The aliens is one of the most phenomenal movie collections out there and even though its very first movie was in the 90s, it is still hugely popular today.
But did you know that we almost didn’t get Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in the sequel? It’s actually because of James Cameron’s unrivaled wit and, well, a bit of luck too, perhaps, that solidified the Golden Globe-winning actress’ role in the franchise.
The acclaimed Canadian filmmaker recently revealed how he got the Galactic Quest star to sign Aliens by executing an insanely clever plan in which he created such a believable facade that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s agent (whom he knew would pass the news to Sigourney Weaver’s agent) ultimately ended up l to help get the American actress on board.
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James Cameron faced a major test while making aliens
When James Cameron took over the 1986 film, he was under the impression that Sigourney Weaver, who starred in the first film, would also return for a sequel. Or at least that’s what 20th Century Fox had led him to believe.
Cameron explained how thrilled he was to work with Weaver and even started the script for the film until he discovered that 20th Century Fox “I didn’t even speak” The good house the actress about to return for the sequel, leaving the director with no choice but to set it all up on his own.
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But Cameron’s string of difficulties didn’t end there, because although Weaver was enthralled by the script after approaching her, 20th Century Fox refused to comply with the demands of Weaver’s agents, who apparently “asked for the moon” if she were to reprise the character of Ripley. “The moon” being a large sum of a million dollars.
With the way things were going, the chances of Weaver getting his role back in aliens seemed quite thin. But Cameron also had no intention of giving up, and by playing trump card, he finally managed to do what he wanted.
James Cameron’s mastermind plan to get Sigourney Weaver’s sign aliens
Talk with QGthe Avatar the director talked about the pickle he was in when he directed the sequel to the 1979 sci-fi/horror movie Extraterrestrial and how he managed in the end by putting on an elaborate charade.
Neither Weaver’s agents nor 20th Century Fox were willing to budge, so Cameron took matters into his own hands and called Arnold Schwarzenegger’s agent who was at the same agency as the heartbreakers the actress’ agent and pretended to eliminate Weaver’s character from aliens absolutely.
“I called Lou Pitt, Arnold’s agent, and I said, ‘Lou, we’re done with this. So we decided that we really liked the story and all the characters in Corps of Marines and the world that we created and everything. And really, we thought about it, and we really don’t need Sigourney. I created all these characters, and my pride in being the author tells me that I should go ahead, and we’ll just delete her, and we’ll just delete her character. We’re not recasting it; I’m just going to rewrite it. So, I’m going to start tonight.”
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But of course the Titanic the filmmaker did not plan to go through all this. All he needed was some extremely convincing bait and trickery.
“Now, did I intend to do this?” Not at all. But I do know that Lou is with the same agency as Sigourney’s agent, who was in New York. And I knew the second he hung up on me, he called him and said, “Wave Sigourney now. And guess what? The deal was done in 12 hours after that. So, I never wrote a word of this hypothetical story that I said I was going to do, that I had no intention of writing anyway. Anyway, it worked and Sigourney got her million dollars, and everyone was happy.
Thanks to Cameron, everyone had a win-win situation ahead of them after that.
aliens can be streamed on Disney+.
Source: QG
