AXP Interviews Greg Strause!

[BlackWatch]

From main AXP site:

I had a fantastic opportunity last week to place a call to the offices of Hydraulx in Los Angeles, California to speak with Greg Strause, one of the directors of next month's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. His brother Colin, the co-director of the film, was unfortunately not available at the time of the interview, but Greg was ready, willing and able to answer all our questions. What we have for you today is a transcription of that 45 minute telephone interview, as well as a few new images from the film. Here's a sample:



AXP: And now touching on the hybrid, it exhibits the Predator dreadlocks and mandibles, but looking back at the other Alien films the creature has never really taken on such distinct characteristics from its host; what is the rationale behind these marked features?

Greg: Well, it’s interesting you ask that. Our guiding principle for any of this, you know, and trying to maintain continuity from the past films, and like what happens when an Alien comes out of a dog, or what happens when it comes out of an ox, depending on which cut of Alien 3 you look at, the overriding principle was an Alien should still be overwhelmingly Alien, no matter what host it comes out of.

Now, that being said, the Predators being an interesting species of their own, maybe they have some more dominant genes, than say humans do. And so the idea was there that we could play up a few more physical characteristics than we’ve seen, than like in Alien 3 when we just have the extra joint in the leg and whatnot, and slightly different behaviour. So, that was kind of the overriding principle. Also there were a lot of concerns during the design stage, not just from Colin and I, but also from the studio making sure he’s different enough. The Predalien – she, I should say – is different enough.

That excerpt barely scratches the surface of the range of topics we touched on, so for the full feature visit our interviews section. Just a note, when Greg mentions that the film will be completely ready for print by Tuesday or Wednesday of this coming week, he was referring to the week we are in now, as this interview was conducted last Friday.

Special thanks to Duke at Hydraulx for helping to set this up. Also thanks Carol, Annie and Chrissy in Fox marketing for their assistance. And, obviously, thanks to Greg for being so generous with his time. I hope everyone enjoys reading the interview as much and I did conducting it.

Read. Enjoy. Discuss.

[Hunter]

It's a fantastic interview.

[General Phillips]

Thanks so much for posting this! Great stuff.

[BlackWatch]

One thing I forgot to do was publicly thank Izzet, Rusty Nails, fitzley and SiL and the other administrators for their comments and feedback during the development of this interview. Sorry guys, I'm such an arse!

[the-yellow-alien]

Good interview. You asked the right questions and some of the answers I'm not to happy about.

I think the Predator DNA changing the reproduction is bull...

So the lifecycle is still fast as hell, but just a little slower?

The amount of times he used the word "cool". Not a big fan of that philosophy.

Aliens eat people...

[Sebastian]

I'm quite sure the alien in A³ ate people..

[Thedus]

Great questions, Hicks.

And I was pleased to hear them acknowledge that the not-regurgitation method of reproduction was strictly related to the hybrid.  But, I did find it a little frustrating that they kept referring to 'kids' when talking about fans.  There is a broader spectrum within the fan-base than those under 21.

And one other thing: I find it a little annoying how the Predators are like Batman - they always seem to be able to produce some really cool new device which fits the given situation perfectly.  I understand that this is done to keep things fresh and interesting, an I don't fault Colin or Greg here, but come on, really!  Super gloves, tail whips, hand guns, and magic smoke that obliterates alien presence?  In comparison the Predator in the first film was really roughing it!

In all, though: great interview.  You done good , man. 

[the-yellow-alien]

I'm quite sure the alien in A³ ate people..

It was more implied though. Ya, it looked like it was eating, but maybe it was doing something else? It was still a mystery.

Aliens eating people isn't a big deal though, I just think it makes them less unique.

[Sebastian]

Yeah I know what you mean (and agree with it).

I understand that this is done to keep things fresh and interesting, an I don't fault Colin or Greg here, but come on, really!  Super gloves, tail whips, hand guns, and magic smoke that obliterates alien presence?  In comparison the Predator in the first film was really roughing it!

I understand that he's gearing up appropriately to deal with the alien presence at hand.

[Crow]

AXP: Some additional time and money was invested into new footage after principle photography, can you make reference to those scenes at all?

Greg: Well, there’s a whole new world that’s in the movie. It’s kind of a secret still. We’ve alluded to it very vaguely on some of the sites. But, it would just say it involves the Predators. And that would be the most I would want to confirm. There is also some new stuff for the very beginning, as well, that was included in that.

Seems pretty obvious the Predator homeworld is in it by now. I'll wait and see, though. Either way I think that this is what the movie needs the most.

AXP: In what ways to do you intend to bridge this film with the storyline of the first Alien film?

Greg: Well, there’s actually a secret scene at the end of the movie, that kind of sets up, it kind of bridges – because of this scene at the end of the movie, the whole intent of that scene was to kind of say ‘the next one’s in space’. And it kind of shows how human technology leaped forward from where we are in 2007, or whatnot, to how in just a short period of a few decades we’re able to have giant space cruisers.

More allusion. A few decades? Does this fit with timeline? I don't know. Sounds kinda fishy. I mean, in a way, I guess that'd be somewhat cool if the time between present day and the other alien movies wasn't really that long. It might tie the movies together better.

AXP: And the Queen facehugger, that’s the design from Alien 3?

Greg: Yeah, I believe that’s what they said it was – the Queen facehugger from Alien 3. I don’t think it ever got used, I don’t believe it was ever seen. They actually have it over there in their shop in Chatsworth. And it had a very dark paint scheme. Ours is nowhere near as dark as that, but definitely darker than the previous facehuggers we’ve seen.

I must have missed this until now. Didn't know there was a queen facehugger in Requiem. I thought they said there'd be no queen. Interesting.

[the-yellow-alien]

There is no Queen facehugger, he is just saying that the original one from Alien 3 inspired them to darker the "warrior facehuggers."

[SM]

Stopped about halfway through.  Like Yellow Alien said, got sick to death of "cool".  And the content pretty much confirmed all my previous disappointment in this film.  All terribly depressing.  Will try and read the rest later.

Top effort on the interview though Hicks.  Quite a coup.

[General Phillips]

Seems to me, Alien fanboys hate this film already. I will never understand why some of you are so upset that the Aliens won't be as "strong" as the Predator. We've already been down this road before, so I won't get into it again about the reasons why the Predator is far superior. The Aliens will do there fair share of killing in this film. Quit whining.

[dude]

I seem to recall you losing all those arguments.

I don't get it. He said we weren't supposed to root for the Alien in the prior films and that's justification enough to root for the Predator in this film? If I'm not mistaken the Predator was a bad guy in his prior films?

[beckmen]

First of all, very good interview, Hicks! Good see one with hard-hitting questions that us fans really wanted to hear, and not just all fluff.

Greg does kind of come off an immature. His reasoning for doing so many things is 'It looks cool' or 'it seemed cool'. IMO not the way to really do a movie, not when you are changing all kinds of stuff.

I don't get it. He said we weren't supposed to root for the Alien in the prior films and that's justification enough to root for the Predator in this film? If I'm not mistaken the Predator was a bad guy in his prior films?

Yeah, WTF?