The Fly’s Unmade Sequel Would’ve Copied A Plot From James Cameron’s Aliens

After the disappointment of The Fly 2, an alternate sequel idea to David Cronenberg’s The Fly almost took plot cues from James Cameron’s Aliens. In the horror world, remakes tend to be a topic that earns a certain level of immediate derision. That’s somewhat understandable, as horror is the genre seemingly most susceptible to Hollywood’s constant urge to relive past success. Just about every major horror film has been remade at least once at this point, but in rare cases, the remake ends up outshining its progenitor.

That was definitely the case with Cronenberg’s The Fly, which took a memorable but fairly silly B-movie and turned it into a harrowing journey into body horror and building madness. Bolstered by excellent leading performances from Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, The Fly remake is a truly excellent mix of sci-fi and horror, and is deservedly held in high regard by just about everyone. The same, however, can’t be said for 1989’s The Fly 2, starring Eric Stoltz as Seth Brundle and Veronica Quaife’s son Martin.

The Fly 2 isn’t exactly a bad movie, but it’s much more straightforward and less cerebral than Cronenberg’s classic, and only feels loosely related. John Getz (as Veronica’s boss Stathis Borans) is the only cast member to return, and it’s just a less-fulfilling experience all-around. At one point though, Davis was onboard to play Veronica again in a proper sequel, dubbed Flies, which resembled Aliens in notable ways.

The Fly’s Unmade Sequel Would’ve Copied A Plot From James Cameron’s Aliens

Following The Fly 2 letting down most fans and and critics, Geena Davis found herself wanting to come back to the franchise for a proper sequel. She had left The Fly 2 upon finding out that Veronica died during childbirth in the opening scene, but that didn’t mean she was opposed to playing the character again. In fact, Davis wrote her own treatment for Flies, which in keeping with its title, was meant to expand the scope and scale of The Fly in the same way that Aliens did for Alien.

While Veronica wouldn’t suddenly be running around blasting bugs with a huge gun, she would be at the center of the story, and the clear Ripley-style hero of the piece, which saw her give birth to two twins that begin to undergo Brundlefly-esuqe transformations once they reach puberty. Directing Flies would’ve been Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Die Hard 2), who was at that point married to Davis. It’s unclear why Flies didn’t move forward, as the actual script has never been publicly released or leaked.

With David Cronenberg uninterested in directing, and Jeff Goldblum not part of the mix due to Seth’s death, it’s quite possible that Fox simply didn’t believe Davis and Harlin were big enough names to carry the sequel on their shoulders. Also, while turning Ripley into a badass was done in an organic way via Aliens, Davis’ reported desire to make Veronica over in a similar fashion very well wouldn’t have worked. Alien and The Fly are two very different films, and a more action-heavy Fly sequel may have ended up closer to the existing Fly 2 than anyone would’ve liked, as that film already upped the action level quite a bit.

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