Story Fix: Alien 3

Earlier this month, I highlighted one of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling—namely, Rule #20:

“Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?”

With that in mind, I wanted to give the exercise a go. A few stories came to mind, but since this is spooky season, I thought it would be appropriate to look for a scary story to fix.

A Story for Spooky Season

Now I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of straight-line horror, so movies like Saw or The Conjuring don’t interest me. What I do enjoy are stories that use horror as a genre twist—think a sci-fi horror mashup like John Carpenter’s The Thing.

And one of the premier sci-fi horror franchises in pop culture—if not the premier—is the Alien series. Its reputation is well earned, although that’s due more to the creativity and success of its first two installments than anything that followed (sorry Prometheus fans).

And that’s the problem I’d like to fix, at least in the head canon of this blog. The first Alien is a terrifying tale featuring great characters and an iconic movie monster, and its sequel Aliens (or as director James Cameron pitched it: Alien$) ramped up the action, added to the lore, and pulled off a masterful character arc for its protagonist, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).

With the success of the first two films, it was a no brainer for the studio to greenlight the sequel. And then…the wheels came off. Alien 3 was bad. Really bad. It was poorly received and flopped in North America. Now, there were a number of issues behind the scenes that didn’t help the movie’s chances, but what if we could have a do-over? What if we, with the benefit of hindsight, could rearrange the movie into something better?

What if we could make the third Alien movie good?

Story Ground Rules

Pixar suggests that, when doing this story fix exercise, you use the building blocks of the existing story—don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, so to speak. So, that’s what I’ll do in this rewrite. It won’t all be the same, but I’ll repurpose what I can. But I’ll let you know right now, there will be two major differences in my rewrite compared to the original:

Ripley’s Not the Main Character

Now, this might sound like a senseless change, given how central Sigourney Weaver’s character is to the franchise. But in this case, I think it’s important. Why? Because her character arc was perfectly completed by the end of Aliens.

In that film, we learn that Ripley is a mother who (thanks to an alien attack and a prolonged cryostasis) has lost her daughter. In Aliens, she encounters Newt, a young girl who has lost her mother. By the end of the film, Ripley has gone through hell and back—to say nothing of her battle with an Alien Queen—to rescue Newt and become her surrogate mother. The movie ends with a shot of Ripley watching over Newt while they’re in cryostasis. They both can dream in peace now; their nightmare is over.

So, who will be the lead in this new version then? I think the answer is obvious: Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn). Though it’s less of a focus than Ripley’s relationship with Newt, Hicks fills a surrogate role for the young girl as well. He exhibits fatherly tendencies to Newt and has romantic interest in Ripley—we see a found nuclear family form in the middle of their extreme circumstances.

Hicks is sidelined during the climax of Aliens, and rightfully so—the heart of the movie was about Ripley and Newt, and Ripley’s fight for her adopted daughter. But my rewrite of the third film will focus on Hicks and the lengths he will go to protect his newfound family.

A Change in Scenery

The second tweak is less fundamental to the heart of the story, but I think it’s still a good swap. In the original Alien 3, the story takes place on an isolated prison planet. That’s fine, and it’s got a creepy cool aesthetic, but I’m changing it in favor of a space station which orbits Saturn. The reason for this is that, in the first two Alien movies, the alien threat moves progressively “closer to home.”

The first film takes place on an isolated mining ship with a small crew. The second moves the mayhem to a much larger human colony—a horrifying vision of what would happen if the aliens ever made it to Earth. My rewritten version puts the story in our solar system, with the threat closer to Earth than ever before, to continue raising the stakes of this throughline between films.

The Alien 3 Rewrite

Alright, let’s get down to it. If you want a summary of what happened in the original version, you can check it out here. Otherwise, here’s my rewrite…

ALIEN 3

Following the events of Aliens, the colonial space marine ship Sulaco is found and brought to a sparsely populated Weyland-Yutani transfer station orbiting the planet Saturn. Corporal Dwayne Hicks is revived from cryostasis to give an account as the lone surviving member of his military unit. Newt and Ripley remain in cryostasis but are moved to the medical bay under the care of Dr. Clemens.

Hicks reports to Commander Andrews, the ranking military officer on the station. Andrews orders that the corporal and the others cannot leave the transfer station and return to Earth until Hicks presents his case before a military tribunal.

After his debrief, Hicks learns more about the transfer station. Workers refuel and resupply starships that pass by Saturn, some of which are bound for Earth. Many of the workers have found meaning in an apocalyptic religion proselytized by a worker named Dillon.

Meanwhile, a hazmat teams searches the Sulaco and an alien egg is discovered. Francis, an assistant to Dr. Clemens, takes the egg to the medical bay for research. While studying it, the egg hatches, and a facehugger latches onto Francis. Clemens quarantines the man.

Hicks, still exploring the station, discovers that the android Bishop is scheduled to have his memory wiped and be repurposed. Hicks seeks out the android to thank him for his help in escaping LV-421. However, Bishop warns Hicks that the Sulaco’s computer informed him upon reactivation that there was an alien egg onboard.

The facehugger releases Francis and dies, leaving the man seemingly unharmed. Still, Clemens keeps him isolated, until Commander Andrews orders Francis be remanded into military custody. Given no other choice, Dr. Clemens complies, and Francis leaves with Andrews’ soldiers.

Hicks returns to the medical bay to make sure Ripley and Newt are safe. Clemens tells him about the egg, and Hicks sets off in a desperate search for Francis. But it’s too late—Francis dies when the alien baby bursts from his chest and escapes the soldiers. It’s clear that this alien will be a Queen.

The alien grows larger and wreaks havoc around the station, killing several workers. Despite Hicks’ protests, Commander Andrews refuses to hunt the creature, choosing instead to wait for reinforcements sent from Earth. Hicks realizes that Andrews wants to keep the Alien alive to be used as a bioweapon for the military. When he confronts the commander about this, Hicks is imprisoned.

To make matters worse, Dillon and the other religious fanatics view the Alien as “divine judgement” and begin attacking the other members of the station, causing mass chaos.

While Commander Andrews and his soldiers are distracted, Dr. Clemens helps Hicks escape. The pair is able to rescue the still sleeping Ripley and Newt, placing their cryochambers in an escape pod and setting their course for Earth. Hicks offers Clemens the chance to leave with them, but the doctor chooses to stay and kill the Alien Queen.

They are attacked by Andrews and his men, but Hicks outwits them and mortally wounds Andrews. As the commander dies, he reveals that the rest of the military is on their way to collect the Alien specimen. With this news, and with most on the station dead by the Alien or Dillon’s followers, Hicks and Clemens decide to use the Sulaco’s self-destruct sequence to destroy the station and kill the Alien.

While activating the self-destruct, Hicks and Clemens are ambushed by Dillon and his fanatics. Clemens is killed. Dillon reveals his desire to send the Alien Queen to Earth to punish mankind for their sins. Hicks manages to escape Dillon, who is killed by the still growing Alien Queen, and activates the Sulaco’s self-destruct mechanism.

The Alien Queen chases Hicks as he tries to reach the remaining escape pods. He manages to reach the last one and escapes the station. However, he soon realizes the Queen has attached itself to the pod, escaping with him. He searches for a way to rid himself of the Alien, but nothing works.

Finally, Hicks realizes the only way to kill the Queen is to sacrifice himself. He shuts off the pod’s engines, choosing to remain within the blast radius of the impending explosion.

The Sulaco explodes, causing a chain reaction that incinerates the station and Hicks’ escape pod, killing the Alien Queen.

Hicks’ last thoughts are of Ripley and Newt as they travel to Earth, finally safe from the Alien threat.

Conclusion

So, what do you think of this new version of Alien 3? What did you like, what did you hate, and what would you have done differently? Let me know in the comments below!