James Cameron Gives David Fincher A Free Pass For Alien 3

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James Cameron has recently shared his thoughts on the divisive plot twist in Alien 3, explaining how it changed aspects of his original Alien movie.

James Cameron’s 1986 film, Aliens, was a turning point for the Alien franchise, directly following up on Ridley Scott’s original. The movie introduced beloved characters like Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), Bishop (Lance Henriksen), and Newt (Carrie Henn). Newt and Sigourney Weaver’s character, Ellen Ripley, developed a strong bond, with Ripley becoming a mother figure to her.

Early in David Fincher’s Alien 3, the crew members introduced in previous films tragically die when their spaceship crashes on a prison planet, leaving Ripley as the sole survivor. The movie was a departure in style from the earlier Alien films, which upset many fans. Fincher himself later expressed dissatisfaction with Alien 3, stating the studio limited his artistic control.

Cameron recently discussed on Michael Biehn’s podcast, Just Foolin’ Around, how upset he was with the quick deaths of his favorite characters in the 1992 Aliens sequel. He felt the decision was really frustrating, explaining that fans had become invested in characters like Hicks, Newt, and Bishop, and killing them off so soon didn’t make logical sense.

He also noted that the characters who survived in the film were generally unpleasant, making it difficult for the audience to root for them. Cameron even suggested that viewers likely wanted these characters to die, which ultimately made it harder to feel invested in the fate of the main characters in Alien 3.

I thought that was a really terrible decision. They’d built up a lot of positive feeling for characters like Hicks, Newt, and Bishop, and then immediately killed them off in the next movie. It felt incredibly short-sighted. And they replaced those well-developed characters with a group of unlikeable convicts that the audience just wanted to see fail. It wasn’t a very smart move.

Cameron clarified that he held no resentment towards Fincher, stating he was a fan of his work. He pointed out that Alien 3 was Fincher’s directorial debut and that he hadn’t written the script – that was the work of David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson. Ultimately, Cameron felt Fincher shouldn’t be held responsible for the studio’s mistakes and therefore excused him from blame.

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2025-12-28 02:58