No name carries greater weight in the industry of tentpole filmmaking than James Cameron, maybe except Kevin Feige and Leonardo Di Caprio. More than ten years after the director’s Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time, in December 2022 he released the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, a visual effects masterpiece that gave a drought-stricken box office a huge boost in ticket sales in December. Currently, the sixth-highest-earning movie of all time, it keeps sustaining theatrical attendance is what the critics say.
With the blockbuster classic romance Titanic, which ran in theaters for almost ten months after release, and is still the third-highest-earning film of all time, James Cameron created box office history by winning Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Editing at the year’s Academy Awards. Cameron’s filmography also consists of another masterpiece that is Alien, where he gave Ridley Scott’s Alien a brilliant spin.
James Cameron’s Alien is the worthy sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien
In an interview with Vulture, Cameron revealed his opinions about Aliens by Ridley Scott and how the film inspired him a lot. The director also pointed out the significant drop in quality of all other films in the Alien series.
“The franchise has kind of wandered all over the map. Ridley [Scott] did the first film, and he inspired an entire generation of filmmakers and science-fiction fans with that one movie and there have been so many films that stylistically have derived from it, including my own ‘Aliens,’ which was the legitimate sequel and, I think, the proper heir to his film. I sort of did it as a fanboy. I wanted to honor his film but also say what I needed to say. After that, I don’t take any responsibility.”
He continued,
“Let me just add to that — and don’t cut this part off, please — I will stand in line for any Ridley Scott movie, even a not-so-great one because he is such an artist, he’s such a filmmaker. I always learn from him. And what he does with going back to his own franchise [will be] fascinating.”
It is reported that the director was in a meeting with some big-shot producer to get Alien made. After a lot of arguments Cameron gave up, he took a piece of paper and drew a dollar sign next to the film’s name. It was this strategy of his that finally got the producers on board for the project. Alien turned out to be both a critical and commercial hit for Cameron, making him $180m from an $18.5m budget.
Another Alien is in the making, Cailee Spaeny to lead the film
Fede Alvarez, the director of Don’t Breathe will script and direct a brand-new Alien picture for 20th Century Fox, as part of 20th’s agreement to supply 10 films annually to the Disney-owned OTT service. Alvarez will helm the film for Hulu, and his idea is entirely distinct from the other films.
Through his Scott Free label, Ridley Scott, who helmed the 1979 original and both millennial versions, will produce this one too. The upcoming Alien film will also be different from Noah Hawley’s FX TV series, which network head John Landgraf has stated won’t include Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, the alien hunter. Rising actress Cailee Spaeny, who appeared in HBO’s Mare of Easttown, is in talks to play the lead in the upcoming project.
The terror of a vicious alien species known as the Xenomorphs, who implant eggs within living bodies through “face huggers” that violently burst out of chests when they reach a certain stage of development, is the main theme of Alien and its numerous sequels and prequels. While specifics of the narrative are currently being kept under wraps, Spaeny’s casting does carry on the tradition of the franchise having a strong female protagonist at the heart of the story.
