History Trivia / Alien

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: As everybody knows, Weyland-Yutani is a combination of motoring conglomerate British Leyland and generic Japanese. Ah, British Leyland, that pride of the nation, a household name for decades and trailblazer for the world, such an unstoppable industrial force would surely spread its MegaCorp tentacles across the galaxy for sci-fi centuries to come. Thing is, this film was released in 1979 and British Leyland went bankrupt in 197'''5'''. For Britons, the fall of a once proud company was the ultimate symbol of Britain's postwar decline—at least, if you're old enough to have heard of the company in the first place. For Americans, two words—General Motors. Oh, and Japan tanked in the '90s too. But the Asian half of the equation is fine. In 2009, the shattered remnants of British Leyland went bankrupt one last time—and were [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld bought out by the Chinese]].

ActingInTheDark: While everyone in the cast knew that the chestburster scene would take place (it was in the script, after all), only Creator/JohnHurt knew precisely what would happen. The rest of the cast was not told -- so their reactions to the scene were as genuine as possible, as evidenced by Creator/VeronicaCartwright's (Lambert) "Oh God!"

** Veronica Cartwright ''really'' slapped Creator/SigourneyWeaver. That wasn't just a sound effect, and Weaver's recoil and look of shock is genuine. According to the actress in the DVD commentary, she was fed up with Sigourney, who at that point had acted only on the stage and so was not used to pretending to get hit, instinctively flinching away from the slap and so, after numerous failed takes, was given the direction to "really hit her", and so aimed for Sigourney, anticipating the flinch, and Sigourney flinched right into the backswing. Cartwright didn't ''intend'' to make contact with force that resulted.

* LoopingLines: To cut around a lengthy deleted subplot involving a second attempt to flush the alien out the airlock and Dallas's missing access card, there's a bad dub moment where Sigourney Weaver says "I have access to [=MOTHER=] now and I'll get my own answers" over an absolutely ''riveting'' shot of her forehead and the back of Ash's head.

ActingInTheDark: Only Creator/JohnHurt knew that there would be a chestburster. The rest of the cast was not told -- so their reactions to the scene were genuine, as evidenced by Creator/VeronicaCartwright's (Lambert) "Oh God!"

* ActorInspiredElement: According to Sigourney Weaver, Lambert in the original script was the DeadpanSnarker of the group and also the OnlySaneMan - who wouldn't crack up until the end. Veronica Cartwright made her into more of a Woobie, to give the audience someone to sympathise with.

* {{Jossed}}: One common story is that "Weyland" and "Yutani" were the names of two of Creator/RidleyScott's neighbors whom he didn't like. However, this isn't the case. Ron Cobb, the designers of the movie came up with the name "Weyland-Yutani":
--> ''...Weyland Yutani for instance is almost a joke, but not quite. I wanted to imply that poor old England is back on its feet and has united with the Japanese, who have taken over the building of spaceships the same way they have now with cars and supertankers. In coming up with a strange company name I thought of British Leyland and Toyota, but we couldn't use "Leyland-Toyota" in the film. Changing one letter gave me "Weyland," and "Yutani" [[{{Tuckerization}} was a Japanese neighbor of mine.]]''

* AscendedFanon: Ron Cobb, who designed the "human" technology for the original ''Alien'' film and invented Weyland-Yutani (or as he had it, "Weylan-Yutani"), said that he envisioned Britain, which was going through a very troubled period in its history at the time, would eventually revive, and its monarchy would unify with that of Japan, creating a world power. The name "Weylan-Yutani" was meant to invoke the corporations British Leyland and Toyota. In 2019, science fiction writer Andrew E. C. Gaska, Disney's hired canon welder for the ''Alien'' franchise, made that speculation canon for the first time in the ''Alien'' RPG, as the Three World Empire.

* AscendedFanon: Ron Cobb, who designed the "human" technology for the original ''Alien'' film and invented Weyland-Yutani (or as he had it, "Weylan-Yutani"), said that he envisioned Britain, which was going through a very troubled period in its history at the time, would eventually revive, and its monarchy would unify with that of Japan, creating a world power. The name "Waylan-Yutani" was meant to invoke the corporations British Leyland and Toyota. In 2019, science fiction writer Andrew E. C. Gaska, Disney's hired canon welder for the ''Alien'' franchise, made that speculation canon for the first time in the ''Alien'' RPG, as the Three World Empire.

* OrphanedReference: Lambert's line pondering the fate of the Derelict crew would've been answered in the film's finale, when it is revealed the creature mutates its victims into eggs. Thus, the eggs in the Derelict's cargo hold ''are'' the crew. But the infamous "eggmorphing" scene was deleted from the theatrical cut and its canonicity is doubtful, orphaning her unintentional foreshadowing and leaving a gap in the creature's lifecycle that wouldn't be filled until the sequel.

* Alien 1-4 are four of the [[https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-complete-list-of-movies-and-tv-shows-on-the-interna-1782918945 533 listed movies and Tv shows on board the International Space Station.]]

* Alien 1-4 are four of the 533 listed movies and Tv shows on board the International Space Station.

* OrphanedReference: Kane's line pondering the fate of the Derelict crew would've been answered in the film's finale, when it is revealed the creature mutates its victims into eggs. Thus, the eggs in the Derelict's cargo hold ''are'' the crew. But the infamous "eggmorphing" scene was deleted from the theatrical cut and its canonicity is doubtful, orphaning Kane's unintentional foreshadowing and leaving a gap in the creature's lifecycle that wouldn't be filled until the sequel.

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/JonFinch had been cast in the role of Kane, but had fallen very ill due to his diabetes and was replaced by Creator/JohnHurt.
* NoBudget: Subverted. When the film was initially greenlit, the budget was set at around 4.4 million dollars (on the low side of respectable at the time). Ridley Scott was attached to direct, and as is his habit, storyboarded the whole film from beginning to end. Seeing Ridley's storyboards, Fox immediately doubled the budget, knowing they had a director who could not only deliver a powerfully visual film if given the right resources, but also knew and understood exactly the movie he wanted to make (meaning money wouldn't be wasted on "figuring things out").

*** It's slightly more nuanced than that: the actors (except for John Hurt) only found out ''on the day'' what was going to happen, and it actually took two false starts to get the creature to burst through the fabric of Kane's shirt, so by the time they got the shot, they were on the third take and they all knew that the creature was going to burst out of his chest. There were also visible tubs of gore and guts all over the set, so it was pretty obvious that they were going to be a part of it too. What they weren't preferred for was the sheer volume of blood that was going to be sprayed; Veronica Cartwright happened to be unlucky enough to be standing directly in the track of one of the blood hoses, and got a load of it in the face, hence her reaction. So it was part acting, and part genuine disgust and horror.

* FlipFlopOfGod: Whether the 3rd and 4th films are canon. In 2014, the ''Literature/AlienOutOfTheShadows'' trilogy of novels was officially recognized by Fox as canon to the ContinuityReboot of the franchise, but when the author of the second novel was going to disregard ''3'' and ''Resurrection'', they made him include references to them. In a 2016 interview Sigourney Weaver said that ''Alien 5'' would be set in an AlternateUniverse that "[runs] parallel" to the 3rd and 4th films, where Newt and Hicks survived.

** Creator/YaphetKotto did a lot of improv acting. Scott played along with it, and advised him to antagonize Sigourney Weaver, so their conflict later in the film would be more believable. When Ripley yells at Parker to "SHUT UP!" after Dallas' death, Weaver already had to listen to Kotto talking over her dialogue dozens of times. Having come mostly from stage, Weaver wasn't used to improv at all, and Kotto (at Scott's insistence) pushed her into ''actually'' asserting authority over the remaining cast.

* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/RidleyScott cited ''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey'' and ''Film/ANewHope'' as inspiration for the film's depicition of space, while ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974'' inspired the horror element.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Ridley Scott was going to make the third ''Alien'' movie, but passed on it when FOX announced they were going to make ''Film/AlienVsPredator''. When he returned to the franchise with ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'', he deliberately made the ''AVP'' duology CanonDiscontinuity.
** There were brief talks of James Cameron's interest in writing a script for a possible ''Alien 5'' with Creator/RidleyScott interested in directing, but Fox chose to focus on ''Film/AVPAlienVsPredator'' instead.
** ''Alien 3'' and ''Alien Resurrection'' nearly became CanonDiscontinuity during the writing of ''Alien: Sea of Sorrows'', before 20th Century Fox changed their mind and had the author revise the book to reference the events of the films. Rumors proclaimed that the fifth film ''was'' going to decanonize them, but Blomkamp himself debunked the rumors, saying his comments were being taken out of context.
** Creator/NeillBlomkamp's fifth Alien film. Blomkamp had been making conceptual art in his free time as a possible but unlikely film pitch since Fox didn't even know about his ideas. When the art was released on the internet, Fox surprisingly took interest and hired him for the project. However, the film was put on hold pending ''Alien: Covenant'', Blomkamp has moved on to other projects, and Ridley Scott has stated he intends to retain creative control of the franchise until he dies. Scott eventually stated that Blomkamp's film -- titled ''Alien: Awakening -- didn't develop beyond a basic outline and was ultimately scrapped by FOX.
*** Many fans have theorized that the ''Film/{{Zygote}}'' short film Blomkamp released in 2017 retained many elements that he had originally planned to include in ''Alien 5''. The most obvious signs are the two main characters being Expies of Hicks and Newt who are forced to fight and flee from an alien abomination. It's also been noted how the actress portraying the heroine of the short film, Dakota Fanning, was a perfect match for an older Newt.
** Of all the places, the Ride/DisneyThemeParks intended to make the franchise into a ride at Tomorrowland involving a Xenomorph being accidentally released into a confined spaceship with the guests. Due to some of the management not wanting to associate with an R-rated movie (a move they've since gone back on), changes were made at the last minute to create ''The Ride/ExtraTERRORestrialAlienEncounter'', such as using an original species that was a vague Xenomorph expy. Another idea that had also been considered was a LightGunGame ride where guests would take aim at Xenomorphs invading a spaceship, but this too never came to be. ''Alien'' was finally able to make it into the Disney parks in 1989, when it was included among the many scenes of ''Ride/TheGreatMovieRide'' at Disney's Hollywood Studios. However, the ride was closed in 2017, leaving the franchise without any sort of theme park presence once again.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/HarrisonFord turned down the role of Captain Dallas.
** Creator/RidleyScott wanted to cast Creator/MerylStreep as Ripley. However, Streep's boyfriend John Cazale had just died, and it was felt it would be inappropriate to approach her about the part.
** Creator/HelenMirren auditioned for a role (most likely Ripley).
** Creator/RidleyScott and some of the cast mention in the audio commentary that he had the idea that casual sex happened between any and all members of the group [[EveryoneIsBi regardless of sex]], and that, in hindsight, he would have liked to show a homosexual relationship. A scene related to this would have been a conversation between Ripley and Lambert, one clarifying that they had either had sex or been solicited for sex by every man on the ship except Ash, as a way of foreshadowing that he is, in fact, an android. Related to the above example, there were talks of a lesbian relationship between Ripley and Lambert. The novelization by Creator/AlanDeanFoster, based on earlier screenplay edits, strengthens the casual sex implications by including a scene where Ripley directly asks Lambert if she slept with Ash. Lambert replies that she hadn't, but only because Ash didn't seem interested.
** The original script had a DownerEnding where the alien kills Ripley, then imitates her voice in a call to Earth, indicating it's headed there next. Scott was persuaded that the film was horrific enough without it.
** Another change from the script was that originally, Ripley was unable to abort the self-destruct sequence because the engine core meltdown had already begun. In the finished film, Ripley misses the cut-off point by a matter of seconds, and Mother simply refuses to abort the sequence, leading to a furious Ripley smashing Mother's computer monitor.
** More nudity was going to be in the film, with the characters often walking around naked to show how comfortable they are with each other. Ripley was supposed to be nude when she changes into the spacesuit at the end - and the alien was even going to be DistractedByTheSexy for a moment. But producers were worried that the film would be banned in other countries, and insisted Ripley be wearing underwear.
** [[https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--IPqrL3Ez--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/18o69f9afc4i7jpg.jpg Here]] is Dan O'Bannon's original concept art for the creature that terrorised the Nostromo.
** There was going to be a scene where the alien uses a human shield against a flamethrower, and a line where one crew-member describes the beheading of another as "horrible, like a chicken".

* FranchiseKiller: Not everyone was very happy about how ''3'' or ''Resurrection'' turned out, and [[IntercontinuityCrossover mashing it up]] with ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' hasn't done much to restore faith in the series. The games tended to do better than the films. Sigourney Weaver felt this way about the series. She didn't want to do another one after ''Aliens'' so she could move on to other projects. Ripley's death at the end of the third movie was included at her insistence, to make any further sequels starring her impossible. After that the writers had to resort to cloning the character, but she agreed to reprise the role again when Fox offered her an additional producer credit that would give her an 11 million dollar salary (which was more than ''the entire budget of the first film''[[note]]Although unadjusted for inflation, mind you[[/note]]), and because she thought the ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' concept which was pitched around at the time sounded awful. They later made this spin-off as well anyway... and even an even more awful sequel to it. Said crossover franchise has had a healthy life in video games, though. She finally signed back on with ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'' because she thought it genuinely added something new to the franchise.

*** Many fans have theorized that the [[https://youtu.be/pKWB-MVJ4sQ Zygote short film]] Blomkamp released in 2017 retained many elements that he had originally planned to include in ''Alien 5''. The most obvious signs are the two main characters being Expies of Hicks and Newt who are forced to fight and flee from an alien abomination. It's also been noted how the actress portraying the heroine of the short film, Dakota Fanning, was a perfect match for an older Newt.

* TheWikiRule: There's the Alien Anthology Wiki, which can be found [[http://alienanthology.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_Anthology_Wiki here]]. There's also [[http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Xenopedia]].

* TheWikiRule: [[http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Xenopedia]] has information on ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'', ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'', and ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator''. The [[http://weyland.wikia.com/wiki/Weyland-Yutani_corporation_Wiki Weyland-Yutani Wiki]] covers the same material, including works inspired by ''Film/{{Alien}}''.

** Other names for the species used in spinoff media are 'Internecivus Raptus' (Murderous Thief) and 'Linguafoeda Acheronsis' (Foul-tongue from Hell, Acheron being also the name of the planet on which the creatures were first encountered in ''Alien'').

* BillingDisplacement: Tom Skeritt (Dallas) is billed above Creator/SigourneyWeaver in the credits, as Ridley Scott did not want to spoil the fact that Ripley was going to be the lone survivor of the ''Nostromo''. Of course, [[LateArrivalSpoiler the existence of the sequels make this impossible now]]. Skeritt was also the biggest name in the film at the time of it's release, while Sigourney Weaver was an unknown with a handful of minor credits.

* {{Defictionalization}}: To celebrate the [=40th=] anniversary of the film, Reebok introduced a limited edition 'Alien Stomper' boot based on the shoes that Ripley wears.

** Many others, most (including the "Ripley finds the nest" scene) restored in the "Director's Cut."

** Veronica Cartwright ''really'' slapped Creator/SigourneyWeaver. That wasn't just a sound effect, and Weaver's recoil and look of shock is genuine. According to the actress in the DVD commentary, she was fed up with Sigourney, who at that point had acted only on the stage and so was not used to pretending to get hit, instinctively flinching away from the slap and so, after numerous failed takes, was given the direction to "really hit her," and so aimed for Sigourney, anticipating the flinch, and Sigourney flinched right into the backswing. Cartwright didn't ''intend'' to make contact with force that resulted.

** Creator/YaphetKotto did a lot of improv acting. Scott played along with it, and advised him to antagonize Sigourney Weaver, so their conflict later in the film would be more believable. When Ripley yells at Parker to "SHUT UP!" after Dallas's death, Weaver already had to listen to Kotto talking over her dialogue dozens of times. Having come mostly from stage, Weaver wasn't used to improv at all, and Kotto (at Scott's insistence) pushed her into ''actually'' asserting authority over the remaining cast.

** According to the audio commentary, Ash as a character did not exist in the original concept at all, and was added during production. This annoyed Dan O'Bannon, thinking it an unnecessary and distracting diversion from the main plot, though the Ron Shusett and Ridley Scott thought it a good twist. This is especially noticeable in the commentary (spliced together from several seperately-recorded commentaries) where Scott and Shusett are very complimentary of the idea, adding a new dimension to the story and basically creating the rest of the franchise (to the point where Weyland-Yutani doing something stupid to try and get or study the Xenomorphs is almost painfully cliche), where the nicest thing O'Bannon can say about it is that "it's a bad twist done well."

* FanNickname: Space Jockey—the alien pilot aboard the derelict ship—extended to the rest of his race, as well. Derived from a name used by the film crew; in the canon, it's never named. In ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' they're called the "Engineers".

* CastTheExpert: Creator/SigourneyWeaver was originally cast as Lambert, while Veronica Cartwright was going to play Ripley. At the last minute, their roles were switched. Cartwright didn't find out until she went to a costume fitting.

** According to the audio commentary, Ash as a character did not exist in the original concept at all, and was added during production. This annoyed Dan O'Bannon, thinking it an unnecessary and distracting diversion from the main plot, though the Ron Shusett and Ridley Scott thought it a [[TropesAreNotBad good twist]]. This is especially noticeable in the commentary (spliced together from several seperately-recorded commentaries) where Scott and Shusett are very complimentary of the idea, adding a new dimension to the story and basically creating the rest of the franchise (to the point where Weyland-Yutani doing something stupid to try and get or study the Xenomorphs is almost painfully cliche), where the nicest thing O'Bannon can say about it is that "it's a bad twist done well."

*** It's slightly more nuanced than that: the actors (except for John Hurt) only found out ''on the day'' what was going to happen, and it actually took two false starts to get the creature to burst through the fabric Kane's shirt, so by the time they got the shot, they were on the third take and they all knew that the creature was going to burst out of his chest. There were also visible tubs of gore and guts all over the set, so it was pretty obvious that they were going to be a part of it too. What they weren't preferred for was the sheer volume of blood that was going to be sprayed; Veronica Cartwright happened to be unlucky enough to be standing directly in the track of one of the blood hoses, and got a load of it in the face, hence her reaction. So it was part acting, and part genuine disgust and horror.