As press for ‘Alien: Covenant’ is ramping up for the May release we’ve seen quite a few fun facts from the franchise coming out from Ridley Scott including his original plan for Sigourney Weaver‘s Ripley at the end of ‘Alien.’ This icon for women everywhere almost didn’t make it through the final act of the first film. Even if I wasn’t such a huge fan of the character, hearing how Scott had intended to end the movie leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. This isn’t just because it would have made ‘Aliens’ impossible but just what he describes doesn’t sound quite right.
Here is what Scott originally had in mind for the final battle between Ripley and the final xXenomorph:
“I thought that the alien should come in, and Ripley harpoons it, and it makes no difference, so it slams through her mask and rips her head off.”
After that, the alien would start pressing buttons on the dashboard and then “it would mimic Captain Dallas [Skerritt] saying, ‘I’m signing off.'”
Thankfully, when he pitched the idea it didn’t go over too well at 20th Century Fox:
“The first executive from Fox arrived on set within 14 hours, threatening to fire me on the spot. So we didn’t do that [ending].”
Usually, studio interference is an easy blame on why some films didn’t end up all that well for the audiences but this is one time I’m glad to see it happened and from 20th Century Fox no less! Whichever executive decided to put their foot down needs to be praised. Even though the later installments were weak, the Xenomorphs will always hold a place in our hearts.
Are you glad 20th Century Fox told Ridley Scott not to use his original ending or would you have rather had the movie be a standalone movie for Ripley? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
