Well…one “MAYBE it’s about time” and one that has me scratching my head…
Looks like the powers-that-be have finally agreed IN PRINCIPAL to put an “Alien vs. Predator” into the planning stages. The problem hasn’t really been 20th Century, but the producers wanting to protect their franchises. (I don’t blame them for that). I tell you though…if they don’t get a good screeplay, and the right people, this could be the biggest “disaster-of-a-film- that-had-potential” in history!)
Sigourney has agreed IN PRINCIPAL to star in “Alien-5”. Wow…I loved the first two…but didn’t the next two prove that this was a puppy that had already been milked dry? (I’m a fan, though…so I’ll be at the opening!)
Aliens vs. Predator has an enormous amount of potential. I agree with you. This film is either going to kick ass, or really, really suck. There’s no in-between for this one.
As for Alien 5, I really wish they had stopped at Aliens. Alien 3 basically nullified everything good that happened in Aliens (getting out alive, saving the little girl, etc.). Alien Resurrection wasn't bad, but wasn't great, either - it was pretty good until the half alien / half human weirdness at the end. Not good enough to make up for 3 in my book.
Ain’t gonna happen: Sigourney will not be in Alien5. The push is for Alien v. Predator movie. And a director has been chose: Paul Anderson - the dude behind Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, and most recently, Resident Evil. I personally think he’s a hack director. Great visuals, but lacks in any ability to tell a good story. The film’s premise begins on a distant planet and involves a scientist who will use a Alien to lure Predators to Earth. I kid you not. However, until Paul Anderson is done with Resident Evil 2, this movie is in “development hell” mode.
One of the producers for AvP is Walter Hill. The dude who was “hugely” responsible for “Alien” (as well as “48 Hours”). I’m praying to the cinematic gods that he really sticks close to this one…I DO NOT trust Paul Anderson.
Alien: Resurrection is certainly a "could have been". Let's look at the primary creative team of Juenet and Caro. These two French dudes are responsible for some of the most visually stunning AND imaginative movies: "City of Lost Children", "Delicatessen" and Juenet's most recent accomplishment is "Amelie". ONE of the script writers for A:Resurrection was Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy The Vampire Killer". He's a wildly creative, witty and wonderful writer (witness his comic book "Fray"). BUT A:Resurrection turned out to be sloppy, hard to follow, you didn't care for ANY of the characters and well, in the end, dissapointing.
If AvP doe fly, it will certainly be interesting to see what happens with the "end product".
This may actually be an example of the video game to movie deal. There have been two PC games called Alien vs. Predator. Both were very well done though. I would almost say the movie people should consult the video game designers because the atmosphere in the games is supposed to be very scary and excellently done. Also, both games stayed very true to the source material. The two franchises were successfully merged here so it could be possible. Although i know nothing about Hollywood. The story described above sounds kind of similar to the games too.
Al: Yea…a LOT of the Video Game players and experts are not too thrilled about the project…they feel like Hollywood will royally screw it up…
I have a question, though, related to that. Didn’t the Producers of “Tomb Raider” get the imput from not only the rank and file players of the game, but also the experts and programmers? (Seems like I heard or read that somewhere). If the “Aliens vs. Predator” people are smart, they will do the same thing…
Uh, hate to break this folks, but the operative word here again is: hack. Ya gotta remember that Paul Anderson has just directed a game turned movie: Resident Evil. HE made a movie about zombies based on a game - BORING. I personally think he’s a horrible choice and really wish that James Cameron would follow through on his Alien 5 proposal (he has expressed interest to Ridley Scott). Oh well.
Pat: What do you think are the “sticking” points for Cameron and Scott? (My understanding is that Cameron is somewhat of a control freak…and after all…this is Scott’s “baby”…)
I don’t know if the Tomb Raider movie people talked the game designers or gamers. Hopefully the AvP people will. I think the most important thing to remember is that the two sources are cool or scary for diferent reasons. Alien is the suspenseful, creepy movie were you have the lightning fast critter that can jump out of nowhere to get you. And incubates its young in your chest cavaity. Predator works because the enemy is this all powerul creature that is hunting for the sole purpose of mounting your skull on its bedroom wall. Its not jump-out-of- your-seat scary but it still works. At least this what I think the Hollywood people need to do bear in mind when they make this. They need scenes where the alien jumps out and evicerates somebody and scenes where you watch from the predators perspective as it closes in for the kill.
Well, I checked back on some info and Ridley announced back in March that James Cameron had expressed interest to Alien 5. As far as I can tell, Cameron’s Brandywine Productions are still attached. SO, all is NOT lost. Cameron’s got other projects right now - however, he may see Anderson leading with the AvP project and might want to show this young dude what a established veteran with the ability to craft a story can do. Who knows?
As for Cameron bein' a "control freak" yeah - he is known to be. However, this IS (as you said) Ridley's baby. And they BOTH have a hand in creating the Alien mythos. Ridley with Alien and Cameron with Aliens. SO, I betcha that there's just alot of respect among the two of them. I, for one, would LOVE to see them BOTH work on Alien 5. I would expect great things!