Aliens VS. Predator

Genre: Action/Science Fiction.

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox.
Production Company: Unknown.

Project Phase: Limbo.

Who's In It: Unknown.
Who's Making It: Peter Briggs (Screenwriter); based on the Aliens VS. Predator comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics.

Premise: In a distant corner of space, a pack of Predators have devised the ultimate hunt: they 'seed' planets with a cache of Alien eggs, then return a few days later and hunt the subsequent Aliens that have been 'birthed'. But on the planet Ryushi the Predators will encounter an unforseen problem. A third species - humans - now live on that world, and their small colony will become the bloody battleground for these two deadliest of enemies. But by the conclusion of the battle...will there be any survivors?

Release Date: Unknown.

Comments: It seemed like Hollywood's answer to the legendary Ali/Foreman 'The Thrillah in Manilla' boxing match-up: Predators versus Aliens, with the humans stuck in the middle. For the fans of the movies, it seemed to be a great idea...so what happened to it?

First, a little about the history of the concept. Many don't know the project's origin in comic books. In early 1989 during a conceptual meeting between Dark Horse Comics staff, writer/artist Chris Warner first proposed the match-up as an off-the-cuff remark. But in a few months time, the project had attracted the attention of the comic book readership, and buzz began to build for thr project. When the first issue of Aliens Vs. Predator, written by Randy Stradley and Phill Norwood appeared in 1990, the comic was an instant success. The concept even got a small nod in 1990's Predator 2 movie: the Predator's trophy case contains an Alien skull amidst the other trophies. And since then there have been sequels and spin-offs utilizing the same concept: the two deadly creatures duking it out with humans caught in the middle. Don't tinker with success.

Which is evidently what Peter Briggs must have been thinking.

Briggs is a British-based screenwriter, and in 1991 handed in a screenplay titled Alien Vs. Predator to Twentieth Century Fox. Even though it was an unsolicited manuscript (read: kiss of death), Briggs was in the right place at the right time. The comic book's success had attracted the attention of one of the Alien producers, and they were considering developing the idea as a feature film. That week, a copy of Briggs' script landed on the producer's desk, and the rest was history. By the conclusion of September that year, the fourth draft of Briggs' script was complete.

But the project stalled. Sources inside Fox cited the luke warm box office results and mixed fan reaction to 1993's ALIEN³ and the earlier Predator 2 as the reason for the new project's sluggish development. Eventually the project's heat died down, and Fox passed on the concept in favor of seperate entries into the Alien and Predator mythos (see Alien Resurrection and Predator 3 pages.) Today, in mid 1997, the once ultra-hot Predator Vs. Aliens project seems to be trapped in limbo, reserved for Internet fan speculation about what could have been...

But an interesting side note has been brought up as a result of the Briggs screenplay: how much of his story was thought up by the author, and how much was 'borrowed' from Stradley's Aliens Vs. Predator series. According to Briggs in a series of letters that appeared in magazines that follow science fiction films, not much of Stradley's original material appears in his script. In Briggs' rebuttal to Ken Foley's article that appeared in the July 1995 Cinescape magazine (where Foley heavily criticized Briggs script): "Mr. Foley doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. In fact, I wonder if he's even read my screenplay. His accusation that all I did was 'change a few scenes around' from the comic is monumental in stupidity, as a systematic comparison between it and Dark Horse material would readily reveal little of the original remaining!"

We've read Briggs' script and the DHC comic book series, and after digesting both we found numerous similarities in the script that relate to the comic. After posting the first draft of this page, we were contacted by screenwriter Peter Briggs, who commented on our critique, and who's views are also presented after ours:

• The planet where the fight occurs in both stories is named Ryushi, where a small human settlement has been established. In the comic, Ryushi is a dry arid world resembling the Badlands of Alberta, Canada. In the script, Ryushi is a tropical jungle planet.

  "There's a BIG difference between a swamp world and a desert world."

• Both stories' lead character is a Japanese female who is eventually accepted as an equal by the Predator leader, Broken Tusk. Together the two must battle the Alien horde; they are the only hope the humans have of surviving. In the comic, she's called Machiko Noguchi; in the script, she's Hiroko Noguchi. Other character names are used in the script that appeared in the comic. As well, in the script the facehuggers implant rhinos with the Alien chestbusters; in the comic, the animals infested are rhynth - alien rhino-like creatures that have two horns instead of one.

  "The comic was the jumping-off point. I've never denied the thing was liberally based on it. For instance - I always liked Ryushi's rhinos. Being an ex-FX guy, I didn't know - at that time, pre-Jurassic - whether they could be done. So, I cut that back, and eliminated the stampede. My decisions were to take what was GOOD about the comic, and pump up the octane level....just to make better, for the good of the 'cinematic experience'."

• The Predators attack a small family in the outback of Ryushi prior to the main battle in the colony; in the script, three men are attacked.

  "The difference between the isolated family and a group of hunters being attacked is a FAIRLY big leap!" True - the Predators in the comic attack the family because they want revenge for a human accident that resulted in the destruction of their ship and the death of some of their comrades that happened earlier. In Briggs' script, the Predators are inadvertantly fired upon by one of the three humans in Ryushi's outback, and respond in kind. Our intent in writing this point was to point out that the first human/Predator encounter takes place away from the main colony and sets about a similar series of events. Looking back, we agree with Briggs that we should have provided more detail, and also acknowledge that the two incidents are different in their details; but we also stand by our original view that the first attack is, overall, similar in each version.

  "Stradley's structure in places was so right, I felt it was wrong to screw with it. The point of the scene is, in the comic, the Predators essentially slaughter a helpless family as a revenge killing. I didn't like that. I've always thought of the Predators as being samurai, with their own noble code...hence the reason the girl goes with 'em at the end, which I always thought was a masterstroke in the comic coda... Even in P2, Maria Conchita Alonzo isn't killed by the Pred because she's pregnant. I thought it was more interesting to have a bunch of yee-hahs shooting up the scenery inadvertantly plug a Predator and suffer the consequences because of their equal footing."

  (We concede this part of the debate. "You say 'toe-may-toe', we say 'tu-mah-toe'; you say 'poe-tay-toe', we say 'pu-tah-toe'...let's call the whole thing off...")

• In the comic, the Aliens overrun the colony, setting off a series of events that will blow the complex. Comic book? Same thing.

  "In the comic, the colony is destroyed by dropping the orbital rig on them. In the screenplay, it's a Predator suicide destruct."

• At the conclusion of both stories, Noguchi and Broken Tusk face a showdown with an Alien Queen.

  "The Queen our heroes face in the screenplay is a nascent queen in transition, not fully grown (okay - that's only a minor quibble, I know!)"

• And as a coda to the end of both stories, Noguchi accepts an invitation from the surviving Predators to join their hunt.

• Twentieth Century Fox owns the properties mentioned. If Briggs read the comic and was 'inspired' to write his script by Stradley's work, then legally there is no plagarism. Briggs simply adapted Stradley's story to fit screenwriting style and sold that to Fox.

• Comic books are considered a somewhat 'bastard' form of entertainment in western entertainment, and not much thought is given to the notion of previous credit given to the characters' creators, or treating the properties with the same level of concern or respect one might give to, say, musical proprietary rights. A good example of this comes in 1995's Judge Dredd, another film with comic book roots. The rights were purchased for many of the Dredd characters and concepts, with one exception: the ABC Warrior robots were a seperate property. Nevertheless, if you've seen the film, you've seen the hulking robot Rico controlled, which was an ABC Warrior named Hammerstein. It wasn't until shooting had been going on that someone from the publishing company that owned the Dredd rights noticed the Hammersmith robot and pointed out to the producers of Dredd that they legally cannot use the character in the film. Faced with the choice of rewriting the script, throwing away the already filmed footage and constructing a new creature, the producers opted to buy the additional rights to the ABC Warriors for an unknown sum. The Dredd mistake isn't uncommon: in the latest screenplay for Hellblazer written by Kevin Brodbin (and based on the DC/Vertigo horror/occult comic book of the same name), the script's villain is a demon from Hell, who appears to be a normal human being who likes to wear sunglasses. The shock is that behind his pair of shades there are two sets of miniature teeth, in the place where his eyes should be. For readers of Neil Gaiman's critically acclaimed The Sandman series, this character should seem familiar: Gaiman created the concept and original character, called The Corinthian in The Sandman.

Also, as a side note, Briggs wrote a proposed Freddy Vs. Jason screenplay that would tie together the two deranged killers. However there is now a new script in line for the project.

Was Stradley's rights infringed upon as a writer? Did the people at Twentieth Century Fox know of the similarities between the comic book and the script, or did they purchase the script not knowing of it? And perhaps most important, if there comes a time when the lights dim down and the Twentieth Century Fox music begins to play, would you see an acknowledgement somewhere in Aliens Vs. Predator of the material's origins, or just simply "Screenplay by Peter Briggs"?

June 14, 1997 - Since the launch of our Aliens VS. Predator page, we've been contacted by the script's writer, Pete Briggs. He has responded to our critique and also supplied additional information about the project's current status. See Scoop Feedback for his response.

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

June 14, 1997... Peter Briggs, the writer of the Aliens VS. Predator script has contacted CA to explain his side of the story. Since his first big break selling the Aliens Vs. Predator screenplay, Briggs has received his fair share of criticism in genre magazines attacking his script and the similarities between it and the comic book series. Thanks to the pros of writing in virtual text, we can expand upon the history of the project as seen through the writer's eyes and not be forced to cut out material as a print magazine may be forced to.

In our communications with Mr. Briggs, he's been very open and up-front with our questions and comments, and also respectful of our opinions. One of the largest questions we had was whether or not Briggs acknowledged the comic book creators. Briggs answered the question face on:

"I'm sorry Mr Stradley hasn't read my printed acknowledgements of the terrific work he did for the comic. I certainly owe him an enormous debt, that I may probably never be able to repay...I certainly hope if we both find ourselves in L.A. when I have to travel over there shortly, I'm personally able to meet with him and redress any misconceptions that may exist. I can say nothing but good things about both himself, and his work...I myself would CERTAINLY want to see a screen credit that read something to the effect of 'based on material created by Dark Horse Comics', or something similar. I have no ego on this matter!"

Briggs originally wrote/adapted the storyline in the hopes it would attract the attention of well-known action film producer Joel Silver. To provide some background as to why he would do this, you have to understand that becoming a Hollywood screenwriter can be a million-to-one crapshoot. Dozens of scripts are received every day in Los Angeles talent agencies, in addition to the hundreds of phone calls would-be professional screenwriters make, hoping to beat the odds and become the one whose work lands the attention of a producer or agent. Speaking as a fan of science fiction, Briggs realized that this marriage of two properties was a "goer", meaning a sure-fire concept. "It was a fast write, and it was NEVER intended to get the attention it had. That first draft posted all over the net is a little rough around the edges, and it was a LONG time ago." Nevertheless, the script was taken to Fox producer Larry Gordon, who had just been handed the job of developing an AvP feature. As luck would have it, Briggs writing sample came across Gordon's desk. Fox may have been hearing concept ideas from Dark Horse Entertainment, but here was a complete, finished script that adapted parts of the Stradley/Norwood mini-series. And most importantly, it was already done.

Briggs was told that former Dark Horse Entertainment producer Todd Moyer was a fan of his first draft. Moyer had brought the script to the Dark Horse offices, where a number of the staff read the screenplay and loved it. As well, Dark Horse President Mike Richardson commented that he enjoyed Briggs work and pitched the idea of the writer developing a comic strip series for the company. This would seem to indicate that Dark Horse not only knew the specifics of the script's storyline, but had no problems with any of the material being adapted.

However, he did call us on our original posting of the script/comic similarties (and we've posted his feedback in the Comments section for all to see.) "I think the breakdown of the story you printed was a little overly simplistic," Briggs writes. "Instead of listing the stuff that still exists, it might have shifted the balance a great deal more to point out all the new material...a LOT!" To be fair, we will point out that there are a number of new concepts introduced for the first time in his AvP script, including: a holographic swordsman program; new supporting characters; and the intriguing possibility of a Alien that may have a Predator-like appareance of traits running around the colony. As well, we know that a screenwriter does walk a fine line when adapting previously-existing material into screenplay format, and often the judgement calls the writer makes as to what stays and what goes are overlooked.

Which gets back to our original question: as a writer, Peter Briggs has seen incidences where the question of 'Have I seen this before?' or 'Has this been borrowed from me?' has arised, even involving one of the aforementioned script concepts from AvP. So in this incidence where there now exists comic books, novels and video games based on the Alien and Predator properties, how often do 'overlaps' occur? Do they happen out of just sheer probability, the writer being influenced by another work, or something more sinister? One interesting section hit us in Briggs' email: "In my second draft of A vs P the opening scene was different - it took place on a deep space exploration vessel. They're drifting along, and get pings. They find a damaged Predator Egg Pod, and bring it on board. Something nasty happens. Cut to the ship floating with no power. Somthing clangs onto the hull. Shapes come onboard - everything's in zero-g, with emergency lighting. Predators in armored space gear de-cloak! Find blown-open human corpses floating around - and then the Aliens attack. One Pred makes a very stupid move with a blaster, and blows an alien apart. Cue Zero-g acid exploding equally every direction, chewing through all the hulls and decks! Would have been wild..." For those who've been reading our coverage of Alien Resurrection, something very similar happens in that film. Did the writer of A4 read the second draft of Briggs, or did Joss Whedon carry forward the concept of the Alien's acid from the first couple of films?

Ok ok, you say, but I'm way more interested in what's happening with AvP right now. What's the word regarding it today?

"The reason the project stalled was producer in-fighting. I was kept abreast of the situation by my agent, and there was a loooooooot of backwards-and-forwarding over something like a 12-18 month period. David Giler in particular was resistant to the idea, and actually went on print in saying so in Cinefantastique magazine at the time of Alien 3's shooting. Before the project went into cryosleep when the Peter Chernin regime moved into Fox, I was told the last people to have been reached an agreement on were Jim and John Thomas, the Predator creators."

Right now Peter Briggs is working on two genre projects, including a deal to develop properties for Dark Horse Entertainment. Lupin III is based on the Japanimation manga series of the same name, to be produced by Oliver Stone's former producer for his films, A. Kitman Ho. Also in the very early stages of its beginnings is an adaptation of another comic book property.

[Special thanks to Peter Briggs, who graciously answered all our of questions. And to the guys at Fox? We'll pay to see any AvP movie, regardless if there's new Predator or Alien movies in development. Just do 'em good.]

June 29, 1997... Andy Diggle conducted an interview with AvP screenwriter Peter Briggs on August 13, 1996. He contacted our site and provided us the URL for any interested readers in Briggs' work or the AvP project. In addition to delving deeper into how the negative reactions to his AvP script might have started, Diggle's interview also discusses Briggs' involvement with the unproduced script for Judge Dredd that featured Judge Death as the principal bad guy, his draft for a Freddy VS. Jason film, a few other interesting SF projects he's had his hands in (manga and H.G. Wells fans take notice) - there's even a photo of the writer at the top of the page (no, he's not the biomechanical one.) Andy Diggle's Fusion interview can be read by by clicking here. [Thanks to Andy Diggle!]

July 8, 1997... Andrew Diggle has also linked Peter Briggs complete Alien VS. Predator script to his interview - so go read it, Marine. [And while you're there thank Andy Diggle for doin' it.]

December 2, 1997... While on the press junket promoting her lastest film Alien Resurrection, Sigourney Weaver gave an interview to the November 23rd edition of the Boston Herald:

"...Weaver, who has a bachelor's degree in English literature from Stanford and a master's degree from Yale Drama School, and has just published a story of her own - 'The Alien Inside Me' - in Premiere magazine, reportedly received in excess of $15 million for her work. But at first she wanted no part of a fourth Alien film, especially after she'd heard a premise being kicked around at the studio. 'I'd heard they wanted to make it Alien versus Predator, and I wanted to get as far away from that as I could get. I thought, 'Why are they doing this?" We did three quite amazing films, and now they're just going to put it through some grist mill to make money. That's one of the reasons I wanted to die in the third film. Also, I didn't want my part to go on forever.'

" 'Eventually, they came to their senses,' she explains, 'and decided not to make Alien versus Predator. And basically what I said was that we needed to restore the alien's superiority and elegance, to bring back the idea of what and who it is. I wanted to restore a lot of the mystery to the series and also, frankly, to play the Antarctic side of Ripley...' "

...which would seem to reduce the possibility of a AvP even further. [Thanks to 'Lo Fi Boi' for the submission; originally appeared in the Boston Herald.]

Acknowledgements:

[Special thanks to Pete Briggs for contacting CA and providing a great abundance of first-hand information about the project's start and its current status. Thanks!]

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