Original director of 'ALIEN 3' reveals scrapped plans For bringing the Xenomorphs to earth

It’s no mystery that Alien 3 was a mess. From the filming, to the special effects, to the director, at the time a very green David Fincher, hated the film so much he even disowned it due to studio interference. Yeah, Alien 3 was no cake walk for anyone involved and many fans were upset with how things happened or didn’t happen for the film.

Not that many people know tho that Fincher was not the first director chosen for the film. That distinction goes to Renny Harlin (The Strangers: Chapter 1,Die Hard 2) and he has now shared how his approach to Alien 3 differed from what we saw in 1992 in an interview with Slash Film (via SFFGazette.com). 

"I always thought that I had a good idea," Harlin started. "I was working on 'Alien 3' in '89, which was before 'Jurassic Park' and all those movies. So the concept of having these creatures on Earth for the studio, it felt scary and unattainable. For me, it was the natural evolution." 

"We've had the 'Alien' with the truck drivers in space, we've had 'Aliens' with the Marines in space, and where do we go next? Let's bring the aliens on Earth and have them going through the cornfield. I had the poster already in my mind with the farmhouse and the cornfield in moonlight, and they are going through the cornfield."

"To this day, I think it would've been a ginormous hit movie because it would've been the first time anything like that was done," the filmmaker added. "But for whatever reason, the studio felt like, 'Ah, the audience won't buy that.'"

Ironically, it was only four years after Alien 3 was released that Independence Day brought aliens to Earth and proved a huge hit. Disney appears to feel differently as well, considering the fact FX's upcoming Alien series will also bring the action (and Xenomorphs) to our planet. 

Sharing his final thoughts on the scrapped project, Harlin said, "A prison ship? How am I going to relate to a prison ship? But that's ancient history. I'm not blaming anybody, but for those who don't know, I worked for a year on 'Alien 3.'" 

"I quit politely, respectfully, because I couldn't stand the idea of, after Ridley Scott and Jim Cameron, coming up with a movie that is just not going to live up to what the audience is expecting and give them that experience."

Hindsight is 20/20 and maybe Disney saw what could have worked and will now run with it? To what might have been, we salute you Renny.

Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following Macabre Daily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.