Not that this is too surprising, but it appears the Alien vs Predator storyline is adding to its count again, bringing the series total to three now. The news comes from STYD, who received a tip this past weekend, describing another sequel's chances as a "certainty." Really, I'm ambivalent on the news. The prospect of the original AVP was insanely exciting. The concept had been around in comics and video games for years, but the respective franchises had never been joined on screen before. And probably naively, I was looking forward to some fresh, badass Aliens after the 'blah' Alien Resurrection of 1997 - the last in the original series. We all know how that turned out.
Sadly, the 2004 match-up of the extraterrestrial beasts and hunters was disappointing. Entertaining, sure, but not very compelling or worthy of the hype. Despite dismal reviews - the original has a low 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the sequel, Alien vs Predator: Requiem, was released last December and earned an even worse 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Of course, this all comes down to a numbers game, as it often does.
So let's look at numbers, then. The instigator of the series brought in $170 million worldwide, while its follow-up made $130 million. Clearly, there's a paying audience for the story, and there's oh-so-many ways the story could go.
Requiem found the battleground in a quiet Midwestern town (in Colorado). Cute idea, but still pretty bland. The third installment is rumored to return to space, according to Requiem's directors back in December; although Greg and Colin Strause are not yet confirmed on the new film.
I agree with Peter over at SlashFilm that the only true way to do these sci-fi monster franchises justice and regain some of their credibility and mysticism is to get a director capable of such feats. The main feat being: taking the story to a much darker, frightening place that extends beyond cheap screams and blood.
James Cameron's iconic Aliens pulled in nearly $130 million, more than 20 years ago. In terms of dollars today, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of $250-$300 million. With possible earning power like that and the seeming flop of the first two films, you would think a solid director could sign on with a reasonable expectation of a good return. Not that this is likely, but would someone even do that?
Does anyone at all even want this franchise to continue on??
User comment: By: SinnerTake my money right now b/c I am there. Anytime one or both of these monsters are on the big screen, I'll be there to support it. The sooner moviegoers learn that movies never live up to hype, the sooner they can take that "wannabe film critic" stick out of their a$$es & enjoy a great modern day action flick. Hype is hype so stop falling for it & relax & enjoy. The first two were very entertaining & I'm psyched to see what they do next.
User comment: By: avoidzI hope they just give these two a divorce. No more Alien vs Predator movies, please!
User comment: By: harrisonmaybe if they used the avp books, those were great stories
User comment: By: BashI don't think the franchise is big enough to attract a name director but what about a director who has played in the big leagues in the past and has experience of dealing with an action movie, such as Jan De Bont, John McTiernan or Renny Harlin.
User comment: By: Nunya@Tirrell: Shut your frackin' mouth. NO WAY & NO HOW does the original Alien need a makeover OR a remake. It is a classic that SHOULD NOT be tampered with!
User comment: By: RyanKen, the second one was a failure on the contrary. It made HALF LESS than the first one! It had a surprisingly big opening day of 9mil. but crashed and burned from there. In one day it made almost 1/3 of the whole run! Sure it was R and sure it had less of a budget but the studios were hoping for 50M. I don't understand why studios are interested in sequels to unsuccessful films. I say it doesn't happen but I have been wrong before.
User comment: By: DjoserMy only advice: GET AN ACTUAL FILM DIRECTOR. ONE WHO WON'T LISTEN TO A SINGLE THING A SINGLE FAN OF EITHER FRANCHISE, nor the Video games, HAS TO SAY. BUT ONE WHO LIKED, and "GOT" the first Installments of the first franchises. If they have a Vision which provides a 'Re-boot' solution, let them make a WORTHWHILE movie. If such a director can't be found for the buck: let the franchise sleep until that Director is found. (If a Director IS found that meets the above criteria. They will smartly kill this franchise anyway- but hopefully in an intelligent way.) I agree w/ all your points of returning to a darker tone, relying less on splatter. Nonetheless, the lead up to, and the aftertaste from, AVP-2 was the single most disappointing experience of my life. It taught me, once and for all, that: -Exciting production design doesn't mean squat. -Inclusion of no-name actors doesn't mean squat. -Plot doesn't mean squat (even though theirs was half-baked to begin with) None of these things that might get you excited about an upcoming film matter, because in the end the only thing you need are Good Directors and Good Actors. They could be acting against a janitor covered in insulation tubing, for all I care. If they know how to make a Good freaking film, none of the above ammount to anything. The same goes for Watchmen. The same goes for Iron man. And all of this will be confirmed, by the most effective fantasy-romp franchise to date- which clearly "GETS IT": the Dark Knight.
User comment: By: TirrellBoth AVP's sucked. Part 1 a Predator fighting alongside a human was a terrible idea, terrible. AVP 2, 1 Predator against 20 Aliens...I say again 1 Predator who flew from his planet to Earth in ten minutes, ten minutes!!! Predator poured green lime juice on Alien corpses and they melted away! Cmon who wrote that a 9 year old?! Personally, I wouldn't want to see another AVP ever again. Recently I watched the original Alien movie and wow it deserves a full makeover. If they wanna film something this is the way to go a remake of Aliens part 1. But please use different directors and writers. Another AVP is career suicide!
User comment: By: RStewieI loved both films for what they were...action fluff with gore and lots of xploshuns!! But I would love for a good director to come in and really develop a story and make the characters more than just young, scream-fest fodder. I was really hoping to see the predators developed as actual characters, like they started to in the first AvP... If they could do that, I'll be a fangirl. But if it's just going to be sploshuns and gore, I might have to pass. (Who am I kidding!? I'll see it, I love bad movies! But I won't like it, and I'll have to deal with the angst of knowing I am a sucky-movie lover. Dammit.)
User comment: By: William MizeOnly if they load up a Brinks truck full of million dollar bills and back it up to the house of James Cameron or Ridley Scott. Hell, I'd even love for Guillermo DelToro to give it a shot. Anyone with vision, imagination and the balls to make the film that truly deserves to be made. As much as I loved the individual franchises, both of the AvP films have been pure and utter crap.
User comment: By: Dr.DuvelAvP2 did exactly what it said on the tin and was thus far more enjoyable in a mind numb popcorn way, however, I see no future, the concept has been destroyed, there's nothing new and really, do we want anything new ? Where can this go ? Predators hunting Aliens.... More Predators hunting More Aliens ? Dumb Predators hunting smart aliens ? The further this goes the further you get away from what made it great in the first place, its a process of diminishing returns. 1 Alien > 20 humans 1 Predator > 20 Aliens Its the basic formula that the canon has constrained itself to. The only workable premise I see is a group of super soldiers (human) hunting Predators who somehow have the Aliens under their control and wouldn't it be cool if it took place on a huge space station of Extra terrestrial origin, like Larry Nivens Ringworld and ... oh, that'll be Halo then.
Visit here to subscribe to commentsUser comment: By: EnolaHope this franchise dies a horrible death. AvP2 sucked big time...
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