Sigourney Weaverhas shared the original idea forAlien 3’s plot, and the struggles director David Fincher faced trying to make the movie.Alien 3is regarded by many as the black sheep of the long-running sci-fi saga, and it continues to divide opinion over 30 years after its release. For star Weaver, the negative reaction to her third outing as Ellen Ripley came down to “idiotic” studio interference, which she believes derailed director Fincher’s original vision for the threequel.
In a career-spanning interview withDeadline, Weaver touched on her many connections with theAlienfranchise, and at a time when the saga is seeing a renaissance withthe successful release ofAlien: Romulusand the upcoming TV showAlien: Earth, there couldn’t be a better time for the actress to reflect on what is considered one of the weakestAlienmovies.
Sharing her view on the production issues that hindered the filming ofAlien 3, Weaver recalled the endless fights that Fincher had with the studio to be able to continue making the movie he wanted to make. She also touched on the original premise of the script, which would not have been set in the penal colony of the final movie. She explained:
“Well, I could feel that David [Fincher] had to get on the phone and fight every day for us to shoot what he wanted to the next day, and I’m sorry that he didn’t get a chance to make the script his own before we started. That makes filmmaking very difficult.
“I recall that Vincent Ward’s original script had been about monks in a monastery and Ripley was in a coma for half of it. So, I keenly felt the lack of studio support. That was a transition moment when studios stopped being about ‘let’s make great films’ and started being about ‘let’s not lose money.’ They had the great idea to put David Fincher aboard for his first film, but then not to support the guy was very idiotic. It helped shooting in England so we could get on with things to an extent. I heard recently that David has disowned the project and I’m sorry about that because I loved working with him, and I think we made a good film. I’m glad he got a chance to do his version. It was a great ensemble.”
Alien 3 Went Through Many Changes That Hindered Its Success
Following the success ofAliensin 1986, it did not take long for the idea of another sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 terrifying original movie to come about. The first script came in 1987 from William Gibson, an action-driven movie about Xenomorphs being used as weapons, but that quickly gave way to others, as no one could land an idea that satisfied everyone. Eventually, they settled on Vincent Ward, who developed a story based on an isolated planet where a group of monks had taken refuge. While Ward was also meant to direct the movie, the studio’s demands to change many aspects of the script eventually led to his firing, and ultimately to Fincher taking the helm. The script was then reworked by Walter Hill and David Giler, then revised by Rex Pickett and Fincher, ending with a movie that was the sum of many different parts.
The reviews forAlien 3were very mixed on its original release, and although a new cut of the movie - entitled the “Assembly Cut” due to director Fincher not wanting anything to do with the film – restored and clarified some of the film’s plot holes, it gained only a slightly more positive reaction as its theatrical release.
Original Alien 3 Director Had a Very Different Idea: ‘It Would’ve Been a Ginormous Hit’
Alien 3 failed, but its original director had a very different idea which would’ve taken the franchise in a unique direction.
It is clear from Weaver’s words, and previous comments by Fincher, that the movie would have been very different if the director had been allowed to make the movie in the way he wanted to. This is something backed up by the current success ofAlien: Romulus, as director Fede Álvarez has made it very clear that the latestAlienmovie was the film he set out to make, and that singular vision – with just a small bit ofadvice from franchise veterans Ridley Scott and James Cameron– has clearly paid off.Alien: Romulusopened in cinemas earlier in the month, and outgrossedAlien 3in less than a week.
Alien 3can be found streaming on Hulu/Disney+ depending on your territory.
