# OMFG they are finally making the "Aliens Vs. Predator" movie!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082 "2002-07-15T17:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/21 "2002-07-16T14:16:39Z")
It’s typically a good fight. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/22 "2002-07-16T14:21:15Z")
All I know is that when I make myself invisible as the Predator in AvP2, it takes everyone about two seconds to see me and start blasting. That’s what you get for using an invisibility machine you get free with a magazine. I enjoy the idea of the Predator being in titular control of the Alien, because it could produce a surprise ending wherein they get their ugly asses whipped. I look forward to being surprised. The aliens’ greatest strength is that they’re not even organised in any way we can understand. Individually they are pretty cool, but _en masse_ controlled by the queen or something, they’re like ghosts. They remind me of the Vietcong depicted in fillums. You NEVER know where they are. I also want an episode called “The Reluctant Predator”, about a praetorian who really just wants to run a little bookshop. ---
**Author:** ![Babar714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Babar714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babar714)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/23 "2002-07-16T15:09:27Z")
Aliens vs. the Rancor from RotJ. Now there’s a helluva fight! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/24 "2002-07-16T16:46:16Z")
FYI, [Paul Anderson has been confirmed to direct](http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12748). Any of you who had penciled this into your calendar of potential future interest, you can erase it now. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/25 "2002-07-16T16:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*FYI, [Paul Anderson has been confirmed to direct](http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12748). > > Any of you who had penciled this into your calendar of potential future interest, you can erase it now. \*\* Cervaise, you know Hollywood. Why is this man still working? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/26 "2002-07-16T17:18:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > All you have to do to make a blockbuster film is just take the plot of Aliens, move it to a more jungle environment, have Cameron direct, and make the film exceptionally long. Voila, a glorious Sci-fi epic will await you. > > * * * James Cameron already directed ‘Aliens’. I’m sorry but ‘space marines’ , ‘derelick spacecraft’ and ‘alien’ movies have been done to death. Starship Troopers? Pitch Black? Sphere? Supernova? Event Horizon? A thousand B and C movies What can such a movie possibly offer? Aliens vs Predator is to Batman & Robin as Alien Resurection is to Batman Forever. The sequal they make after the last sequal they shouldn’t have made. Oh and by the way, they are making another Batman. ---
**Author:** ![oceans\_11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b2d939/32.png) [@oceans\_11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oceans_11)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/27 "2002-07-16T17:20:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Aliens vs. the Rancor from RotJ. Now there’s a helluva fight! The Rancor? Are you kidding me? Even a whiny pseudo-Jedi could kill that thing with an old bone and a door… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/28 "2002-07-16T22:59:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*Cervaise, you know Hollywood. Why is this man still working? \*\* It’s understandable up to a point, but the mystery grows with each succeeding project. A quick biographical background (from memory): He’s British, and young (mid 30’s). He quickly acquired a solid visual reputation from UK television, and his first feature, _Shopping_, is a cult fave and was well-received at Sundance. His first studio movie: _Mortal Kombat._ Made on a low budget (around $20 million). Was quite profitable. His next studio movie: _Event Horizon._ Made on a middling budget. Was marginally profitable. Next up: _Soldier._ Made on a fairly big budget, around $70 million (not in James Cameron territory, but a chunk of change by studio standards). Was a bomb in North America, but broke even overseas, as loud, flashy action flicks almost invariably do well in Asia. Most recent: _Resident Evil._ Made on a middling budget (about half that of _Soldier_). Will turn a profit, again mostly due to foreign box office. The fact that the movies almost totally suck is irrelevant. Anderson can control a budget and string together a series of shots to create something that can be sold as a movie. He sticks to proven genres, which is to say all of his movies have a built-in audience: sci-fi adrenaline junkies who don’t care that the movies stink as long as they get monsters and spaceships and testosterone and gore (or three out of four). Movies targeted at that audience don’t have to be gigantic hits to be profitable, again especially considering the overseas market. The thing is, though, that this sort of work suffers from diminishing returns. Not counting _Soldier_, _Resident Evil_ is probably his most borderline film, profit-wise, so expect the budget for _Aliens v. Predator_ to be trimmed as a result. However, it’ll get beefed back up again because they’re both proven franchise properties. (Hollywood logic. Don’t ask.) In addition, according to the Hollywood system, a filmmaker generally gets three chances to screw up, as long as he plays the game right. It works like this: **First movie** gets the filmmaker the reputation. **Second movie** is greenlighted on the strength of the first movie. The filmmaker leverages his clout to get a deal for the **third movie** before the second one comes out. (Remember that in Hollywood, from greenlight to premiere is generally eighteen to twenty-four months, with some exceptions.) That way, he’s guaranteed a job even if the second movie turns out to be a dog. Similarly, the **fourth movie** can be lined up before the third one comes out, because at this point, even if the second movie stunk, the filmmaker still has a fifty-fifty track record. That gives you movies two through four. By the time the possibility of a fifth movie comes along, the third one has been released, and now you have a three-movie track record. If movies two and three were bombs, the fifth movie doesn’t happen. So, in other words, three chances to screw up. He failed on _Soldier_, but made money for the studio on _Resident Evil._ Hence, he buys himself some time. (Add to this the fact that he’s British. It sounds stupid, but in Hollywood the English accent is still worth quite a bit. His age is a big plus also; all the studio executives are in their fifties and sixties, and regard the youth market as the Holy Grail.) Conclusion: His first couple of movies were profitable, and the productions weren’t logistically out of control (on schedule, on budget, no traumatic actor replacements, etc.). According to Hollywood logic, even though his movies aren’t very good, because he’s shown he can make money (with one exception) and he can handle himself on a film set, he still gets work. It doesn’t last forever, though. When _Alien v. Predator_ comes out and stinks up the joint, as it must, that may very well indicate the long-delayed and much-anticipated end of his movie career. It may even imperil the deal he’s got in place to direct Tom Cruise in a remake of _Death Race 2000._ (No, I’m not kidding.) After his inevitable flameout, he’ll make his living directing occasional episodes of _Andromeda_ or _Farscape_ or whatever non-_Star Trek_ sci-fi series happens to be on the air at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/29 "2002-07-16T23:59:08Z")
I happened to have had a meeting with Mike Richardson yesterday, on some other potential projects. Richardson is the publisher of Dark Horse Comics, who did the A vs. P series, based on his original idea, and we talked a bit about the new film project. He and his company have nothing to do with it. They were very much involved when the project was originally going to go some years back, but this is a totally seperate project, not based on the comic book premise. He’s getting a credit, 'cause he owns the rights to the property, but he won’t be involved in the film. He says he thinks it has something to do with the Aliens and Predators coming down to earth and wreaking havoc. With that stellar concept :rolleyes:, and Paul Anderson directing, I wouldn’t expect too much. Sorry, Muad’Dib. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/30 "2002-07-17T00:42:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anamorphic \* > \*\*He says he thinks it has something to do with the Aliens and Predators coming down to earth and wreaking havoc. With that stellar concept :rolleyes:, and Paul Anderson directing, I wouldn’t expect too much. Sorry, Muad’Dib. \*\* Not to mention the fact that the Predator, [Kevin Peter Hall](http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Hall,+Kevin+Peter), has been dead for over 10 years. Though, I suppose, they could get any tall guy to do the role. Is Shaq available? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/31 "2002-07-17T01:47:25Z")
You can’t make a cool predator movie without Schwarzenegger. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/32 "2002-07-17T07:18:15Z")
A _Predator_ movie with Schwarzenegger now would be as ludicrous as _Cocoon_ with guns. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/33 "2002-07-17T11:35:48Z")
Cool, they’re gonna make something that I’ve BEEN saying should be made before I even learned that there were AvP comic books… Can’t you guys wait until you know the plot before you complain about it? Yeesh. When it comes to criticism, quantity doesn’t necessarily equate quality. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/34 "2002-07-17T12:45:00Z")
Now, it’s been a while since I read AvP, and I’ve only read a few Alien comics, but where was it stated that the Aliens were “developed by the Predators”? To my knowledge, the Preditors picked a planet with suitable situations, then peppered the place with eggs from a Queen Alien. That doesn’t say “designed” to me. And in hand-to-hand combat, a Predator can SO hold it’s own against an alien. Especially if it has a staff weapon, but even then, a simple arm blade is enough to dispatch multiple alien foes. As for the film still doubt it will be made, but it could be done and pulled off well if they keep it to such a plot. The first book was really good, but I couldn’t get through the others. I also really enjoyed the arcade game’s premise, which was pretty much a mix between AvP and Aliens Book 2, where the Earth’s military was trying to turn the aliens into biological weapons (a common thread in Aliens books) and accidentally, things got out of hand. Earth became a huge breeding ground, and the Predators showed up to do some hunting, and somehow ended up teaming up wiht a few humans along the way. It could be really fun, but we’ll just have to wait. As for Paul Anderson, I actually enjoyed his movies. \*\*Soldier{/b] came on HBO about fifty times a week, so I’ve seen it enough to recognize it’s not total crap; I really enjoyed **Event Horizon** , and in all honesty, **Resident Evil** was a really good zombie movie (until the last fifteen minutes when they introduced the licker; that was lame). Of course, I subject myself to the worst movies I can find on a regular basis, but I also have a great appreciation for cinema and film. I think he could pull it off as well as anyone else. Just so long as there’s no romance back plot, it should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/35 "2002-07-17T14:37:19Z")
Cervaise, great answer. Thanks a lot. As cynical as I thought I was about Hollywood, it seems I wasn’t cynical enough. After all, I knew they weren’t interested in art, I just forgot how much they hate risk. I guess I was mistaken about Anderson - I thought _none_ of his movies had made any money. You tend to forget that a $50 mil gross is good when you make a $20 mil movie. Anderson is simply the latest incarnation of the B-movie hack. Still, I may have had certain illusions about the industry. You tend to think of LA as swarming with hungry young directors, fresh out of school or TV, fighting and clawing for work. In an environment like this, you’d expect a hack with no blockbuster skills and no potentila to wash out pretty quickly. It seems, though, that in a city fueled by talent, the powers-that-be spend precious little time mining for resources. Could it be that the studios like hacks such as Anderson not becaus they’re profitable, but because they’re pliable? A guy like that, whose career exists purely on their sufference, will do exactly what he’s told and not try to impose his own “vision” on things. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/36 "2002-07-17T16:37:18Z")
What the hell, why not go for broke and make it “Aliens vs. Predator vs. Syl” (or whatever the hell was the name of the chick in “Species”). I think all three were designed by H.R. Giger, so it’d be like one big happy family reunion!!..Timmy ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/37 "2002-07-17T23:08:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Still, I may have had certain illusions about the industry. You tend to think of LA as swarming with hungry young directors, fresh out of school or TV, fighting and clawing for work. Nah. LA is swarming with hungry young _actors_ who pass out their resume’ to every last customer who comes into the restaurant where they wait tables, and they always say “What I REALLY want to do is direct!”, but they haven’t the foggiest idea _how_ to direct. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/38 "2002-07-17T23:57:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*Could it be that the studios like hacks such as Anderson not becaus they’re profitable, but because they’re pliable? A guy like that, whose career exists purely on their sufference, will do exactly what he’s told and not try to impose his own “vision” on things. \*\* You just pinpointed the career of [Raja Gosnell](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Gosnell,+Raja), who in my opinion has supplanted Joel Schumacher as the worst film director currently enjoying high-profile success in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/39 "2002-07-18T00:15:02Z")
screw aliens vs. predator, i wanna see **aliens vs bugs** of starship troopers fame. Or, mix up the humans and have Starship Troopers vs Aliens, or have Marines vs Bugs. Or have two different worlds in a “galatci empire” attack each other and have Troopers vs Space Marines! oooooh! :):):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082/40 "2002-07-18T00:58:52Z")
Yeah, but Kirk would kick the predator’s invisible butt!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-they-are-finally-making-the-aliens-vs-predator-movie/119082.md?page=3)