David Fincher’s Alien 3 Took a Risk Most Franchises Avoid

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Hollywood is now heavily focused on established brands and franchises. With more competition for people’s time and the convenience of streaming, studios are finding it harder to draw audiences to theaters. As a result, they often prioritize sequels, reboots, and adaptations of well-known stories. Studio executives reason that investing in a familiar property like another Star Wars film is a safer bet than spending a large sum on a completely original idea.

Hollywood hasn’t always been so cautious about creating franchises. Sequels didn’t become reliable money-makers until the 1970s and 80s, and even then, they rarely continued the original story directly. Instead, sequels often felt like updated versions of the first film, or filmmakers intentionally made them very different in style and tone. David Fincher’s film definitely took the latter approach, and he took a big gamble by making something so drastically different from the original that it shocked fans, critics, and those involved in the first movie.

Alien 3 Walked an Infamously Tortured Road Right From the Beginning

After the huge success of Aliens in 1986, 20th Century Fox was eager to make a third film. However, the production company, Brandywine, didn’t want to simply repeat the formula of another action-packed sci-fi movie. They had found success with Aliens by making it very different from the original Alien, which was a tense and frightening experience. They believed the best way forward with Alien 3 was to try the same approach – creating something distinctly different from its predecessor.

Several different ideas for a third movie were considered over time. These included a sprawling two-part story focusing on the evil Weyland-Yutani corporation, a script by William Gibson involving space communists stealing xenomorph eggs, and a version set inside a self-contained, Earth-like environment with a small-town community.

Brandywine wasn’t happy with any of the scripts they received, so they kept looking. David Twohy, who would later direct Pitch Black, submitted a draft about a prison planet where genetic experiments were being conducted to create alien bioweapons. However, that version lacked a key element, which Fox president Joe Roth rejected. They then asked New Zealand filmmaker Vincent Ward to write another version.

The most unusual pitch came from Ward, who envisioned space monks living in a monastery built entirely of wood on a remote planet. While some studio executives liked the idea, Fox’s Jon Landau thought it was too unconventional and impractical to film. Ward left the project when he wouldn’t compromise his vision of the monks and their unique world, refusing to turn them into prisoners on a mining planet.

David Fincher Wound Up Making a Patchwork Film Comprised of Failed Scripts

Brandywine executives Walter Hill and David Giler took over the struggling film project, blending Louis Twohy’s idea of a prison planet with parts of David Ward’s original story. They kept the religious themes but shifted the focus from monks to imprisoned criminals. A relatively unknown music video director was then brought on board to direct, despite never having directed a full-length movie before. Filming began in January 1991, even though the script wasn’t complete.

This wasn’t an ideal beginning for making a big movie, and the filming process was so difficult that the director, Fincher, eventually distanced himself from the film. He avoided talking about the experience for years and even turned down a chance to create a Director’s Cut, despite an offer from Fox.

At the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, he explained that the film’s complicated development process left him with a messy script full of old mistakes. He shared that he preferred to make his own errors rather than fix those of others.

Despite his well-known dislike of Alien 3, David Fincher’s frustration stemmed from constant interference by anxious studio bosses during filming, not a lack of creative freedom. Though relatively unknown at the time, his work over the following three decades has proven that the film’s dark and pessimistic atmosphere is entirely his signature style.

David Fincher is the director behind dark and unsettling films like Se7en, Fight Club, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, and The Killer. So, it’s no surprise his work isn’t typically feel-good. Even Alien 3, despite its flaws, shows he was striving for something ambitious and distinctive early in his career, when he was only 29.

Alien 3 Took Several Risks That Ruined the Movie for Many Infuriated Fans

Most fans of the Alien series remember Alien 3 as the film where Sigourney Weaver shaved her head. The studio heavily featured this striking look in the movie’s promotion, signaling a departure from the previous two films. Back then, in the early 1990s, the internet wasn’t widely used, making it much easier for studios to keep plot details of upcoming sequels under wraps.

When audiences first saw Aliens 3 on May 22, 1992, they were shocked by its opening scene. It immediately reversed the happy ending of the previous film, Aliens, before the movie even really began.

The movie begins with a chilling scene: Ripley is awakened from cryosleep aboard the U.S.S. Sulaco, alongside Newt, the young girl she’s protecting, the marine Hicks, and the android Bishop, who is already damaged. It quickly becomes clear that an alien egg has secretly made its way onto the ship. A facehugger emerges from the egg and attacks the sleeping crew.

After crash-landing on the remote planet Fiorina ‘Fury’ 161, Ripley learns from the prison doctor, Clemens, that she’s the sole survivor of the Sulaco. Deeply shaken, Ripley demands a complete autopsy of Newt, fearing a hidden alien embryo inside her. While the autopsy reveals no embryo, the process of cracking open Newt’s ribcage is incredibly disturbing.

It’s eventually discovered that the facehugger placed an Alien Queen embryo within Ripley. In a heroic act, she gives her life by launching herself – and the Queen bursting from her chest – into the prison’s molten lead furnace.

Killing Off Newt and Hicks Is Still the Most Controversial Choice in Alien Franchise History

Removing established characters from a popular series is always a risky move. But when director David Fincher killed off Newt and Hicks before the main story even began – simply showing it in the opening credits – fans reacted very strongly and negatively.

Okay, let me tell you, the reaction to what happened early on in this movie was intense. A lot of fans felt completely blindsided and, honestly, betrayed. It was such a shocking moment that it really threw people off – a lot of us just couldn’t reconnect with the story after that. Losing those characters, Newt and Hicks, felt like a real slap in the face, and it was tough to look past it, no matter how much we wanted to.

I remember when Cameron talked about it on Biehn’s podcast, Just Foolin’ About, and he was really upset. He called the decision to kill off Hicks, Newt, and Bishop “the stupidest thing” – and honestly, I get why he felt that way. He explained that they’d built up so much connection with those characters, and then the next movie just… got rid of them, replacing them with people we were supposed to dislike and want to see die. It just didn’t make sense to him – or to a lot of us fans, really.

Let me tell you, the story of how Michael Biehn found out the studio was essentially writing Hicks out of the story is pretty great. Apparently, when Fox asked him to approve using a photo of his character in the film, he saw a chance to negotiate. He demanded a payment higher than his original salary for Aliens—and, impressively, he got it. Talk about knowing your worth!

It’s still unclear if director David Fincher decided to kill off the characters Newt and Hicks, or if the studio made that decision. Regardless, everyone working on Alien 3 wanted the film to be very different from Aliens, so they agreed to remove anything that reminded audiences of the previous movie.

Back then, it wasn’t common for sequels to directly continue the stories of previous films, so Fox likely didn’t anticipate the strong negative reaction to Alien 3. Unfortunately, the studio really upset dedicated fans, and to this day, the film remains a major point of contention for many in the Alien fanbase.

You know, it’s funny – over time, Alien 3 has actually gained a pretty dedicated fanbase. A lot of that love really centers around the Assembly Cut, which was included in the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set. Honestly, it’s the version most people prefer, and it’s easy to see why!

Despite its strengths, the movie remains famous for the uproar it caused, and it’s unlikely any studio would risk making a sequel with such a surprising and unexpected direction today.

It’s positive that Hollywood now pays attention to what viewers want, but when they try too hard to please everyone, it can stifle original ideas. Although David Fincher’s dark take on Alien 3 wasn’t a perfect fit for the series, the fact that a major studio even allowed such a bold and unsettling vision to be made is something to be celebrated.

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2026-01-13 02:39