These Are the 400 Years No One Gave a Shit About the Mona Lisa

That smile’s only been mysterious as of recent times

Authors: By Eli Yudin
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

21 Historical Events That Somehow Took Place at the Same Time

Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth II were born the same year

Authors: By Amanda Mannen
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

Netflix Explains Why It’s In the Dave Chappelle and Matt Rife Business

If you don't like it, says Netflix, turn it off.

Authors: By Matt Solomon
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 2

Ellen DeGeneres Says She Got Kicked Out of Show Business

How many times can one comedian get canceled?

Authors: By Matt Solomon
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

Recently Discovered Fossils That Belong in Your Nightmares

There is no more potent nightmare fuel than a snake the size of a school bus

Authors: By Amanda Mannen
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

45 Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the ‘Alien’ Franchise

By:: Cracked Writers; Timon DJ Spajic

September 30, 2023

45 Behind-the-Scenes Facts About the ‘Alien’ Franchise

Alien and Aliens are two of the most lauded films in the history of science-fiction. The others? Well, your mileage may vary. The franchise overall has a giant dedicated fanbase that’s gone to bat for it since 1979. For decades, cosplayers have gone to sci-fi and comic book conventions dressed as xenomorphs, Colonial Marines or Ellen Ripley herself. However, even the most hardcore Alien fan can be surprised with a new behind-the-scenes fact about the film franchise. Like how a pair of contact lenses almost made Bishop look scarier than the xenomorphs. Or how Renny Harlin was supposed to direct the third movie. Or how James Cameron was the “voice” of the Alien Queen.

Read on about those and 42 other factoids about the making of the Alien films — and not all of them are about the phallic design choices…

45

Aliens (1986) James Cameron and his then-wife and collaborator Gale Anne Hurd fought to have Sigourney Weaver star in the sequel. Fox studio was reluctant to insist on Weaver returning for the sequel because it could've caused her agent to inflate the asking price. Cameron and Hurd quit, and only came on board again after Fox agreed to cast Weaver. CRACKED.COM — L.A.Times

44

Aliens (1986) Bishop was almost scarier than the Alien. Actor Lance Henriksen, who played Bishop, explained: I thought maybe when Bishop got alerted to something, two pupils would appear in his eyes, and I had some contact lenses made up. When Jim saw the dailies he said, 'Jesus, we can't use that. You're more frightening than the Alien! CRACKED.COM — Empire Online

43

Alien3 (1992) Director David Fincher clashed with producers, thanks to his on-set perfectionism and the studio's constant meddling. Fincher insisted on shooting in certain light and weather conditions exclusively, and rebelled against the studio's rushed schedule by saying they should shoot a large number of takes of a head exploding Producer Ezra Swerdlow once said: I'll never forget Dave's complete devotion to the color of blood. CRACKED.COM — Vox

42

Ridley Scott was fifth in line to direct Alien. Scott was about to start working on Tristan and Isolde, but after seeing George Lucas's Star Wars, he felt he needed to do something different. Then the script of Alienlanded on his table. CRACKED.COM — Deadline

41

Alien3 (1992) Fincher, in a rare interview discussing the movie, compared the idea behind it to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The first thing that we decided was that the alien wasn't going to be the main focus. It's like The Bridge on the River Kwai. The bridge is one of the things you have to deal with, that's not what the movie is about. The idea was not to make a whiz bang, shoot 'em up. But to deal with this character. Let's put a 40-year-old woman in outer space, not an underwear-clad victim like in the first — Moss Film

40

Alien3 (1992) Fincher never wanted the Alien to come out of Ripley in the end. He was forced to reshoot the scene after Terminator 2 came out with a similar ending. I never felt it was necessary to show the creature. I was very much against this and dragged my feet and said 'I don't believe in it, I don't think it's important to see the monster but if we're going to do this we're going to have to do something that has a little bit of top spin to it, something else going for it. CRACKED.COM — Moss Film

39

John Hurt and Veronica Cartwright thought they were being poisoned when their Alien spacesuits malfunctioned.. While filming the exterior shots of the planetoid, the tubes on their suits broke, causing an aerosol leak into their helmets. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

38

Alien3 (1992) Renny Harlin was originally going to direct the third installment. After seeing his work on A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Harlin was brought on to direct an Alien movie that would've seen Ripley travel to the Alien home planet. The concept was deemed too expensive, and Harlin eventually quit to direct Die Hard 2 instead. CRACKED.COM — Vox, GamesRadar

37

Alien3 (1992) Writer Vincent Ward proposed a planet-sized wooden spaceship occupied by monks as the main location for the movie. someone Ward wrote a number of scripts, hired illustrators, and even built some of the sets, but the producers couldn't grasp how a wooden structure would be able to hold up in space. Ward's concept has been dubbed one of the Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made. CRACKED.COM — Vox, Vincent Ward Films

36

Alien3 (1992) The final ending was shot four days before the premiere. As much as he tried, Fincher wasn't happy with it. I said 'whatever happens she has to be in peace at the end.' It has to be a sigh rather than gritting teeth and sweat. So we talked about it and went over and shot this blue-screen element. We were shooting that shot four days before the film opened, a completely ridiculous mess. I don't know if it works. CRACKED.COM — Moss Film

35

Alien3 (1992) The Runner Xenomorph was both man and puppet. The Dog Alien was brought to life combining a man in a suit (Tom Woodruff Jr.) and a rod puppet filmed with a bluescreen. CRACKED.COM — Bloody Disgusting

34

Alien3 (1992) I The famous scene that spawned a meme was done with just the Xenomorph's head. Tom Woodruff Jr., who played the creature in a suit, said that while filming the scene he struggled to keep his distance from Weaver because he could only see out from the neck of the suit. Fincher told him to rather remove the head and stand next to Weaver outside of the shot, and let the puppeteers control the jaw and tongue mechanics. CRACKED.COM — Yahoo!

33

Alien3 (1992) Sigourney Weaver insisted they kill off Ripley. Weaver said that when she heard about the studio's plan to do Alien VS. Predator it depressed her, and she wanted out. She claims that it's the same reason Ridley Scott didn't return for Alien 3. CRACKED.COM — Movieweb

32

Aliens (1986) James Cameron used the science. of the digger wasp to create the Alien Queen. During reproduction, the digger wasp lays its eggs in a paralyzed host that gets eaten alive after the eggs hatch. CRACKED.COM — Syfy

31

Aliens (1986) Colette Hiller, who played Corporal Ferro, was not happy about having to cut her hair. They told me, 'It's okay, look at Jenette!' and I just bawled... I was going to o get married shortly afterwards so I made them buy me a long, blonde wig! I don't know what came over me! I never actually wore it. CRACKED.COM — Empire Online

30

Aliens (1986) Artist and designer Rob Cobb wanted the colony to resemble the scientific bases in Antarctica. Cobb explained that the open and exposed spread of Hadley's Hope didn't really make sense given the weather on the exomoon, but they decided to choose aesthetics over detailed accuracy. CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

29

Aliens (1986) James Cameron did the voice of the Alien Queen. Cameron - who loves to be involved in every aspect of filmmaking- recorded most of the sounds in the movie in his living ROOM at home. The breathing, hissing, and shrieking of the queen was all him. CRACKED.COM — Syfy

28

Ridley Scott had to fight the studio to use the work of surrealist painter H.R. Giger in Alien. Giger, who designed all the aliens in the movie, almost didn't make the cut because the studio thought his work was too obscene. Scott got into a fight with the studio: I said, are you kidding me? Obscene is good! We're doing an R rated movie. I want to make you uncomfortable, apart from the fact that it's scarier than shit. CRACKED.COM — Deadline

27

Aliens (1986) AI Matthews, who played Sergeant Apone, helped train the Colony Marines on set. Matthews was a real Vietnam vet with 13 combat awards, making him in charge of training the British and American actors who formed the Marines. The main thing I had to teachithose guys was never point a weapon at somebody, and never walk around with your finger on the trigger. We use blanks, but they can do some damage. CRACKED.COM — Empire Online

26

Aliens (1986) Before James Remar was fired, he accidentally blew a hole in the set of Little Shop of Horrors. The Frank Oz production was filming on a stage adjacent to the Aliens set, and while practicing with a shotgun, Remar caused a bit of damage. CRACKED.COM — Empire Online

25

Alien3 (1992) Ridley Scott visited the set, much to the delight of fanboy David Fincher. The two shared a moment of mutual grievance. Ridley asked how it was going and I said 'Really bad' and he said, 'It never goes well, this is not the way to make movies, make sure you make a little film where you have some control while they're beating you up.' And all he did was tell me he still hasn't seen a dime from the first Alien. CRACKED.COM — Moss Film

24

Aliens (1986) There was almost a mutiny on set. Cameron's assistant director, Derek Cracknell, seemed to think he could do a better directing job than Cameron (who many weren't taking seriously at the time). Cameron would ask him to do a shot, Cracknell would undermine him and do it differently, and it'd end up wrong. When Cameron and Hurd eventually fired Cracknell, he urged the crew to protest. Cameron wanted to move the production out of England, but Hurd convinced him to talk to the crew and get things back on track. CRACKED.COM — /film

23

Aliens (1986) The Sulaco ship was originally shaped like a sphere with antennas. isn The problem was that it had to move past the camera, and the huge sphere wouldn't haveworked with the film's aspect ratio, so designer Syd Mead ended up making it a flatter, slab-like shape. GRACKED.COM — Vulture

22

Aliens (1986) James Cameron didn't care for his English crew's tea trolley tradition. Twice daily, an old lady would bring the crew their union-mandated tea on set. Cameron saw it as losing time, and would simply grab a camera and go film something on his own, much to the annoyance of the crew. CRACKED.COM — IGN, /film

21

Aliens (1986) James Remar was initially cast as Corporal Dwayne Hicks. At the time, Remar said he had to leave the film due to family matters, but in later years he revealed that he was actually struggling with a drug addiction. He was fired from the movie after being busted for possession. CRACKED.COM — IndieWire

20

Aliens (1986) The studio didn't believe that Gale Anne Hurd was a real producer. Even though she had worked as a producer (and had also produced The Terminator), Hurd had to ask her industry connections to call Fox and vouch for her. CRACKED.COM — IGN

19

Aliens (1986) The Alien Queen was based on one of James Cameron's paintings. The director says he took inspiration from H.R. Giger's work. I took the biomechanoid concept, which was very phallic in the creature created for Alien, and turned it around and tried to make it female. So, I gave her very long, elegant tapering legs and almost a kind of high-heel look, and then she turned into this creature that was hideous and yet somehow beautiful. CRACKED.COM — Syfy

18

Aliens (1986) The Terminators script was responsible for James Cameron coming on board. While searching for a writer to do the sequel, development executive Larry Wilson came across Cameron's script, and couldn't put it down. It was electrifying. I put the script on David's (Giler) desk and said, 'This is the guy. CRACKED.COM — L.A. Times

17

Aliens (1986) Ricco ROSS, who played Private Frost, had to choose between Aliens and Full Metal Jacket. Initially, Ross was going to do Full Metal Jacket, but the schedule would overlap Aliens with a week, and Kubrick was notorious for going over schedule. James Cameron let ROSS read the script for Aliens (something Kubrick didn't allow for Full Metal Jacket- the actors only got their pages), and it sealed the deal. CRACKED.COM — Empire Online

16

Aliens (1986) Actor William Hope got a lot of flak for playing Lieutenant Gorman. A friend of mine did two tours in Vietnam, and he was furious. He saw the movie and said, 'You call yourself a fuckin' Marine?!' But my passion is acting. I couldn't care less about that American obsession with looking good. CRACKED.COM — Empire Online

15

Aliens (1986) The Alien Queen was originally going to be stop motion. Due to time constraints, they had to build the biggest marionette in motion picture history using rod puppets, hydraulics, radio controls, and wires. Miniatures of the queen and Ripley in the Power Loader were also used during the big final battle scene. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

14

The Facehugger dissection scene in Alien was made with a plastic mold. of the creature filled with raw oysters. The tail of the Facehugger was an intestine with air pumped through it. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

13

Ridley Scott and the producers of Alien had some disagreements about the scene where Harry Dean Stanton's character Brett gets taken out by the Xenomorph. The producers didn't understand why chains would be dangling or why water would be pouring on the ship, but Scott wanted the effects for movement in the scene, and foughtforit. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

12

The Nostromo was a self-contained, set. The Alien actors couldn't get out of the ship except to walk all the way through it, adding to the feeling of them being trapped and making it more realistic. CRACKED.COM — io9

11

Dutch customs officials gave H.R. Giger grief because they thought his artwork for Alien was actual photographs. Where on Earth did they think I could have photographed my subjects? In hell, perhaps? CRACKED.COM — The Guardian

10

Sigorney Weaver came up with the idea to sing You Are My Lucky Star. Ridley Scott said it was a nightmare getting the rights to use the song in the movie. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

9

The Facehugger was originally going to be painted green. When Dan O'Bannon saw the natural-colored tone of the thing on set, he insisted they leave it unpainted. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

8

Roger Daltrey from The Who helped with the lightning. The singer and his crew were experimenting with laser beams pretty close to the studio Where Alien was filmed, SO Ridley Scott borrowed their equipment to create the electric blue lighting in the resting place of the facehuggers. CRACKED.COM — io9

7

There was almost a sexual scene in Alien between Ripley and the Xenomorph. In the scene- that wasn't filmed because they ran out of time-the alien would've examined Ripley's body in a quasi-sex scene and compare it to its own body. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

6

The inside of Ash was made of pasta, caviar, milk, and marbles. It didn't help that Ian Holm, who played Ash in Alien, hated milk. GRACKED.COM — Fear of the Unknown: Shepperton Studios

5

Every set in Alien was filled with a thin layer of smoke to create atmosphere. The smoke was evenly distributed SO as not to be overly obvious. Scott did it because he wanted to capture the mood of H.R. Giger's artwork for the film. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

4

Aliens (1986) James Cameron tried to scare Newt actress Carrie Henn on set, but couldn't. Henn said that she always knew when it was a fake effect or a rubber chicken or whatever he tried to use to give her a fright, but it was only when she actually saw the movie that she legitimately felt scared. CRACKED.COM — Red Carpet News TV

3

A German Shepherd got Jones the Cat to hiss on the Alien set. Director Ridley Scott flashed a German Shepherd in the cat's sight to get those hissing reactions. CRACKED.COM — Film School Rejects

2

Alien3 (1992) At one point, Corporal Dwayne Hicks was going to be the main protagonist. Cyberpunk author Willian Gibson wrote a script that saw Michael Biehn's Hicks taking center stage to fight off the Aliens. The producers wanted too many rewrites, and Gibson quit, but his original script was adapted into a comic series in 2018, and an audiobook was released in 2019. CRACKED.COM — The Verge

1

Alien actors were often fainting on set. The fake spacesuits got SO hot on set, and the fact that they filmed in summer didn't help either. Actors were passing out SO regularly that they got a nurse with an oxygen tank to be on standby. The crew eventually adjusted the costumes. CRACKED.COM — Fear of the Unknown: Shepperton Studios

Tags

Behind The Scenes

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Jennifer Aniston Thinks She Can Do Dolly Parton Justice With ‘9 to 5’ Remake

The ‘Friends’ star is producing a ‘Reimagining’ of the comedy classic to be written by Diablo Cody

Authors: By Keegan Kelly
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 1

30 of the Best Decisions People Made While Drunk

‘I made PB&J french toast’

Authors: By Ian Garner
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

15 Dad Jokes for the Hall of Shame

These all make me want to puke

Authors: By Jesse
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

32 Random Bits of Trivia the Fat Cats at Big Factoid Don’t Want You to See

These facts will self-destruct upon reading

Authors: By Jay L'Ecuyer, Cracked Writers
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

The Final Boss: All the Times ‘The Simpsons’ Failed to Convince Bruce Springsteen to Guest Star

Born to run — away from Springfield

Authors: By Neil Arsenty
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 1

5 Bizarre Prison Rules and Regulations From Around the World

I wouldn’t recommend ignoring them, either

Authors: By Eli Yudin
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

MUST READ

21 Historical Events That Somehow Took Place at the Same Time

Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth II were born the same year

Authors: By Amanda Mannen
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0

Netflix Explains Why It’s In the Dave Chappelle and Matt Rife Business

If you don't like it, says Netflix, turn it off.

Authors: By Matt Solomon
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 2

Ellen DeGeneres Says She Got Kicked Out of Show Business

How many times can one comedian get canceled?

Authors: By Matt Solomon
Published: April 26, 2024
Comments: 0