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Earthbound: A Proposed Storyline for ALIEN 4

NOTE: Corona Productions presents this information solely as of interest to any ALIEN fans. The opinions expressed by Mr. Hazeldine do not necessarily reflect Corona Productions. The idea and premise for Earthbound is registered and owned by Stuart Hazeldine (c)1996 .

Writer: Stuart Hazeldine

Credits: Screenwriter, Underground; Screenwriter, Episode of BUGS.

The Story Behind the Story: British screenwriter Stuart Hazeldine is a fan of the ALIEN movies. So it seemed like a good idea to sit down and try to come up with a story he could pitch to 20th Century Fox, the owners of the ALIEN trilogy, and see if it could take a run for the story of ALIEN 4. Hazeldine sat down, wrote a few proposals, and submitted them to 20th Century Fox via his agent, only to find out that screenwriter Joss Whedon had already received clearance to work on a full screenplay proposal for Fox. However, knowing that a movie may go through many different scripts and storylines before audiences see the finished result, and as mentioned, a huge fan of the series, Hazeldine is still hoping that the owners of the ALIEN franchise can take a look at his material. It still may be possible - screenwriter Peter Briggs wrote a spec screenplay called ALIENS VS. PREDATOR without Fox's knowledge (which also borrowed heavily from the Dark Horse Comics Aliens vs. Predator mini-series) and eventually sold the script to Fox.

Does Stuart Hazeldine's script proposal fit the requirements for the next ALIEN movie? Is Whedon's script - which may already be greenlighted - better suited? Should Fox instead do a complete 180-degree reversal and turn the series into an animated musical??? In this arena, no one really knows save ticketgoers on opening weekend.

Premise of his Treatment:

Stuart Hazeldine speaks about his proposed storyline:

"It's called EARTHBOUND. There is a short 14-page version and a full-scale 92-page version that's half-treatment and half-novella. A full screenplay in long-hand.

"It follows on directly from ALIEN III and Ripley is in the lead again. I have brought her back via DNA cloning too but taken a different emphasis to Joss Whedon - he's talked about alien queen DNA inside her, I've concentrated on the memory side of things - is she a completely new person, or does she recall...?

"It features a few old characters from the series plus a couple of new ones. Bishop's twin features heavily, as does a major female role to co-star alongside Ripley. If you're thinking it's Newt, you're wrong. And if you think it's Ripley's daughter you're wrong too. But you might be close...

"The U.S. Colonial Marines are heavily involved again. We all love 'em.

"We encounter a new and spectacularly creepy race of aliens.

"The plot brings the story back to earth without losing the claustrophobia of the series or ballooning the budget. In fact, the whole plot of the movie revolves around a desperate military attempt to stop the aliens reaching earth which, as we all know, would be 'the end of all life as we know it!' It's a race against the clock movie at heart with loads of action and a female-based emotional core that I think picks up and develops further what was left off between Ripley and Newt in ALIENS."

Hazeldine's script treatment missed the deadline before it was common knowledge that Joss Whedon got the official assigment to write a script for 20th Century Fox. Hazeldine's agent has approached 20th Century about his client's eagerness to take a whack at pitching them a proposal, but due to legal reasons cannot:

"That the powers that be at Fox have said they can't read it for legal reasons, I'm not angry at this and I understand their thinking, but I am very dissapointed because I know I've got a GREAT story here that fulfills all their requirements and, I believe, stands a good chance of being better than Mr. Whedon's. I've offered to sign legal waivers, change the title, anything to enable Fox to read my work safely, but to no avail so far. I could put it in for ALIEN V but only 50% of the story would survive then, and it might be weakened beyond repair."

He includes this appeal to anyone interested in his proposal being considered:

"If there's any way people know to politely lobby Fox or Brandywine by e-mail or letter and ask them nicely to give my treatment a shot then PLEASE do so!"

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