The long-running rumor about James Cameron's bold pitch for a sequel to Ridley Scott's classic sci-fier turns out to be true as the director confirms it himself in a new interview.
- Dec 27, 2022
AceShowbiz - James Cameron has addressed a long standing urban myth about his "Aliens" pitch. The 68-year-old filmmaker - who penned and helmed the 1986 sequel to Ridley Scott's legendary sci-fi horror - has long been rumoured to have suggested the movie to 20th Century Fox executives by showing them the word "alien" and simply adding an S made into a dollar sign.
Now, the story has been confirmed by the director to Empire after a question asked by Edgar Wright. He said, "I had lunch with a bigshot producer when I was about to start Aliens who said, 'This is a no-win for you. If your movie's good, Ridley will get the credit. If it's bad, it's all you. It's a career ender.' I said, 'Yeah, buuuuuut... I like it.' I was maybe a dumbass fanboy, but I could see it so clearly in my head that I just had to go make it. And yes, it's true."
The "Avatar: The Way of Water" director admitted the actual events match up to the rumour. He explained, "I was in a meeting with the studio head and the executive producers, and I turned my script over and on the blank side of the last page I wrote ALIEN. Then I drew an S on the end. Then I drew two vertical lines through the S and held it up to show them."
As for why the bold idea paid off, Cameron suggested it could be down to his display of "confidence" or even something as simple as the symbolism in the pitch. He added, "Maybe it was just Pavlovian conditioning when they saw the $ sign connected closely to the word 'Alien'. Or maybe it was the confidence I projected. But they said yes."
Thankfully for Cameron, it paid off with the movie being a huge critical success while it made $180 million at the worldwide box office from an $18.5 million budget.
