Joss Whedon Reflects On What Went Wrong With ALIEN: RESURRECTION
The Alien franchise hit a real low point with 1997's Alien: Resurrection. What may surprise you is that The Avengers writer and director Joss Whedon had a writing credit on the film. "There is always going to be a shitty Alien movie out there. A shitty Alien movie with my name on it."
Geek God Joss Whedon has done very little wrong over the course of his remarkable career as a writer and director, but Alien: Resurrection was definitely a hugely disappointing addition to his résumé. In a recent interview with Total Film Magazine, Whedon was asked to share his thoughts on Prometheus and to reflect on his own contribution the franchise. "Yes, I did see Pro-meaningless," he joked. "In all seriousness, Alien: Resurrection was, I thought, the lowest I could ever feel. And then they cancelled Firefly. 'Yup, there you go. That's me feeling even lower.' Let me quote King Lear - 'The worst is not, so long as we can say, "This is the worst.'"
"Casting is storytelling," he added when asked about what his experience working on the Jean-Pierre Jeunet helmed movie taught him. "I wrote two characters for Alien: Resurrection and their arc was that you would not know what way they were going to go. One of them turned out to be insane - and what do they do? They call Brad Dourif. So there is no plot twist. Brad is a very good actor but he has been pigeonholed into these roles. Then they case J.E. Freeman as a thug - and his character was also supposed to be a mystery. So there you go again - the mystery is gone. Those are just a couple of examples because there are thousands of them when it comes to Alien: Resurrection."
As for whether or not how Alien: Resurrection turned out continues to bother him, it turns out that despite the huge level of success he has since achieved, he won't forget it any time soon. "Yeah - you don't ever get over it. When you are making a movie you are making something that is going to last forever, especially now with the internet. So there is always going to be a shitty Alien movie out there. A shitty Alien movie with my name on it." However, he must at least feel a bit better knowing that the terrible Alien vs. Predator movies would eventually prove to be THE perfect example of a bad Alien film. Right? "I actually like the first Alien vs. Predator. I'm a Paul W. S. Anderson fan."
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