As the film begins, the following information appears onscreen, “commercial towing vehicle ‘The Nostromo’; crew: seven; cargo: refinery processing 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore; course: returning to earth.”
       As explained in interviews for the 2003 “making of” featurette, Alien: The Beast Within, writer Dan O’Bannon collaborated with his friend Ronald Shusett on the original Alien story, which evolved from O’Bannon’s work-in-progress idea, Star Beast, and his 1975 screenplay, Dark Star (see entry). According to a 17 May 1979 WSJ article, Gareth Wigan, Vice-President of Worldwide Production at Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., turned down the early draft after deeming it too violent, as did other studios. O’Bannon later submitted the screenplay to Brandywine Productions, led by producers Walter Hill, Gordon Carroll and David Giler, who had a close affiliation with Twentieth Century-Fox. According to an interview with Giler in the Fall 1979 issue of Cinefantastique, Brandywine bought the option for $1,000. Hill rewrote the script in a few days and presented it again to Twentieth Century-Fox, noting that he was interested in directing the project. After consulting with studio executives on 7 Feb 1977, Twentieth Century-Fox president Alan Ladd, Jr. decided to purchase the script, whose terror reminded him of the shower scene in Psycho (1960, see entry). Twentieth Century-Fox had also recently launched the intergalactic, science fiction film, Star Wars (1977, see entry), which became the largest grossing film in history to that time.
       Prior to Twentieth Century-Fox greenlighting the project, O’Bannon and Shusett considered other offers, including one from Roger Corman of New World Pictures, who was willing to finance the film as a low-budget production with O’Bannon directing, as noted in a 27 Apr 1980 LAT article.
       When Hill became unavailable to direct, Ladd offered the job to Ridley Scott, based on his feature film directing debut, The Duellists (1977, see entry). Prior to making the transition to films, Scott had a successful ten-year career directing television commercials. According to an 8 Feb 1978 Var article, Scott was working on pre-production by Feb 1978.
       Ladd and the Brandywine producers made a decision to spend money on special effects and sets, instead of major stars. As noted in the 8 Feb 1978 Var article, the budget was originally proposed between $3 and $5 million. However, costs gradually escalated. A year after the film’s release, the 27 Apr 1980 LAT reported the final production expenses as $10.7 million (a figure obtained from a Mar 1980 producer’s statement) and the advertising budget as $15.7 million.
       As outlined in Cinefantastique, the shooting script represented contributions from O’Bannon, Hill and Giler; although in an arbitration ruling, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) awarded O’Bannon sole screenplay credit, despite the fact that Twentieth Century-Fox recommended Hill and Giler for the “screenplay” credit and O’Bannon for the “story by” credit. Both Hill and Giler described O’Bannon’s early script as “unsophisticated” and “a pastiche of Fifties movies.” Their contribution included transforming the character of “Ash” into a robot, changing two of the male characters to females, one of whom would be the lead “Ripley,” creating “Jones” the cat and introducing a “noir edge” into the story.
       In several sources, Scott admitted that he accepted the project without being a fan of science fiction. In interviews for the 6 Jun 1979 DV and Cinefantastique, he envisioned the film as a suspense thriller and considered the design of the alien creature as the first priority, since it was the key to making the terror appear credible. Scott was inspired after being introduced to the biomechanical illustrations of Swiss designer H.R. Giger whom O’Bannon had recruited early on to work on the project. Scott said that Giger’s 1976 painting, Necronom IV, was the foundation for the creature. Besides the look of the alien from embryo to adult, Giger was responsible for the planetary landscape and the derelict spacecraft, according to a 6 Jun 1979 HR article. Giger, who was relatively new to motion pictures, was partial to using organic materials such as bones and skeletons to create the alien forms and revealed that the “chest-birth” creature was made of real animal intestines and blood. In Cinefantastique, Giler recalled that Giger’s storyboard ideas, on their own, convinced Twentieth Century-Fox to increase the budget an additional $2.5 million during pre-production. O’Bannon also enlisted the help of the concept artists Ron Cobb, Chris Foss and Jean ‘Moëbius’ Giraud, as noted in the Jan/Feb 1979 issue of Mediascene. Cobb stated that the majority of his designs were related to the technology of the ship and that Giraud’s primary contribution was the spacesuit. Special effects specialist Carlos Rambaldi was hired to animate Giger’s designs for the alien head.
       The part of “Ripley” was the first leading role in a feature film for Sigourney Weaver, whose acting experience had been primarily on stage. She read for “Ripley” in Los Angeles, CA, but a later screen test in London finally convinced the filmmakers. An item in the 1 Jul 1991 Time reported Weaver’s salary as $30,000. According to Cinefantastique, Nigerian Bolaji Badejo was chosen to play “The Alien” on account of his unique proportions of tallness, long limbs, slimness and erect posture. After getting the part, he took mime lessons in an effort represent both “graceful” and “vicious” movements while wearing the $250,000 alien suit designed by Giger. For the more risky action sequences, a stuntman substituted for Badejo. During the rehearsal period, publications from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were distributed to the actors so they could immerse themselves in the technical jargon, as mentioned in Mediascene.
       A Twentieth Century-Fox press release announced that filming began 3 Jul 1978 at Shepperton Studios outside London, England, while a 28 May 1979 LAT article specified the start date as 5 Jul 1978. According to an interview with Scott in the Aug 1979 AmCin, shooting of the live action photography was completed in Oct 1979, followed by another six months of editing and special effects photography. As stated in production notes at AMPAS library, interior scenes on the spaceship and exterior scenes on the planetary surface were filmed at Shepperton. Special effects photography of models and miniatures was housed at Bray Studios in Windsor, England.
       Three central sets, comprising multiple sections, were built on separate soundstages at Shepperton to depict the triple decks of the Nostromo ship. The “A” level set represented the top deck and contained the crew’s living area, the infirmary, the operational bridge and the sleep chambers. The “B” level was the maintenance area and the “C” level comprised the engine room and other corridors of equipment. Production designer Michael Seymour designed the levels so that the actors could walk from section to section, providing a feel for both the vastness and claustrophobia of a real spacecraft. To convey the ship’s network of machinery, the art department collected scraps from old jet engines, automobiles and electronics. In production notes, Seymour emphasized that the ship’s battered, industrial appearance was important for understanding that the ordinary crew were essentially “truckers” in space.
       According to the 28 May 1979 LAT article, Twentieth Century-Fox claimed that the science-fiction community was the priority target for the publicity, a tactic that Charles Lippincott, who was in charge of the film’s promotion, learned from Star Wars. Although the film did not have pre-release showcasing in New York City or Los Angeles, it was marketed as a unique event. For the majority of the ninety-one initial bookings, the presentation was in 70-millimeter with Dolby Stereo sound. Twentieth Century-Fox press releases announced that during the Memorial Day premiere weekend, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA would screen the film for a continuous thirty-eight hours and giant set pieces would be on display in front of the theatre. A similar marathon screening was held at the Criterion Theatre in New York City, as stated in a 30 May 1979 LAT article.
       Because Alien was released on 25 May 1979, the second anniversary of Star Wars’ release, news articles speculated about a close box-office contest between the two films. Headlines, such as the 30 May 1979 HR, reported that the film grossed $3.5 million during its first four days, a record-breaking performance comparable with other recent blockbusters. Although the film did not surpass Star Wars, particularly in terms of repeat business, it fulfilled expectations as a top film of the summer, earning $53 million by the end of Aug 1979 and keeping pace with competition like Rocky II (1979, see entry), as reported in the 4 Jun 1979 Var and the 20 Aug 1979 HR. After a year in release, Alien had grossed over $100 million, according to a 27 Apr 1980 LAT article, making it Twentieth Century-Fox’s most successful film of 1979, and it was ranked fourth on Var’s “Big Rental Films of 1979,” with an estimated $40 million collected from domestic theatre owners. Despite these numbers, the film was not declared profitable until the release of Twentieth Century-Fox’s Jul 1980 quarterly financial statement. A 10 Aug 1980 LAT article reported a profit of $4 million.
       Reviews by major critics in the 20 May 1979 LAT, the 25 May 1979 NYT, the 18 May 1979 HR and the 23 May 1979 Var were generally mixed or good, but did not reflect the enthusiasm at the box-office. Critics admired the suspenseful horror, the persuasive effects and stylish direction, but also pointed out the weak character development and thin plot. In comparisons to other seminal science-fiction or horror films from the 1970s such as Star Wars, The Exorcist (1973, see entry) or Jaws (1975, see entry), reviewers tended to conclude that Alien was a more modest vision.
       The film received the 1979 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was also nominated for Best Art Direction. Alien was ranked 7th on the AFI’s 2008 list of the Top Ten Science Fiction Movies and 6th on AFI’s 2001 list of 100 Years…100 Thrills.
       As of Jan 2013 three sequels have been made, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997) as well as two prequels, Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem (2007, see entries). Ridley Scott did not participate in these projects, but he returned to elements of Alien when he directed Prometheus (2012, see entry). As he explained in a 29 Apr 2012 LAT article, "There's moments where you see connections if you're looking for them, but the [Prometheus] story is not leaning on what came before. There are strands of Alien DNA in there, if you will."
       The following written statement is included in the end credits, "Made by Twentieth Century-Fox Productions Limited at Shepperton Studio Centre, England and at Bray Studios, Windsor, England." Ray Merrin is listed twice in the end credits as the "re-recording assistant."