Aliens Title Urban Myth Confirmed By James Cameron

According to Aliens director James Cameron, an urban myth regarding the film’s title is actually completely true. After Ridley Scott’s Alien took audiences by surprise in 1979, introducing the xenomorph and a new brand of terrifying science-fiction storytelling, James Cameron took the reins for the film’s sequel. Aliens was followed by Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, Prometheus, and, most recently, Alien: Covenant, as well as a host of crossovers with the Predator universe.

Aliens ditched the suspense and horror approach of the first film and, instead of featuring only one xenomorph, had Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) face off against a whole horde of them. While Scott’s first film proved successful, Cameron, who was hot off the success of The Terminator, was brought on not only to direct but also to write the script. A long-running urban legend detailing Cameron’s pitch for the sequel’s title involved the writer/ director writing the word “Alien” on a whiteboard, adding an “S” at the end, and then drawing two lines through the “S” to create a dollar sign.

Until now, the story was thought to be nothing but an urban legend, but, in a new interview with CinemaBlend, Cameron actually confirms that the story is, in fact, true. While a few finer details remain hazy, Cameron explains that his title pitch to 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) was simple, and yet effective. After all, it ended up being the title of the final film. Check out Cameron’s full comment below:

“Yeah, it’s true. It just popped into my mind in the moment. It was actually on the back of a script, or some kind of presentation document. It might’ve been the treatment. I can’t remember. I was sitting with the three producers, and we were in the office of the then-head of 20th Century Fox. And I said, ‘Guys, I got an idea for the title. And it goes like this.’ And I wrote, ‘Alien’ in large block letters. And I put an S on the end. I showed it to them. I said, ‘I want to call it Aliens, because we’re not dealing with one. Now we’re dealing with an army, and that’s the big distinction. And it’s very simple and very graphic.’ And I said, ‘But here’s what it’s going to translate to.’ And then I drew the two lines through it to make it a dollar sign. And that was my pitch. And apparently it worked! Because they went with the title. They never questioned it.”

Cameron is one of the most successful filmmakers working today and his approach to storytelling has obviously struck a chord with audiences around the world. While Scott has expressed his discontentment at not being asked back for the sequel to his own 1979 film, Cameron’s decision to push things in a new direction was arguably the best move for the franchise, giving fans two different and yet complementary films. Ultimately, of course, Cameron turning the “S” in “Aliens” into a money sign proved correct, and Aliens ended up performing better than Alien at the box office, earning over $85 million.

For many fans of the franchise, Aliens was the last great film in the franchise. Alien 3 is widely considered a step backward and Alien: Resurrection was almost universally panned. Both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant saw Scott once more take the reigns, but those films have proved generally quite divisive among audiences. As evidenced by his on-the-spot title idea, Cameron brought a certain energy and swagger to the Alien franchise that has yet to be recaptured. Interestingly, Cameron also directed Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a film that, alongside Aliens, is widely considered one of the best movie sequels of all time. Cameron has seemingly cracked the sequel code, something that bodes well for his upcoming Avatar 2 next year.

Source: CinemaBlend

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