William Gibson's dropped Alien 3 script

Just watched Alien 3 on DVD the other day. I was disappointed that it had few extras, and surprisingly it doesn't even have a trailer for the film that Fincher eventually made out of the script by Vincent Ward. Instead it suggested the aliens would reach Earth.

Naturally this reminded me of the script William Gibson supposedly wrote, but which Fox nixed because it was too expensive to do. Clearly that was what the trailer referred to (beats me why they put it on the DVD...).

I always liked the idea, but know next to nothing about that script. Anyone know more about what it would have been like, or did it fall casualty to the dust-bin of dropped scripts completely?

I vaguely remember hearing a tagline like, "In space, no one can hear you scream. On Earth, everyone can hear you scream." That's all I know.

Well, you should hang on a bit, as there is a new Alien DVD box set. Not only will it contain Jim Camerons first film commentary on the Directors Cut of Aliens (I am sure we are all expecting Jim to simply state "I am God. Worship me!" as his commentary), but also rumour states that the Fincher cut of Alien 3 will be in this set and if all the underground rumour is right, that'll be something to see.

As for the William Gibson script, I read that one... To be honest it wasn't really that good, dropping the corporate world in favour of Political Factions (U.S. vs. Russians... After the fall of Communism?) And came over as too outdated on top of being expensive... So its a good thing it was dropped...

The one bonus. Hicks, Ripley and Bishop all alive and working together...

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Originally posted by Dan Gurden
As for the William Gibson script, I read that one... To be honest it wasn't really that good, dropping the corporate world in favour of Political Factions (U.S. vs. Russians... After the fall of Communism?) And came over as too outdated on top of being expensive... So its a good thing it was dropped...

The one bonus. Hicks, Ripley and Bishop all alive and working together...

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Shame about it then, as I would have loved to see aliens loose on Earth... Er, well, you know what I mean ;)

Still, if you want such a plot you might want to read the black/white Aliens comic book Dark Horse put out shortly after Cameron's Aliens and long, long before Fincher's Alien 3 - The plot began 10 years after Cameron's film with Ripley suspiciously missing while Hicks was trying to get the now teenage Newt free from a mental institution to go on a mission with him to what was believed to be the Alien homeworld. The aliens did reach Earth in that story, and it was much more nightmarish than what you describe above.

Still, anyone know a link to a site with info on Gibson's script? I don't think Alien 3 was terrible, but neither did I think it was as interesting as its predecessors (though much better than the fourth installment...)

Only just realized that I accidentally put this thread on the Star Trek Chat board, which is clearly a mistake on my part as the subject is obviously off-topic.

If any of the moderators are reading this, could I ask you to move this to the Open Discussion board?

No problemo, moved to General Chat :)

There was a series of Alien novels that involved the invasion of Earth. I read it years back, but no longer have the books. I remember that it was quite good but the details are mysteriously missing along with the books.

Correct me if i'm wrong but.... I thought the William Gibson script took place on a space station and not on Earth (as some alluded above-i know the comic took place on earth)? But i heard later rewrites included an AIDS like virus that turned the base into a creature or something..now that would've been awesome

I remember the Gibson script well. Brilliant Stuff.

But yes, it did take place on a space station, and Ripley and Newt weren't in there for long enough to actually do anything but aknowledge their existance for continuity's sake. It revolved around Hicks and Bishop, and MUCH butt was kicked. Bish also spent much of the movie legless, from what I remember. He was also a very good shot once he realized that his prime directive allowed him to be a rifle-firing badass when not going up against humans.

The Female Wars. It wasn't too bad for the Aliens novel line. If you don't know, I'll leave out Ripley's fate (irony is wonderful).