From Alien to Zorro
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
The next David Fincher, Margot Robbie takes on The Sims, a Never Never Ending story, The Artist plays Zorro and eden.
Let’s go!
ALIEN: VIOLENT ADAPTATION
The first Alien is a masterpiece.
The Ridley Scott-directed film taps into the main line of the amygdala. The scriptwriter, Dan O’Bannon, discussed his inspiration:
“[H.R. Giger’s] paintings had a profound effect on me. I had never seen anything that was quite as horrible and at the same time as beautiful as his work. And so I ended up writing a script about a Giger monster.”
The story of Alien, which has spawned seven sequels and two spin-off films (Alien vs. Predator), has always been that of violent reproduction–both on and off-screen.
The alien creature propagates its species by attaching itself to the victim’s face and implanting an egg inside their stomach. In one of the most chilling scenes in the series, an alien bursts out of a crew member's rib cage during dinner time.
The process of adapting the films has also been violent.
David Fincher, the director of Alien 3 (1992), was aggressively subjugated to studio whims and was so traumatized by the experience it birthed his meticulous nature.
Enter Alien: Romulus.
The latest reincarnation of the series is directed by Fede Álvarez (Don't Breathe, Evil Dead). It will debut in theaters on August 16th.
The story is set 25 years after Ridley Scott's original Alien (1979). And while the new teaser trailer doesn't give much away, a recent interview with the Álvarez was revealing:
“I really wanted to go back to the sheer horror of the first film, and to take those elements of thriller that Aliens has, and Alien 3 has as well. We went to crazy extents to keep it pure to the filmmaking techniques of the first movie.”
In other words, this new film may resurrect a much-tired series, adding newborn fuel for our nightmares.
For More:
Alien: Romulus teaser. It’s scary.
The iconic chestburster scene from Alien (1979) is enthralling.
A BTS clip of David Fincher directing Alien 3… without a script.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Industry to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.