In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to shave our heads and take a vow of celibacy as we continue our “Alien” franchise review with the 1992 sequel “Alien 3”…
None of the films in the “Alien” franchise came together without a few bumps in the road but nothing quite like the journey to create the third sequel in the series.
Following the success of James Cameron’s “Aliens,” the studio behind the series definitely wanted another film but Sigourney Weaver didn’t express much interest in returning so William Gibson was hired to write a screenplay that didn’t spend a lot of time focused on Ellen Ripley.
Instead in Gibson’s version, Corporal Dwayne Hicks led the film, which was also a metaphor for the Cold War politics of the time. Sadly, the studio wouldn’t sign off on that version of the sequel so director Renny Harlin, fresh off his work on “Nightmare on Elm Street 4” was brought in as a director but he ran into just as many problems.
Different scripts and various directors continued to hammer away at the project but it wasn’t until producers Walter Hill and David Giler effectively took over writing duties as they combined ideas from several past pitches to form the screenplay for the third film.
Weaver came back on board thanks to a hefty payday and more creative input and a young director named David Fincher was hired to lead the project.
But his first feature film turned into a nightmare thanks to constant rewrites that were actually delivered on set during filming.
The final version of the film follows Ripley after she crash lands on a prison planet filled with hardened but reformed criminals and she soon discovers an alien has followed her there…
In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to shave our heads and take a vow of celibacy as we review the 1992 sequel “Alien 3”…
