Here kitty kitty kitty

April 4, 2017 1:48 PM

Ridley Scott reveals a much grimmer proposition for the original ending of Alien. Hyping up Alien: Covenant (previously, more-so), Scott reveals that his original proposal was for the Xenomorph to kill, then imitate Ripley.

io9 has a little more.

posted by aspersioncast (23 comments total)

Welp, that's fun but glad it didn't happen.
posted by Artw at 1:58 PM on April 4, 2017

so basically ridley scott has always been a hack and, like lucas, benefits greatly from someone being able to tell him "that's stupid, you're not doing that."
posted by entropicamericana at 2:21 PM on April 4, 2017 [24 favorites]

See also the "twist" to Blade Runner.
posted by Artw at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

you mean the part where a little picture-in-picture of ridley scott pops up in the corner and he cups his hands to his mouth and shouts "he's a replicant" like the old garrett morris news for the hard of hearing bit on weekend update?
posted by entropicamericana at 2:28 PM on April 4, 2017 [13 favorites]

See also the "twist" to Blade Runner.

Chewbacca cameo
posted by thelonius at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2017 [8 favorites]

I prefer the Fight Club ending, where it turns out Ripley was just imagining the Alien, and she was the one killing everyone. Then M. Night Shyamalan was hired to re-write the final scene, and we find out that Ripley was also dead all along! But then get this - Ripley is actually ... a GUY! And in a twist, the "spaceship" is actually a village in Pennsylvania - where the Statue of Liberty has the head of ... an APE! And it's carrying a child's sled, called: "XENOMORPH"-!!! And Ripley takes one look at it and says: "No. I am your father - and I know what you did last summer!!!!!"
posted by the quidnunc kid at 2:42 PM on April 4, 2017 [53 favorites]

And then the xenomorph was a zombie.
posted by benzenedream at 2:52 PM on April 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

Thelma & Louise - Why the alternate ending would have ruined the film.
posted by Artw at 2:56 PM on April 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Sometimes I think the wrong Scott brother died.
posted by KingEdRa at 2:57 PM on April 4, 2017

What about Luca Brasi, though?
posted by jfwlucy at 2:58 PM on April 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

And then the murders began.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:07 PM on April 4, 2017 [9 favorites]

As I always say, he's amazing given a good script. It's just he is completely unable to tell on his own whether a script is good or not.
posted by Artw at 3:09 PM on April 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

well Tony Scott did make The Hunger, the best damn vampire movie of the 20th century
posted by supermedusa at 3:23 PM on April 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

There's a Futurama episode that takes this idea to its logical absurd extreme:

Murder on the Planet Express
posted by bunbury at 3:31 PM on April 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

For the sake of comparison, here's the ending from Dan O'Bannon's original screenplay for Alien (aka STARBEAST):

INTERIOR - LIFEBOAT
ROBY
[dictating]This is Martin Roby, executive officer, last survivor of the commercial vessel SNARK, signing off. Come on, cat, let's go to sleep.

Roby leans forward and switches off the recorder. Then he rises and, carrying the cat, walks to the hypersleep freezer, which stands open.

He climbs in and stretches out on his back, holding the cat against his chest. With one hand, he presses a switch, and THE LID CLOSES OVER HIM.

[...]

EXTERIOR - OUTER SPACE

The lifeboat -- SNARK 2 -- sails away toward its rendezvous with Irth, 250 years from now.

As SNARK 2 drifts past camera, we suddenly see that A SPORE POD IS ADHERED TO THE UNDERBELLY OF THE CRAFT.

ROLL END TITLES & MUSIC.

Oh shit!
posted by Iridic at 3:35 PM on April 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ridley stop.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:40 PM on April 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

I like how they recycled what footage they had shot of the original ending and included it in another movie.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:45 PM on April 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

I like how they recycled what footage they had shot of the original ending and included it in another movie.

God I love this scene, always have. I'm likely to watch this another dozen or so times tonight then possibly post it to facebook at 2am.
posted by efalk at 5:26 PM on April 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

it is indeeds a best scene ever
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:55 PM on April 4, 2017

I'm sorry, but the Sigourney Weaver in those scanty panties near the end was the the defining moment for me.
posted by marvin at 7:50 PM on April 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

What happens to the cat in this version? Jonesy is still okay, right
posted by Apocryphon at 11:51 PM on April 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've decided long ago that as much as Alien is my favorite movie, something or someone was helping Ridley Scott ignore his worst ideas...nowadays, nothing is stopping him, sadly. This article points to that being at least partially true.
posted by agregoli at 5:31 AM on April 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

So he never read "Who Goes There," or saw the original Thing From Another World, and would have destroyed any chance of John Carpenter making The Thing.
posted by asfuller at 9:06 AM on April 6, 2017