I came across this really interesting story regarding Alien 5. As it turns out both Ridley Scott and James Cameron had been talking about (and actually already working on) developing an Alien 5 project. They both liked the Alien story and wanted to keep moving it forward. Sounds good doesn’t it.
Yeah well, forget it. Apparently AVP (Alien vs. Predator) killed it instantly. This is another good example of why the consequences for some bads ideas keep hurting you long after the box office is done. The following comes via the good folks over at FilmForce. James Cameron on axing Alien 5:
“Ridley [Scott] and I talked about doing another Alien film, and I said to 20th Century Fox that I would develop a 5th Alien film. I started working on a story, I was working with another writer and Fox came back to me and said, ‘We’ve got this really good script for Alien vs Predator,’ and I got pretty upset. I said, ‘You do that you’re going to kill the validity of the franchise in my mind,’ because to me, that was Frankenstein Meets Werewolf. It was Universal just taking their assets and starting to play them off against each other.
Damn! Could you imagine another Alien film where Cameron and Scott worked together on it? Oh well. Now it’s just the same fantasy as Kate Benckinsale and Jennifer Garner showing up at my door asking for a threesome… it’ll never happen.
Damn, must…buy…AVP Unrated. But…can’t…let…Rothman…win!
Curses, Blasphamy, DAMMIT!!! I want AVP…but can’t let the studios think its that good!!! What should I DO?!!
[end scene]
Yeah, I really hope to god Fox doesn’t fuck up BOTH AVP2 and X3, or THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cam ur killing me here. :(
i actually liked frankenstein meets the wolfman. i was like 8. :)
i thought bela legosi was cool as frankie too. i dont think that any more tho. :/
i cant see cam or scott ever being involved in anything “alien” since it is a dull and tired franchize and nothing more than a process of the same old formula now. :x
Ever since Dave Fincher was tapped for the third Alien flim, all I ever heard was a fan based outcry for the return of James Cameron. It took me a long time to warm up (sort of) to Alien3, only a few years ago to find out about the oxen, which ticked me off (if you saw the deleted stuff from the SE DVD you know what I mean) but after that grave mistake that was Alien Res (and sorry, folks, blame Jean-Pierre Junet if you want; Joss Whedon equally should share the blame for giving the Alien franchise one liners) —
Look, I don’t fault the Alien producers for looking at new talented directors. I would have been satisfied with Vincenzo Natali (Cube) for a possible Alien 5. Natali lost out on 5 because of that rumor of Ridley Scott returning with Sigourney Weaver (who still looks good for her age). Then Scott wasn’t intrested. Then there was this talk of Cameron coming back to write the script, and teaming up with Scott. Fans went nuts.
Alien 5 died, because the “fans” – fuck them all sideways- had this hard on for the possbility of ‘AVP’, and had no problem with Resident Evilite Paul WS Anderson behind the wheel. Fox listens to that guy over Cameron and Scott. Cameron ‘liking’ AVP? He was being kind. Yeah, it was…stupid and broke several established “rules” of the creatures (Predators killing/hunting unarmed men and the incubation of facehuggers, for example) because dammit, IT’S GOT TO BE A VIDEO GAME! I’m surprised that Anderson didn’t have a role for Adam Baldwin to play- which would have a connection to the Predator films- because, hey, you off Lance Henriksen with a Predator, someone who faced a Predator much get poked by an alien’s tail.
Fine, dammit. Hell with you who wet yourselves over AVP. You got your bullshit movie. I’d screw Santhaa Lathan too. WTF. Now let’s get back to what really matters. Alien 5. Predator 3. If Rothman is really such a dull bastard to tell Cameron and Scott what’s what, it’s time for a shakeup at Fox. However…
Sorry, John Campea- I’m on my damn rant now, and there isn’t no stopping me….
Where the hell are the fans? Do they back AVP2? Why? They want the Predalien to raise hell? No. No, No.
People! Wake up! Awaken, thou sleepers! You make AVP a huge moneymaker and convince FOX that’s where it is at. Even Anderson, hack though he may be , takes some small credit knowing that AVP should be a stand alone film. Now Rothman thinks oh, give the dorks AVP2, that’s what they want. And we’ll make it even more safe for the kiddles!
People! Smoke that idea now. Because I don’t want to hear, read, or smell any complaints regarding who or what will do AVP2. When it comes down to it, there is only on reason why Rothman wants AVP2. He thinks YOU the FANS want it. If you do, I don’t want to hear jack about bringing back Scott or Cameron…fucking Fincher for that matter.
You made your damn bed and had the sheets pressed. Lie in it.
When the day comes when Fox turns a cold back on two of the best filmmakers of our time and who made the first two Alien films hits and the pop culture phenom that they are today (and Cameron giving the Predator the mandibles while talking to Stan Winston, lest we forget) SOMETHING STINKS in Hollywood—specifically Fox.
Rothman is listening to what he thinks is “the public”.
Fox isn’t Dimension, who treats franchises like pieces of shit, okay? Or are they?
If Rothman gets pink slipped, cheer if you want to, but right now, he’s just doing his job, creepy as it may be. No Valentine Love for Rothman- but no equal favor for the brainless sheep out there who influenced his choices.
Pick up the rant in the next Audio Edition if you dare, John Campea.
I double dare you.
I triple dare you.
-Sealer
Wow, and I thought X3 was a big subject for debates. No doubt that some fans may have been crushed to hear this.
I have this strange image in my head of Rothman running down the hallway of the studio, holding the Alien vs. Predator 2 script above his head, yelling “This movie is going to kick ass!”
I find it hard to understand how they weren’t willing to hire two men who were commited to doing Alien 5. Both directors would do everything to make this film a success while the studio would sit in their chairs and wonder how much money they could gain. Yet, they want to do an “INVASION” angle where it is nothing more than a war-like solid movie with big bangs in the middle.
Let’s get back to the good old days of space, great cast, great story, and a MOTHERF@#!^% hell of a close encounter.
Sure, AVP2 is on the studios mind. But like in George A. Romero’s films, it shall rise back from the dead and wreck havoc on the box-office. Damn shame we have to wait a few years after AVP 2 until it becomes optional though. I can’t wait!!!
P.S.- Check out BrianChiernicky.com. He pretty sums up his thoughts on Alien 5 in his “How to fix Hollywood Franchises” column. He must be very pissed off now to find out that they were stupid to not hire Cameron and Scott.
In the same word as Darth Vader:
“NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I sometimes thought of how AVP2 could recover from the 1st and redeem itself as a good franchise,
AND THIS NEWS SLAPS MY FACE IN THE MORNING!!!
I mean, I figured that Cameron and Scott were finished with the Aliens saga. They already made their mark of being great directors, and I saw it hard to see them return due to the state the franchise was in. Besides, they were doing a good job with the other films like The Terminator (1&2) and Gladiator, not to mention the other great films these two have worked on.
But to find out that BOTH James Cameron AND Ridley Scott were going to return to the series they put on the map was overwhelming. I can’t even begin to think of what kind of a masterpiece they were planning! Then came AVP2.
I am not going to bother talking all the BS to Fox. I’m glad Cameron isn’t going to push any problems to them; might as well start on some other projects he has dreamed of.
But I will say this; the death of Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s Alien 5 just made me lose all hope in what AVP2 can pull off comparing to what Alien 5 could’ve achieved, not to mention how big of a blow this must have been for diehard fans of the series.
Well, I will at least keep hope that the Alien 5 project may continue after AVP2. It may not be coming soon, but it may be better off that way. I for one would be excited as hell the day this project becomes greenlit.