I just got back from the convention.
The only footage that was shown was the red band trailer followed by the scene that I described in my original post. The Predalien looks pretty good on film and she definitely appears to be more powerful than the other Aliens. Her tail is strong enough to send the Predator crashing through a wall with one swipe. One other thing I noticed was that she appears to be a different color than the rest of the Aliens in thermal vision (she appears yellow while the rest are green). Small detail but I thought you guys might find it interesting.
A Q&A session followed after the screening of the footage. Colin and Greg appeared on stage with a moderator who worked for 20th Century Fox's publicity department. They discussed the making of the film for a good thirty to forty minutes.
Here's some of the highlights:
- The story they originally pitched for the first AVP was supposed to take place right after the events in James Cameron's ALIENS.
- If they were to do a third ALIEN VS. PREDATOR movie they would have it take place in space or in the future (this got a huge round of applause from the crowd).
- This is the first Predator that we've seen who isn't on a trophy hunt. He won't attack humans who are unarmed but he will kill anyone who gets in the way of his mission or wants to confront him. We learn a little more about the Predator as he continues his mission throughout the movie.
- The blue vial of liquid that Wolf uses to kill an Alien in the clip we saw is actually a chemical that is meant to destroy the physical remains of the creatures that he encounters, hopefully leaving no evidence of the Aliens on earth.
- This particular earthbound story will have a definite ending with no loose ends to carry on into another film. Since they've mentioned taking the series farther into the future I'm going to assume that there are no Aliens or Predators left running around Gunnison, Colorado by the time the credits roll.
- One member of the audience asked if it was the Strause Bros. who decided on having ADI do the effects work for this film instead of Stan Winston. The Bros. seemed pretty supportive of ADI but they did make it a point to mention that the company was hired to work on the film before they were approached to direct it.
- Hydraulix is doing almost all of the digital effects work on this movie. They were also working on visual effects for 300, the FANTASTIC 4 sequel and a few other movies when they started production on AVP-R.
- The Fox moderator admitted that the film wasn't really meant to have the subtitle "REQUIEM" and that AVP-R really stood for the "R" rating.
- This wasn't answered directly by the Strause Bros. but I get the impression that we will see an alien planet or something that links back the earlier films in the series. Not sure if this particular something is related to Predator or Alien but when an audience member asked about the chances of seeing an alien world in either this film or future sequels, Colin kept smiling and gave us a "maybe" answer.
- The "hive fight" clip that we saw is near the end of the film and continues on to an epic rooftop battle with the Predator facing off against the remaining Aliens and the Predalien while the human survivors are trying to haul ass out of there.
- This film doesn't have a lone human hero like there was in the previous ALIEN and PREDATOR movies. There is no Ripley or Schwarzenegger type of character who makes a stand against the monsters. This is an ensemble picture and a survival movie, the humans are just trying to flee and keep themselves alive. It is said that Dallas at one point tries to stand up to one of the creatures (I'm assuming the Predator) but he's shown to be far more vulnerable and less superhuman than Schwarzenegger was. I kind of like that. It makes it more believable if the main characters are just trying to get out by the skin of their nuts instead of fighting back or forming an alliance with one of the creatures.
- The script for AVP-R had already been written when they took the job. They had it rewritten once they signed on and only one page of the original draft remained intact. Plus, the actors did a lot of improvising on set so they used the shooting script as a blueprint.
- There are no Alien eggs in the film. We will see the Predalien breed the way it was described in the USA Today article. I'm not entirely against the idea, though it is different, but when I spoke to Colin and Greg afterward they mentioned that they wanted to do something different with the Predalien, something that we've never seen before. I suppose the Aliens are constantly evolving since they are the perfect biological organism so they may find other ways to breed outside of the traditional reproductive cycle.
I had a brief chat with Colin and Greg on the convention floor after the panel discussion. They seem like good guys and although I still have reservations about the final product I'm hoping they deliver the goods and make a movie that is superior to the first and at the very least, guilt-free entertainment.
Fingers crossed, guys.
