“Get away from her, you bitch!”
20th Century Fox loved director James Cameron’s script so much that they agreed to wait until he finished production on The Terminator (1984). Sigourney Weaver had initially been very hesitant to reprise her role as Ripley (Alien 1979), and had rejected offers from Fox Studios to do any sequel until reading Cameron’s script. But when finalizing her contract delayed production, Cameron devised a scheme: he called Arnold Schwarzenegger’s agent and told him that, because of his new standing in Hollywood following the success of The Terminator, he had decided to make this film entirely his own by writing the Ripley character out of the movie. Schwarzenegger’s agent quickly relayed this to Sigourney Weaver’s agent at ICM, who in turn contacted 20th Century Fox production head, Lawrence Gordon. Both, determined to keep the Ripley character in, immediately sealed Sigourney Weaver ’s deal. Tensions ran so high between music composer James Horner and director Cameron that he assumed they would never work together again. But years later Cameron was so impressed with Horner’s score for Braveheart (1995) that he later asked him to compose the score for Titanic (1997). Before filming, all actors playing Marines trained for two weeks with the S.A.S. (Special Air Service), Britain’s elite anti-terrorist force. Except Michael Biehn, who had replaced James Remar one week into production due to “artistic differences” with the director. Taking in $131 million made Aliens the biggest grossing film in the Alien series.
