Dark Horse Comics Announces Alien vs. Predator: Thicker Than Blood!

[Kradan]

Dead, any otherwise so far is just stupidity.

Well, if they were able to clone Ripley from just a sample of her blood ... There's still some of Hicks' DNA (some dried blood, I suppose ) left in EEV at the end of Alien 3.

[Wysps]

^ This

But I don't think you necessarily need the characters in the title as long as it's marketed well ala Man Of Steel or The Dark Knight.  I'd be more than fine with a new AvP movie just titled "The Deadliest of Species", etc..

There's definitely some truth to this.  People are going to know what they're getting, without putting AvP in the title.  Same thing could be said for Alien and Predator, too.  I think one issue is that it's just so common for series' to do that (i.e. Terminator, Alien, Predator, etc.), making it I suppose an industry standard of sorts.

[SM]

Man of Steel and Dark Knight have been synonymous with Superman and Batman - two characters vastly more popular than Alien or Predator - going back 70+ years.

You make an Alien or Predator without the monster name in the title, it's going to hurt your marketing.  Putting 'AvP' in it is going to hurt it too.  It was tainted from the outset with the 'versus' in there, and it's been tainted further with mediocre films.  I think the only thing that can save it is a low budget movie that blows everyone away.

[The Old One]

Prometheus, regardless of the quality of the film- it's great marketing, team and Director brought in a large enough number. Without the name of the series.

[SuperiorIronman]

Prometheus, regardless of the quality of the film- it's great marketing, team and Director brought in a large enough number. Without the name of the series.

Taking a cue from Prometheus (a Prequel) would be interesting given implications on both franchises. The Predators have Alien skulls and an Engineer helmet, the Alien origin has been moved up 100 years, so what exactly have they been killing and how did they get that? The Predators show up long after the Engineer got dusted and the Predators had Aliens in that period. Where did they get them? Did they get them from the Engineer? And if so, how?

Something happened either prior or after they showed up on Earth and Prometheus shows some civilizations know about the Engineer, so there might've been contact. What was that like given that both species get viewed as gods?  Sure some names become apocryphal (it doesn't have to be the 2004 Weyland for those events to occur), but otherwise this canon disparity can lead to an interesting story.

[Voodoo Magic]

Comic and genre fans knew The Dark Knight and Man of Steel, but I'd argue much of the general public didn't know these nicknames. Actually many know Joseph Stalin as the man of steel.

But regardless of that, title only James Bond movies, Fast Five, Glass, Chronicles of Riddick, Hobbs & Shaw whatever, audiences are smart, and a good trailer with good word of mouth and familiar characters will get them to see the movie.

[SM]

Prometheus, regardless of the quality of the film- it's great marketing, team and Director brought in a large enough number. Without the name of the series.

Taking a cue from Prometheus (a Prequel) would be interesting given implications on both franchises. The Predators have Alien skulls and an Engineer helmet, the Alien origin has been moved up 100 years, so what exactly have they been killing and how did they get that? The Predators show up long after the Engineer got dusted and the Predators had Aliens in that period. Where did they get them? Did they get them from the Engineer? And if so, how?

Something happened either prior or after they showed up on Earth and Prometheus shows some civilizations know about the Engineer, so there might've been contact. What was that like given that both species get viewed as gods?  Sure some names become apocryphal (it doesn't have to be the 2004 Weyland for those events to occur), but otherwise this canon disparity can lead to an interesting story.

Not sure what you're getting at.  How does the disparity lead to an interesting story?

[SuperiorIronman]

Prometheus, regardless of the quality of the film- it's great marketing, team and Director brought in a large enough number. Without the name of the series.

Taking a cue from Prometheus (a Prequel) would be interesting given implications on both franchises. The Predators have Alien skulls and an Engineer helmet, the Alien origin has been moved up 100 years, so what exactly have they been killing and how did they get that? The Predators show up long after the Engineer got dusted and the Predators had Aliens in that period. Where did they get them? Did they get them from the Engineer? And if so, how?

Something happened either prior or after they showed up on Earth and Prometheus shows some civilizations know about the Engineer, so there might've been contact. What was that like given that both species get viewed as gods?  Sure some names become apocryphal (it doesn't have to be the 2004 Weyland for those events to occur), but otherwise this canon disparity can lead to an interesting story.

Not sure what you're getting at.  How does the disparity lead to an interesting story?

Instead of rebooting under a different name or doing a low-budget monster movie, why not do something similar to what Prometheus did by making a prequel. As the films happened to develop away from each other we got the canonical disparity and the seemingly endless canon debate. So why not develop something in that setting to explain how we got from point A to point B? A way to make it work might very well be to take it out of the future setting and put it in the period where all parties are established to have been on Earth. Thus freeing up the lore to expand and being unable to step on the toes of the other franchises seeing as they are set far into the future. Thus being so far removed from any canonical error it can be chalked up to it being irrelevant in the modern day or that something was misunderstood. The ancient world both franchises keep alluding to has potential.

[SM]

What's point A and point B?  AvP and Prometheus?

Best way to free it up I reckon is to completely ignore the Alien films, and let AvP take an independent path.

[Corporal Hicks]

Man of Steel and Dark Knight have been synonymous with Superman and Batman - two characters vastly more popular than Alien or Predator - going back 70+ years.

You make an Alien or Predator without the monster name in the title, it's going to hurt your marketing.  Putting 'AvP' in it is going to hurt it too.  It was tainted from the outset with the 'versus' in there, and it's been tainted further with mediocre films.  I think the only thing that can save it is a low budget movie that blows everyone away.

Alien maybe able to get away with something like The Perfect Organism. Not sure Predator really has an equivalent? Ugly Motherf**ker?

But yeah, I completely agree regarding needing a fantastic low budget attempt. Personally, I think Alien should attempt something a little more low-key next time anyway.

[HuDaFuK]

Best way to free it up I reckon is to completely ignore the Alien films, and let AvP take an independent path.

Having seen the total creature redesigns that Greek chap (whose name escapes me) drew up for the first AVP, I kinda wish they'd gone that route. Although I'm aware that'd piss most people off lol.

Not sure Predator really has an equivalent? Ugly Motherf**ker?

Personally, I think Alien should attempt something a little more low-key next time anyway.

Considering I enjoyed some of the shorts much more than the last two theatrical films, I'm definitely with you there.

[SM]

If someone was looking for a worse title than Alien vs. Predator, then Perfect Organism vs. Ugly Motherf**ker is the new clubhouse leader. 

[Corporal Hicks]

I still hope to get my Starbeast vs. Hunter project done one day.

[SM]

Four legged hook hands vs. Jean Claude Van Bugeyes.

[SiL]

Shit I've already bought my ticket.