Earlier this week Sigourney Weaver gave a harsh verdict to Alien vs. Predator, describing how she chose to be killed off in Alien 3 to avoid appearing in the crossover. Meanwhile, Ridley Scott backed out of directing the third instalment for the same reason. Bad news travels fast: Peter Briggs, who tapped out a spec script for the movie in 1991, reached out to Bloody Disgusting with a lengthy response to her AvP bashing.
The entire reaction is worth perusing but here's the general gist: Weaver's comments are out of sync with what actually went down. Per his statement, Briggs submitted his Alien vs. Predator spec script to Fox in September 1991, after being inspired by the original Dark Horse Comics series published in late 1990. Alien 3 had already entered production - in January 1991. Unless Weaver has phenomenal precognitive abilities, the foundation of her argument is a bit crumbly.
"When I hear Sigourney Weaver recounting her killing off Ripley in Alien 3 because she’d heard Fox were talking about doing Alien vs Predator, despite the fact our project was first spoken about and initiated well over a year (not even counting Vincent Ward’s involvement!) after her movie had gone into active production, I really have to roll my eyes at her claims," says Briggs in his statement.
As it turns out, Briggs' screenplay wasn't even used for the 2004 film by Paul W.S. Anderson, or its terrible sequel, and it sounds like we probably missed out. "I’ll also be honest that I’m less-than-wild about the two Alien vs. Predator movies (particularly Requiem, about which less said the better), but I do wish Sigourney Weaver would stop beating on Alien vs. Predator as her pet piñata in “ruining” the Alien franchise, and acknowledge that two standalone Alien movies she was actively involved with unfortunately managed that first, all on their own." Ouch.
"And Alien vs. Predator — as a concept — is still killer, full of potential," he adds, before his final sign-off: "There’s a terrific Alien vs. Predator movie still to be made by someone. It just hasn’t happened yet."
That sound you hear is the development cogs beginning to whir, deep in the depths of 20th Century Fox. The studio recently greenlit Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5, for which Weaver is expected to return, but that's not to say an interconnected Alien-Predator universe is out of the question. Whether you like the sound of it or not.
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