As a kid growing up during the 1980's, one of my most memorable experiences was watching both "Aliens" and "Predator" on the big-screen in 1986 and 1987 respectively, both of which introduced me to the world of Stan Winston and his creations, as I didn't get the chance to see "The Terminator" in theaters. With that said, he's truly created some of the most memorable characters in film history, and he'll be truly missed within both the effects and filming industry. Which brings me to the reason for my article here.....
In 1991, screenwriter Peter Briggs had penned a draft of "Aliens vs. Predator" during a 6-week period, in which his version was loosely based on the original AvP comic as well as the graphic novel titled "AvP: Prey", both created by Dark Horse Comics. And what created the idea of a spin-off franchise, is the famous trophy room sequence during the climax of "Predator 2", where the audience got a clear look at an Alien Skull seen on one of the racks in the Predator spacecraft. It was that scene alone that rumors began floating around about the "AvP" being in development since 1990, hence Peter Briggs's spec-script that later went unused. So for those who are interested in reading the script, can check out this following link:
http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/aliens_vs_predator.txt
(NOTE: Despite a few changes here-and-there, his script did remain faithful to the source material. It was even rumored at one point, that the movie was supposed to have taken place sometime after the events in "Alien 3". Unfortunately, due to the shake-up at 20th Century Fox at that time, despite the idea being dropped, the project had remained in what many have said, "Development Hell".)
In 2000, a number of filmmakers was reportedly asked about helming the movie, including that of David Twohy, who was most famous for writing an unused draft of "Alien 3" in October 1989, during the film's troubled production. After reading his script, however, I saw it more of a Post-Ripley sequel that we should've gotten, as many fans have said that Ripley's self-sacrifice at the end of the climax had brought a faithful conclusion to her story, which was later ruined when "Alien Resurrection" had received the greenlight, let alone filmed. But I enjoyed about Twohy's version over the other previous drafts, is how he focuses and develops his characters well, while at the same time, effectively keeps the appearance of the Xenomorphs down to a minimum, making the situation far more scarier. And speaking of the Xenomorphs, this script also has a fresh take by introducing the idea of genetically-engineering them as lethal bio-weapons through a series of cloning experiments, which was the goal of Weyland-Yutani all along, hence the reason why the Aliens varied in both appearances as well as abilities:
"Alien 3" script by David Twohy: http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/alien3_twohy.txt
Fan-made concept art of the Brute Alien that appears in his draft:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3009890389_cef586631f_o.jpg
(NOTE: While I didn't create the Brute Alien concept, but this does give you an idea on what it would've looked like when introduced on the big-screen)
So while I appreciate both Paul Anderson and the Strause Brothers for trying to make an entertaining film in 2004 and 2007, I can't help at being highly upset with them for not only being not completely faithful to the source material, but also for not hiring Stan Winston to work on the creature designs (which really upsetted fellow fans greatly), as he created both the Alien Queen for Jim Cameron's "Aliens" in 1986, in which he won the Academy Award for that year, but is also responsible for creating the Predator in both 1987 and 1990 for the first two stand-alone "Predator" films, for which he garnered an Oscar-nomination for the previous movie. However, I do give both Paul Anderson and the Strause Brothers major kudos for hiring Ian Whyte to portray the iconic Predator, as he, like the late-great Kevin Peter Hall before him, stands over 7' tall and possesses a basketball/martial arts/dance background. So despite the current films not being faithful to the source material, a few of us helped put together a petition that not only gives the "AvP" film franchise a second-chance at life, but also drafts David Twohy as both writer-and-director, as it was 20th Century Fox that once inquired for his availability to helm the first movie, but a scheduling conflict later prevented him from taking on the project. So for those who would like to see this happen, feel free to check out our petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/avp3/petition.html
And with news of the next film in the "Riddick" franchise about to get underway soon, i've also included a scenario of Riddick going one-on-one against the intergalactic hunter as an added bonus:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2470/3687482384_dfc9c3c186_b.jpg
(NOTE: The artist David Paton drew this concept art up which takes inspiration from Stan Winston's design of the Jungle Hunter from the original "Predator", as well as the City Hunter from "Predator 2")
So with this said, hopefully the guys at 20th Century Fox will read this and perhaps look into the idea of possibly rebooting the franchise from complete scratch, and maybe ask David Twohy to write-and-direct it. I would also like to not only give thanks to some of the guys from IMDB for putting together our petition as well as provide the concept art and other promotional videos, but also gives thanks to both Twohy and Ian Whyte for allowing me to talk with them on how the series can be put back on the map.
