Explore More Alien
When London Times online reviewed David Hughes book ‘The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made' it gave #1 spot to Vincent Ward’s concept for Alien III.
"Ward came in with a very original idea and a very arresting piece" Sigourney Weaver
Alien III was based on a story by Vincent Ward, he explains:
"They had approached me about making Alien III so I wrote the story-outline on the flight over. Though some of the ideas I had been thinking about for sometime.
It was an exciting departure from the previous two films, they were looking for something original, which my pitch delivered on - it had a clear vision and I signed on as director.
However, when Rupert Murdoch decided he wanted Alien III to be their flagship film things changed. Slowly the core of my idea was eroded. By the time I realised they were now wanting a ‘safe’ sequel - a composite of the previous two films - I asked to resign.
The film that was eventually made only had vestiges of my pitch, many of the key plot points remained (which is why I was given sole story credit) but the world and the character dynamics had been stripped away - leaving, despite Fincher’s best efforts, a film that had lost its meaning.
I worked on the project for close to a year - in the early stages I conceived and worked up key pre-visualisation images of the world and story, directing a range of other artists, including the legendary architect Lebbeus Woods. These images were then fed into the script-writing (once screenwriter John Fasano was brought on).
Twenty years later when the Alien Quadrilogy box set was released, I was interviewed about my unrealised version for Alien III. This interview inspired me to go back to the original treatment I had written and images which I had saved. I was excited by the potential of them and decided to re-visit the project in a new format.
I hired professional artists and worked up new original material and story sequences based on my first treatment - which I then took to Fox and Dark Horse to see if I could get a graphic novel published.
Unfortunately the graphic novel never came to fruition but I share the story I developed here with those who may be interested in it. "