Welcome to AMR! Use the menu to navigate [Please enable javascript]	ALIEN Series Scripts Quick Jump : Alien | Aliens | Alien 3 | Alien Resurrection | Alien Vs. Predator | Other | Misc Each Alien film has gone through re-writes and edits. The final film version is rarely identical as the script it was made from. In some cases, such as Alien 3, several years and many screenwriters were employed in writing version so fthe film. This section details the history of the scripts for each Alien film, and provides some trivia and details as to their writing. If you have any additions, please email me.   The following information comes from the original early draft of ALIEN and the Collectors edition laserdisc. The Dan O'Bannon original script was completed in 1972 and was first called "Star Beast" before O'Bannon changed the title to "Alien". It was based on one of his unfinished scripts called 'Memory'. The supplementary disk summarizes that all the astronauts were men, their names were Standard, Roby, Melkonis, Broussard, Hunter, and Faust. The name of their ship was the Snark. Although not directly stated, I get the impression that the crew is more of an exploration/research team than the "space truckers" in the movie. As in the film they land on a planet after hearing a distress call and find an alien derelict, but here they only breathing masks are required to leave their ship and go outside onto the planet instead of full pressure suits. On the derelict they find the dead alien pilot, an empty "urn" (facehugger egg) and a triangular-shaped etching scratched into the control board. They leave, go back to the ship, then the disk refers to a portion of the script where the crew discovers a pyramidical structure like the scratched image on the derelict. This pyramid is where the eggs are kept. The search party goes out, one man goes down into the egg chamber, which is flooded with oxygen. There, before he gets facehugged, he finds a "strange hieroglyphics carved into the walls." The crew realizes later that this is a representation of the alien's life cycle." The laserdisk says that everything pretty much happens the way it did in the movie except "the crew spends a lot of time speculating and analyzing." There are three more excerpts from the script, one a dialogue between two crew members discussing the relationship between the pyramid and the derelict and a second where we find out that the alien is turning its victims into new spores. This last excerpt is O'Bannon's description of the full-grown alien as it attacks a crew member: "A six-foot monstrosity stands in the opening. Ghastly beyond imagination, squamous, covered with tenticles, it hops down like an over-sized bird and grabs Melkonis in razor-sharp tenticles." Ron Cobb and Chris Foss did sketches, paintings and storyboards based on this version of the script, some of which are included on the disk. Dan O'Bannon's 1976 Early Alien Draft (197KB, html format) Revised Final Draft June 1978 ALIEN script (186KB, txt format)   After his 1984 surprise smash 'The Terminator' James Cameron gained a certain level of clout in hollywood. Cameron was given the choice of doing a sequel to the film ALIEN or an updated version of Spartacus for FOX. IN 1983, Cameron a treatment for ALIENS, which is like a rough draft, outlining major plot and story points without a fully fleshed out dialogue. Camron's first draft, dating from 1985, is very similar to the actual filmed version. James Cameron's 1983 ALIENS treatment (88KB, rtf format)  - An AMR premiere from 2001! James Cameron's 1985 ALIENS first draft (258KB, txt format)   Alien 3 is the best example of development hell that the Alien series has to offer. Millions of dollars were spent on pre-production, directors, sets, and scriptwriters before a final script had been approved. Initially, Renny Harlin was attached to direct, and worked on the film for over a year. However, he asked to be released after not being pleased with the script. Soon afterwards, Vincent Ward started working on the film, and also wrote a script. He left the production. Finally, David Fincher became attached to direct, making Alien 3 his directorial debut. The list of Scriptwriters for the film is long, and includes 11 different scripts with 10 different scriptwriters. After the success of ALIENS, there was an immediate start on scripting a third Alien film. William Gibson was the first candidate, after having gained famed from writing the cyberpunk classic 'Neuromancer.' His script called for Ripley, Newt and Hicks to survive the trip back to Earth. The first draft was rejected, and Gibson declined further involvement due to other commitments. William Gibson's Alien 3 Script (182KB, txt file) Eric Red was then brought on board. The director attached to the project at the time, Renny Harlin, suggested that Red write the film. Red did wrote another story, which included the Sulaco and a a new commando unit, that gets wiped out when it boards Ripley's ship. The company and the military had hopes to use the Alien for their own advantage. Producers Walter Hill and David Giler disliked the script, and he was ousted from proudction. As Eric Red states "Another major problem was they didn't want Sigourney back, so I had to go through a whole series of new characters" Eric Red's Alien 3 Script (236KB, rtf file, or 160KB, txt file)  - An AMR world premiere from November 20, 2000! The next person attached to write was David Twohy who rewrote and reworked Gibson's Alien 3 script and changed the setting to that of a prison planet. While Twohy and Giler both liked the script, with addition of new director Vincent Ward the script was turned down. David Twohy's Alien 3 Script (218KB, rtf file or 148KB, txt file)  - 1st draft October 1989  - An AMR Alien-website premiere from August 19, 2000! Thanks to Leon With that script tossed, Vincent Ward provided his own ideas, including having the film set on a wooden planet with monks as the main characters. Preproduction on the film included making sets with this script and conceptual art. John Fasano assisted Ward in creating this script version. The first draft was finished in early 1990, and envisioned having Ripley back in charge on this relgiously infused themed film. Film company Fox liked the script, but Giler and Hill had other plans for the film at this time. As Giler said "The picture would have had a great look, but it didn't make sense." John Fasano and Vincent Ward's Alien 3 Script (131KB, txt file)  - 1st draft March 29th, 1990 Unfortunately, Fasano and Ward had a falling out, when Fasano did leave production, Greg Pruss entered to write a new script. His plan called for killing off Ripley. However, the producers disagreed, and decided to boot him from production. Pruss is, however, credited as a conceptual artist for the film under the name of Gregory Pruss. The producers then asked for John Fasano to come back and write another draft, but this did not work out. After this episode, Ward finally left production on the film. David Fincher was just 28 when he was asked to direct, making Alien 3 his first feature film, after a strong history in music videos. Larry Ferguson was now working on Fasano's previous draft, and although he was soon released from production, his contributions to the story were confirmed when his name was added to the screenplay credits of the film. "...Back in New York, [Walter] Hill saw "The Navigator : An Odyssey Across Time", a stunning but esoteric art film by an obscure New Zealand director named Vincent Ward. But Ward said he didn't like [David] Twohy's script. No problem, said Fox. "So I hopped on an airplane," says Ward, "and during the flight, I had an idea that was totally different: Sigourney would land in a community of monks in outer space and not be accepted by them." The monks would live on a wooden planet that looked like something out of Hieronymus Bosch, with furnaces and windmills -- and no weapons... Fincher :In the draft Larry [Ferguson, Beverly Hills Cop II] was writing, she [Ripley] was going to be this woman who had fallen from the stars. In the end, she dies, and there are seven of the monks left --- seven dwarfs. Question : You're kidding? Fincher : Seriously. I swear to God. She was like...what's her name in Peter Pan? She was like Wendy. And she would make up these stories. And in the end, there were these seven dwarfs left, and there was this fucking tube they put her in, and they were waiting for Prince Charming to come wake her up. So that was one of the endings we had for this movie. You can imagine what Joe Roth said when he heard this. "What?! What are they doing over there?! What the fuck is going on?!"  - PREMIERE magazine, May 1992 Walter Hill and David Giler continued to refine the script, as the monastery setting was ousted and the prison planet concept was re-introduced. (Hill's and Giler's draft at this time is dated (December 18th, 1990). Fincher introduced Rex Pickett into the mix, and cleaned up some of the previous writing. Due to differences between himself and the producers, Pickett was quickly removed, but not without adding some scenes to the film. Rex Pickett's Alien 3 Script (230KB, rtf file or 141KB, txt file)  - 1st draft March 29th, 1990  - An AMR Alien-website premiere from September 11, 2000! Thanks to Leon Hill and Giler continued to refine the latest Alien 3 draft, well into the time when filming had started. This final script is the closest to the actual shooting script that is currently available. Final draft of Alien 3 script (150KB, txt file)  - 1st draft April 10, 1991  - Thanks to JETT! Thanks to the numerous sources where I culled this information from, particularly "Cinefantastique - June 1992" which has several excellent, informative Alien 3 stories.   Joss Whedon was brought in to pen Alien Resurrection by the producers. While his experience was limited in terms of writing a big budget picture, he had written roles for strong heroines (Buffy the Vampire slayer) and had done work on 'Toy Story' and 'Waterworld.' It is important to note that Jean-Pierre Jeunet also would modify the script during shooting of the film. Joss Whedon's ALIEN Resurrection Script #1 (140KB, txt format) Joss Whedon's ALIEN Resurrection Script #2 (100KB, txt format)   In the early 1990's FOX did see promise in developing Alien vs. Predator, then a successful comic book series created by Dark Horse Comics. After reviewing a script treatment, FOX commissioned Peter Briggs to write a full screenplay. While it was never produced, the script became very popular, especially within Internet fan circles. For an excellent interview with Peter Briggs discussing his involvement with Alien vs. Predator, (Both his script and the 2004 movie) visit Bloody-Disgusting. A must read for any fan. Peter Brigg's Alien Vs. Predator Script (222KB, txt format) When interest was renewed in an Alien vs. Predator film in the early 2000's, a script for the film was commissioned by Fox and it was up to James DeMonaco and Kevin Fox, to deliver a new draft. However, John Davis (producer) decided to take the project in a different direction (not based on the comic book series, which DeMonaco and Fox had done.) The proposed storyline (from the now defunct 4Filmmakers website): "A man becomes a Predator after discovering a crashed Predator ship. His team of researchers use the Alien eggs to create an environment of conflict to lure the Predators back to study their technology and prolong his life." The date of the finished first draft was January 2002. Paul W.S. Anderson was given the director's chair at about this time, and he started to write his own work into the movie. An interesting situation with the final writing credits now existed. From Wikipedia: "The writing credits submitted by the studio to the WGA recommended that Peter Briggs and Paul W.S. Anderson be credited for the story, while Anderson and Shane Salerno get the screenplay credit. Instead, the WGA denied any sort of credit to Briggs or Salerno, and instead gave co-story credit to original Alien writers Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett on the rationale that some story elements were based on a deleted scene from that film. Shocked at this decision, the studio offered Salerno an executive producer's credit, but he turned it down." Paul Anderson's and Shane Salerno's AVP: Alien vs. Predator script (299KB, rtf format)  Other Scripts There are several fan scripts for ALIEN 5 and Alien Vs. Predator 2. To give them a read, please surf over to the Fan Fiction area.  Miscellanous Trivia ALIEN Review by Jean-Pierre Jeunet The following review originally appeared in the French magazine "Fluide Glacial" in 1980. It is by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who would go on to direct Alien Resurrection 17 years later. Translation by Pierre M. Alien is a very pleasant comedy, where astronauts back from the moon are trying to catch their cat hiding in the rocket. In order to do this they use bunch of clever tricks, one of them even finds a costume of a long-nailed bug to scare the pet. After some contrarious incidents (one of them dies of a bad cold, coughing too hard... his colleague with the costume falls from the door...), the chief lady gets the cat back and make the planet Crypton explode.

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