MOVIE NEWS – It’s hard to imagine the mastermind behind E.T. and Jurassic Park nearly derailing one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of all time, but that’s exactly what almost happened when Steven Spielberg pitched an idea for the 1986 Aliens sequel. The follow-up to Ridley Scott’s original Alien was helmed by James Cameron and has since become a classic in its own right, seamlessly blending horror with high-octane action. However, had Spielberg’s suggestion been taken seriously, the terrifying Xenomorph could have been reimagined as a “misunderstood” creature, just trying to survive—a far cry from the relentless predator we all know and fear.

This shocking revelation came to light during a Directors Guild of America event in Los Angeles in 2011, which saw both Spielberg and Cameron in attendance. Cameron, now one of Hollywood’s most successful directors, recounted how the legendary creator of Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark proposed a radical shift for the Alien sequel, where the Xenomorph would be portrayed as the misunderstood protagonist. As Cameron recalled:

“We met, and I was just about to go do ‘Aliens’—or I was writing ‘Aliens’—and we were talking about ‘Amazing Stories,’ and you said, ‘Oh, I know what to do! I know what to do! Because in the first ‘Alien,’ the alien was bad, so in this one, have the alien be misunderstood, and the humans are trying to kill it, and it’s running around the ship.'”

Spielberg Now Admits It Was a Terrible Idea

Had Cameron followed Spielberg’s advice, Aliens would have turned out to be a completely different beast, likely altering the course of the franchise forever. Instead of the merciless, spine-chilling creature we got, audiences might have been asked to empathize with a Xenomorph that was more lost and scared than lethal. It’s almost impossible to picture a scenario where fans feel sorry for a facehugger, but that’s what Spielberg’s vision would have demanded.

Looking back, Spielberg acknowledges how off-base his suggestion was. In response to Cameron’s recounting of the story, Spielberg admitted, “That’s right. Thank goodness you didn’t do that.”

Thanks to Cameron’s decision to completely ignore Spielberg’s advice—a gutsy move for a relatively new filmmaker at the time—the Xenomorph remains one of the most terrifying monsters in cinema history. The latest film in the series, Alien: Romulus, has been lauded by many as the best installment since Aliens and is set between the events of the first film and Cameron’s sequel.

Directed by Fede Álvarez and co-written by Rodo Sayague, Alien: Romulus features an ensemble cast including Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu. Below is the official synopsis for Alien: Romulus:

“While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Source: MovieWeb