20th Century Fox Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Alien

Forty years ago today, Ridley Scott made cinema history with his sci-fi horror epic, Alien. The film starred a young Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters) in the role of Ellen Ripley, a warrant officer aboard the Nostromo, a ship in which most of the film takes place. Weaver would reprise the role of Ripley in James Cameron’s Aliens in 1986, David Fincher’s Alien 3 in 1992, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 1997 film, Alien Resurrection. She nearly returned to the franchise in what would have been a sequel film directed by Neill Blomkamp, but this project remains up in the air and may never happen.

Among the other cast in Alien included Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas, Veronica Cartright as Lambert, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett, John Hurt as Kane, Ian Holm as Ash, Yaphet Kotto as Parker, and Bolaji Badejo as the alien creature. Unfortunately, both Stanton and Hurt passed away recently in 2017, but what they left behind will remain forever. Badejo passed away back in the early ‘90s at the age of just 39, with this movie being his only film credit.

Alien spawned three additional sequels, which we mentioned above, along with two prequel films that saw the return of Scott to the director’s chair. Those films were 2012’s Prometheus and the recent Alien: Covenant in 2017. It remains a mystery what the future has in store for this franchise, but signs seem to be pointing to Disney wanting to do a reboot or evolution of sorts with the series, as Ridley mentioned in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

In any case, wherever the series will go, the legacy of Ridley Scott’s Alien will live on for years to come. Please join us in celebration of the film’s 40th anniversary, which is officially celebrated today in conjunction with the film’s release back in 1979 on Friday, May 25th.

Stay tuned to Dead Entertainment for all the latest news and updates regarding the Alien franchise!

About the Author

Jay Gervais

From small town to big city and back again, Jay was born and raised in Canada and has lived his whole life there. He’s always ready to cut down any misconceptions his American friends have of life in the great white north. He’s also no stranger to this kind of community, and has plenty of experience under his bed. He enjoys all kinds of horror entertainment, as long as it’s got the heart and soul to it. When he’s not doing something here, he can be found at his post at the night’s watch, or knee deep into his school studies.

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