Before we got the much maligned Alien 3 from acclaimed director David Fincher, which killed off a couple of fan-favorite Aliens characters in its first few seconds of screen time, writer William Gibson penned a script that was a proper sequel to James Cameron's 1986 blockbuster sequel. But it wound up in the trash, and never saw the light of day. The script has become somewhat infamous amongst Alien franchise fans. Now, that screenplay is being turned into a book.
Coming this summer, Titan Books will release Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay on August 31. It will give fans a chance to see what could have been, had Fincher not moved forward with an alternate screenplay from David Giler, Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson. William Gibson has claimed in the past that virtually nothing from his version of the script made it into the finished film.
This isn't the first time that Alien fans have gotten a taste of what William Gibson had planned for what would have essentially been Aliens 2. The man's unproduced screenplay has already been turned into a Dark Horse comic book adaptation. It later became an Aliens audio book. Now it will get the full novel treatment, as the script gets adapted into what some may soon consider a literary masterpiece in the sci-fi horror genre.
Hugo Award-Winning "Queen of Cyberpunk" Pat Cadigan is adapting William Gibson's Alien 3 screenplay into a full length book. Titan Books has released a synopsis for this lost movie of sorts. You can read the full version here.
"William Gibson's never-before-adapted screenplay for the direct sequel to {{10}}, revealing the fates of Ripley, Newt, the synthetic Bishop, and Corporal Hicks. When the
Colonial Marines vessel {Sulaco docks} with space station and military installation Anchorpoint, a new form of Xenomorph appears."
"The Sulaco, on its return journey from LV-426, enters a sector controlled by the "Union of Progressive Peoples," a nation-state engaged in an ongoing cold war and arms race. U.P.P. personnel board the Sulaco and find hypersleep tubes with Ripley, Newt, and an injured Hicks. A Facehugger attacks the lead commando, and the others narrowly escape, taking what remains of Bishop with them."
"The Sulaco continues to Anchorpoint, a space station and military installation the size of a small moon, where it falls under control of the military's Weapons Division. Boarding the Sulaco, a team of Colonial Marines and scientists is assaulted by a pair of Xenomorph drones. In the fight Ripley's cryotube is badly damaged. It's taken aboard Anchorpoint, where Ripley is kept comatose. Newt and an injured Corporal Hicks are awakened, and Newt is sent to Gateway Station on the way to Earth. The U.P.P. sends Bishop to Anchorpoint, where Hicks begins to hear rumors of experimentation-the cloning and genetic modification of Xenomorphs."
"The kind of experimentation that could yield a monstrous hybrid, and perhaps even a Queen."
Written by Hugo Award-winning novelist and "Queen of Cyberpunk" Pat Cadigan, based on Gibson's never-produced first draft Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay, will be the late summer beach read many will need as they prepare to head into the fall. With no as many big movies releasing this summer, this novelization of what could have been is sure to provide some big scares and a lot of thrills. This news was first reported at https://bloody-disgusting.com/books/3662039/william-gibsons-unproduced-aliens-sequel-screenplay-turned-novel-august-release/|Bloody Disgusting based on a press release from Titan Books.