TLIAW - In Hollywood, No-One Can Hear You Scream

Wait a minute, have you ever done a TLIAD, TLIAW, TLIAC or anything else?

Well I've written timelines and stuff, just never finished them, but no I haven't done a time-restricted one.

Also, aren't your timelines generally geopolitically-focused?

Yeah but I'm trying to branch out, okay?

Was the idea to do a "how this movie ends up different" PoD a blatant rip-off of TehIrishSoap's "David Cronenberg's Spider-Man"?

Yeah, pretty much. You should give it a read though if you haven't, it's pretty good.

So what's this one about?

A different Alien 3 (or Alien cubed, or whatever) that doesn't get stuck in development hell and end up being kinda shit.

Don't you have a law exam to study for?

Two. Shut up internal monologue.
 
The representatives from 20th Century Fox shuffled confidently into the boardroom of Brandywine Productions.

"Gentlemen, good to see you". Walter Hill, David Giler and Gordon Carroll all rose from their seats to shake hands with the suits from Fox.

Once they all took their seats, the lead representative, a long-limbed man whose excess of pomade reminded Hill of the oil wells his grandfather would drill into, immediately began to speak.

"Okay, I'm going to cut to the chase, but first mind if I light a cigarette?"

"As long as your hair is safe around an open flame" Walter retorted.

Chuckles filled the room, the most enthusiastic of which seemed to come from the representative's side of the table. The representative himself gave a wry smile and took a puff from the cigarette.

"As you and your wallets know, and certainly your wives too, Aliens was a huge success. Bigger than we had imagined. Bigger than that bitch at the end, amirite?"

"I thought you said you were going to cut to the chase?", Giler piped up.

"Alright, alright. Look we want to make another Alien, Aliens, Alienses or whatever. We want a third movie, a fully-fledged franchise. Plus we could always do with a fourth one as well. Back-to-back. Less production costs, more profits. Fox thinks you three gentlemen have the goods. We've hit a goldmine, gentlemen. What do you think?

Giler smiled to himself. He couldn't deny to himself the schadenfreude that their version had blown O'Bannon's Alien out of the water. Especially given that O'Bannon had seemed to one-up them by forcing their names off of the credits. But Aliens was a huge success. More action, better characters, better set-pieces. Plus they didn't have to resort to ripping-off 2001: A Space Odyssey with that MOTHER crap.

Carroll began to speak. "You know, if there was one thing we learnt in Korea, it's that you take the initiative when you can."

The head rep smiled wolfishly. "Looks like we're cooking with gas".
 
Giler: "You know what would be good to flesh out, guys?"

Giler had always had a relatively informal tone, although there was no reason not to, chatting over beers and barbecue at Carroll's home.

Giler:"Weyland-. A pause. Yutani". A silent assent seemed to fill the scene, but Giler continued to explain himself anyway.

Giler: "So we've got this big, huge corporation that makes everything from spaceships, weapons, industrial equipment. Pretty much everything. It's powerful, and it doesn't even respect the government, the Colonial Marine Corps. It's ballsy, it's dangerous, it's everything millions of college students ascribe to big corporations right. It's FOX in like ten years tops."

Hill chuckled. Soon he cut in.

Hill: "And they want to make the Alien into a bioweapon. But why? Who are they fighting?".

Carroll: "The Russians!"

Laughs filled the air and Giler and Carroll clanged together their bottles of Sierra Nevada. The three of them had come a long way from Bud.

Hill: "Hey, is it to late to rename the company?"

Carroll: "To what?"

Hill: "Reagan-Yutani!"

The three men burst into gut-splitting laughter.

Giler: "You know though, it makes sense. Maybe not the Russians per se but someone like them, you know, 'Space Commies From Outer Space'."

Carroll: "Isn't that a little... 1953?"

Giler: "Well if Aliens was Vietnam... then this works. Can get some wannabe arthouse critics on board too, having it as a big metaphor. So we have Weyland-Yutani, and they're in a kinda Cold War with the space commies. And these space commies aren't all lovey-dovey hippie types, you know. They're badasses too. So they come across the Sulaco. The Alien escapes? Maybe they capture the Alien. Maybe they're just like Weyland-Yutani. Maybe they find out that Weyland-Yutani wants to make a bioweapon. Maybe they succeed."

Hill: "You know what? I like it. No, I fucking love it."

Carroll: "What about Hicks? Hell, what about Ripley? And Bishop? And Newt?"

Hill: "You know, I liked Hicks, I liked him a lot. I think focus on him."

Giler: "Really? But, Ripley was the star. She's the common thread."

Hill: "She doesn't have to be. Maybe she gets killed off. Maybe she lives. I feel like we did a lot of good character development in Aliens. She was like a mother to Newt. She protected her. If we keep the focus on Ripley it's just more of the same."

Giler: "She was the mother. Feminine, but in a badass way. Hicks and Ripley, that's a thing. What if the focus was on him as a father, a surrogate one. Or a husband! He's trying to protect his newfound family."

Hill: "He's an everyman! He's an American."

Carroll: "Even better, he's what an American thinks of himself."

Hill: "Perfect. But who're we going to find to write this?"
 
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Giler: "So, what do you think?"

Weaver: "You know, I like it, I really do."

Biehn and Henrikson nodded in ascent. Hall, Giler and Carroll had thought it best to set up this meeting with the stars of Aliens to get their views on the creative direction of the next film in the series.

Biehn: "So Hicks is the main in this?"

Hall: "Absolutely. The audiences loved him."

Henrikson: "They loved the connection between him and Ripley. I have my doubts as to whether or not they'll bite with just Hicks."

Sigourney Weaver, smiling, cut in before Hall could respond.

Weaver: "Well I for one will be glad not to be too involved with this. Don't get my wrong, I'm happy with how the movie turned out, it's just that FOX can be a real pain in my backside."

Henrikson: "We all know how little tolerance you have for corporate types... Ripley."

A wry smile went over Weaver's face and her eyebrows raised playfully.

By contrast, a look of concern showed on Michael Biehn's visage.

Biehn: "What if Lance is right? What if Hicks just doesn't do it for them by himself?"

Giler: "He will. Don't worry."

Henrikson: "And what about Carrie?"

A difficult silence seemed to suck the oxygen out of the room. The young Carrie Hall had played Newt brilliantly in Aliens, but her parents had concerns about following an acting path for their daughter.

Carroll: "We should be able to convince the Halls. She only needs to be in it for a small part, it's not like she has to star in the movie. And few people can become big off of one character. Plus, the whole character is a little girl right? There aren't a lot of roles like that. But first of all we needed to know whether us grown-ups are all on board."

Biehn: "I'm in."

Weaver: "Me too. How about you, Bishop?"

Henrikson paused, a look of satisfaction growing on his face. He spoke slowly, in that voice at once calm and gravelly, grandfatherly and confident.

Henrikson: Oo...rah.
 
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