Rebirthing Alien

Endless and silent. Stars are flying by.

Slowly some hieroglyphs appear, forming a title

A  L  I  E  N      P  L  A  N  E  T

For years, the two original masters of Alien, Ridley Scott and James Cameron, have hinted at a re-imagining of the series and bringing the story back to basics, much like the recent reboots of Superman and Batman, especially as there is still much of the Alien antagonist that has yet to be explored. Where do they come from? Did anyone engineer them? Despite persistent rumours in sequels by Scott and Cameron, director of Alien and Aliens respectively, no film has yet to emerge and nothing has been set in stone. Since 2001, when Entertainment Weekly first reported that Sigourney Weaver had signed up for the fifth chapter, there has been much speculation. At the time Scott commented "I think it would be a lot of fun, but the most important thing is to get the story right." Just how long can fans be expected to wait for a prequel or sequel?

Cameron, despite having started work on a script, ceased when 20th Century Fox approached him with the screenplay for Alien Vs Predator. Cameron’s response was that this would "kill the validity of the franchise". Alien Vs Predator took two of Hollywood’s most iconic figures and pitted them against each other - see also New Line Cinemas Freddy Vs Jason or Universal’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Although these last two outings for the xenomorph killers enjoyed box office success, grossing $171 million, there is a feeling amongst critics and fans alike that the films lacked the quality of its esteemed predecessors.

While Alien and Aliens intricately weaved together horror and action into a solid storyline, while Alien3 and Alien Resurrection made interesting stabs at the franchise, but left fans divided. The release of the latter signaled a sea change in the franchise where the Alien lost its depth of character and the films their storyline. Dan O’Bannon, co-writer of Alien, echoes this sentiment. “I’d like to see it stop. A horror movie is a fragile thing, and once you’ve gotten past the original, it isn’t scary anymore. So you do a bunch of sequels to a horror movie, all they do is drain any remaining impact out of the original.”

Alien Resurrection was nothing more than a glorified return for Ellen Ripley’s character, whilst the Alien vs. Predator collection was a feeble excuse for a follow up, adding nothing more to the series other than demonstrating Fox’s desire and blind pursuit of a quick buck; “milking it”, as Cameron has stated. The reason for this change by Fox? Most likely David Fincher’s Alien3, which came in months behind schedule and millions over budget.

Fox holds all the rights to Alien and Predator and, while the ever growing Alien Vs Predator collection consistently churns out money, it is unlikely an Alien 5 will get made, due to Fincher’s transgression. The brightest hope for Alien 5 remains in the hands of Cameron and Scott, undoubtedly the two most trusted directors for a follow up, unfortunately Cameron has lost all faith since Alien Vs Predator and Scott is in a perpetual state of flux, bouncing between one vision of Russell Crowe to another, leaving little hope of a well made prequel or sequel.

The Saving Grace

Back in 2003, when Sandy Collora made his fan film Batman:Dead End on a reported budget of $30,000, he showed that with the right people and a good concept, even the most daring of  ideas can produce a visually captivating film, prompting Kevin Smith to pronounce it "possibly the truest, best Batman movie ever made".

With this in mind screenwriter Anil Kunnel, armed with a 105-page screenplay, is attempting the most ambitious attempt yet at a fan film. His unofficial treatment of Alien 5, titled Alien Planet, has already been dubbed, “the best 'Alien' script in twenty years” by PlanetAvP.com and “the potential to make the franchise truly great once more” by AvPGalaxy.com, this could at last be the long awaited hope the franchise and fans have yearned for in the last 20 years.