Peter Briggs Responds To Sigourney Weaver's Alien vs. Predator Comments

[Corporal Hicks]

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.

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[Origin]

Would like to read his unused script for AvP, or at least see it turned into a Dark Horse mini-series.

Kind of surprised this was at all reported on, since getting wires crossed recounting history spoken between third parties from more than 20 years ago isn't a big issue.

[Doggo33]

Hate in the 'Alien' and 'AVP' community at the moment.

If Sigourney was in fact just trying to go along with fans by bending truth, that's really not good.

[Corporal Hicks]

His first draft has been available online for sometime - http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/aliens_vs_predator.html

It's about fixing miscommunication. Weaver's recent comments were widely reported (despite her opinions also being really old news) but her recounting of that time was very wrong. It's always good to try and correct misinformation.

Hate in the 'Alien' and 'AVP' community at the moment.

If Sigourney was in fact just trying to go along with fans by bending truth, that's really not good.

I doubt it's anything being done maliciously. It's like I said when this first cropped up - she's misremembering.

[Xenomorphine]

Some interesting new revelations in that interview. Especially about the set visit and talking with the ADI people, back then.

Having tracked the development of Briggs' unmade project for quite a while, I share his frustrations with Weaver's repeated dismissive attitude to it, over the many years.

Good to see him able to set the record straight about this!

Had also forgotten that the never-seen second draft is still, technically, Fox's bought-and-paid-for property. Technically, there isn't anything stopping them from just filming it, if they ever want to.

[XENOMORPHOSIS]

I think Sigourney Weaver generally wanted to be killed off because as she said the formula of her being the only survivor and no one would listen to her was starting to get a little worn out.

The only time I saw Sigourney mention her disinterest on Alien VS. Predator was on a behind the scenes interview of Alien Resurrection and she mentions she was killed off in Alien 3 was partly because of the repetition but also because of the rumors of Fox making AVP.

Clip here, star at 3:33 – 4:22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncAhHeUSdsU&list=PL20F0F6185A9A2FAA

Whilst she was interested to return if either Scott or Cameron were directing. And they were both intending to work together with her on a fifth Alien during the early 2000's. However Paul W.S. Anderson's Alien VS. Predator pitch killed that project.

As we all know Ridley Scott would return to give us Prometheus.  I guess Sigourney and some Aliens sans cannot take the concept of a cross over seriously believing it undermines the integrity of the original films. Examples such as Frankenstine Meets the Wolfman, King Kong VS. Godzilla and other Toho Kaiju VS. movies, Freddy VS. Jason while entertaining to some weren't the most well critically received. 

I guess some would see it as a desperate attempt at taking franchises that have run out of steam and mixing them together to milk the last few bucks out of these cash cows. Cross overs/ co-existing movie universes can be genuinely good and expand upon a movies mythos.

[agenttexx]

Quite a bit of her commentary on the films seems like her being bitter over not being chosen to continue with a franchise she's already four movies into.  AVP was still a better mover than Resurrection - a movie so bad that even Ron Pearlman couldn't save it.

[Corporal Hicks]

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/2004/04/avp-peter-briggs-vs-paul-anderson.html

Another related article from Alien Explorations.

[HuDaFuK]

Briggs' script had a few confusing plot holes that probably could've been cleared up in later drafts. I'd love to read his second stab at it.

[Corporal Hicks]

Me too. It's the one script I'm absolutely dying to read. It's unfortunate Briggs lost it.

[HuDaFuK]

It's unfortunate Briggs lost it.

Did he? From what I just read in that email of his it sounded it was his first draft that he lost, and had to steal it back off the internet when it was uploaded years later.

I think his second is still in Fox's hands.

[Corporal Hicks]

He lost his computer which had all his drafts on. He was only able to get the first draft back. I spoke to him many many years ago about it all.

[HuDaFuK]

Ah OK, I get it. Too bad.

[THE CITY HUNTER]

He does have a point AVP has so much potential just you have to put it in the right direction.

[TheBATMAN]

No one will put up the bucks to give AVP any form of justification it deserves. It has potential to be one of the greatest action/horror sci-fi epics of all time, but no one will dare take the risk, especially after the horrendous efforts of the first two films. It needs the Giger Alien, the Winston Predator and someone with a vision more expansive than relegating these two icons to having a drunken fight akin to two piss heads outside a pub which is what Paul Anderson did.

I think this whole Peter Briggs thing is just a storm in a teacup. You cannot expect Sigourney Weaver to accurately recount exact events that went down nearly 25 years ago and Briggs seems to take any opportunity to weigh in on any AVP debate in an attempt to stay relevant.