Alien and Aliens are rightly considered sci-fi classics, but the franchise took a strange turn with its next two instalments. David Fincher's Alien 3 certainly had its fair share of redeeming qualities given who was at the helm, but Alien Resurrection was downright bizarre.
In a 2005 interview, The Avengers director Joss Whedon distanced himself from the project (he penned the screenplay) and, more specifically, the Newborn, a human/Xenomorph hybrid. The filmmaker tore into the movie, saying filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet had "executed [my script] in such a ghastly fashion as to render it almost unwatchable."
Ouch.
Now, the filmmaker has responded during a recent interview with The Independent.
"I know Joss Whedon said some bad things about me," Jeunet tells the site. "I don’t care. I know if Joss Whedon had made the film himself, it probably would have been a big success. He’s very good at making films for American geeks - something for morons. Because he’s very good at making Marvel films. I hate this kind of movie. It’s so silly, so stupid."
As for the changes he made to Whedon's script, he jokes, "Too bad, Joss Whedon!"
Alien Resurrection made $161 million on a $75 million budget, so it wasn't a total disaster. Reviews weren't great, of course, but the same could be said for Sir Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Alien Covenant. Now, Disney has handed the franchise to Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley for an upcoming TV series featuring a new setting and new characters.
As for his final thoughts on his contribution to the franchise, Jeunet says, "I was a little bit concerned to watch my film - maybe I won’t like it? No, it was great! I have a lot of shots that I love. For the people who don’t like it, I can say, 'F*** you!'"
Well, that's told us...and Whedon. We can't blame the director for being proud of his work, and Alien Resurrection remains a fun "What If?"-style story. It was weird, sure, but also a chapter in the series that remains widely discussed to this day.