Most movie fans would agree that the first two films in the Alien franchise are works of genius. After that, most fans would agree that things go to hell in a handcart. James Cameron has one, or actually two things, that he believes were seriously bad decisions after he left the franchise. He thinks killing off Hicks and Newt were terrible moves.
Of the many events that took place over the weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, one was the 30th-anniversary panel to celebrate the birthday of James Cameron's classic Aliens. One of the topics of discussion is the much talked about Aliens sequel that director Neill Blomkamp is trying to make. His movie would ignore any of the events from the third and fourth Alien movies, and would instead pick up immediately following Aliens. Screen Rant reports that James Cameron supports this idea, as he believes that something that happened at the very beginning of Alien 3 was a terrible idea.
I thought it was dumb [that Hicks and Newt were killed off]. I thought it was a huge slap in the face to the fans. I mean look, [David] Fincher's a friend of mine, and David is an amazing, amazing filmmaker, unquestionably. That was kind of his first big gig, and he was getting vectored around by the studio, and he dropped into the production late and they had a horrible script and they were rewriting it on the fly, and it was just a mess. I think it was a big mistake. So I certainly --- had [producer Gale Anne Hurd and I] been involved, we would not have done that because we felt we earned something with the audience with those characters.
It's true that Alien 3 was David Fincher's first big Hollywood production. He probably wasn't in a place where he could make many demands or changes, assuming he wanted to keep the job. Certainly, it's true that Hicks and Newt were characters from Aliens that fans loved. Hicks kicked ass and Newt added a level of humanity to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley that we hadn't seen before, and wouldn't see again. Of course, with no single director taking control of the franchise, each movie went in a very different direction. This also means that characters created by one were disposed of by another if they didn't have anything for them to do.
By setting a new film immediately after Aliens, Neill Blomkamp can bring these beloved characters back, taking back whatever slap to the face the fans feel they received. Before that happens, however, Ridley Scott is currently producing Alien: Covenant, his Alien prequel/Prometheus sequel.
Are you looking forward to the reported return of Newt and Hicks? Was their death the biggest issue with Alien 3? Let us know what you think in the comments.
