set unfortunately.
Always said Resurrection's been disappointingly light on BTS stuff. Even Lauzirika's doc, excellent as it was, felt a bit wishy-washy compared to the other three.
Maybe the shoot was just that smooth there's nothing interesting to tell
A deep dive into all the directors that could've been would be interesting.
Do we dare ask for that 4th book then too to complete the set.
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A-f**king-men.
D'you know what'd look lovelier?
Alien 3 sat alongside.
I'd pony up for that!
They do look very nice together.
Wish the author would tackle some more classics: The Exorcist (1973) and The Shining (1980).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE6vpgRjlUw/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Because that's been Rinzler's style. A very thorough look at them. It's why Alien was so impressive, and why Aliens has been so enjoyable so far.
TBH I don't know. I literally had a quick flick through before I had to leave for a client meeting.
Very interesting Walter Simonson interview is included (talking about seeing an early assembly cut in late '78), along with unused sample ALIEN artwork.
Thank bro. Sounds interesting.
I noticed the the Alien Illustrated story original art edition is listed there as available? I thought that was long out of print.
You'll find the info here:
https://media.titanbooks.com/rights/guides/files/spring_2020_non_fiction_rights_guide_titan.pdf
If I had to guess, the first Predator gets over 50% of the book, and the sequels share the remainder.
Can't agree enough!!
i'm totally the same; i breeze through the books & comics but the making of alien was something i had to tackle bit by bit, there's just so much info to take in
Looking forward to The Fly book. About time. There's enough gruesome imagery in the film to make the book really special - nice 'n' juicy.
The Predator ?
Haha. Thanks a lot. All I can envision now is this!
https://media1.tenor.com/images/fedbbb8fa9a56bf8bb5bde9b99e93279/tenor.gif
Since I'm so close to these franchises, I try my best (sometimes unsuccessfully) to remove myself from the equation. I try to think of films I'm not a fan of... recent stuff like Ant-Man or Solo, films that I do not like and had production troubles including director resignations / firings, and would I be interested in investing money and time in such a book to read about the woes. At least personally, I lean to not when I'm not a fan of the movie.
Then again, we're assuming this Alien3 book would even get into the nitty-gritty of the infighting. If David Fincher himself wrote it, then all bets are off!
You'll have to forgive me if this is talking out of my ass, but Alien 3 is notorious for its production troubles, making it "more" than just a poorly received film.
Ha. I'm still slowly working my way through. I can beast through the novels and comics quite easily, but these ones take me longer to digest.
Though I, ashamedly, have not yet broken into my copy of last year's The Making of Alien yet soooo... it might be a little bit of time before I give this one a go.
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=64093.0
I'm betting there's a good chance Fly II would not elicit the same responses at the same frequency, i.e. less sales, regardless if it may have an interesting backstory. That is what I think Alien3 and Alien Resurrection is partially up against.
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I still feel their resistance wasn't purely financially motivated though.