Editing Alien (section)

==Origins==
Back in the 1970's, sci-fi was pretty much the same; a futuristic setting with bleached white tile and highly futuristic technology. This sat unwell with a few directors, one of which was [[Star Wars|George Lucas]].

With the release of Star Wars, 20th Century Fox was desperate to follow up with another sci-fi movie. The only script they had on the table was titled "Space Beast" by Dan O'Bannon. O'Bannon, like his college roommate John Carpenter was a huge fan of science fiction and H.P. Lovecraft. The original script was heavily influenced by At the Mountains of Madness, with a whole sub-plot being the crew of the ship finding a dead alien pyramid complex behind the derelict covered in bas-reliefs showing the history of the alien civilization. Ridley Scott was actually not their first choice, but he eagerly took up the opportunity. The creature of the film would be influenced by the work of H.R. Giger, who was hired to work on the creature design for the film.