Trivia

This section includes both common and little known trivia about Alien vs. Predator, including outtake information, cast secrets, director quirks, and more:
  1. Paul W.S. Anderson stepped down from directing both Mortal Kombat: Domination (2005) and Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) to write and direct this film, though he does remain as producer to the other movies.
  2. Was rumored to be in development ever since a skull from the title characters in the Alien film series appeared in the spaceship trophy room in Predator 2 (1990).
  3. The character played by Lance Henriksen, Charles Bishop Weyland, is a co-founder of the Weyland Yutani Corporation. This is "the company" referred to in the earlier Alien movies. The Bishop Android from Aliens (1986), and Michael Bishop from Alien 3 (1992) were also played by Lance Henriksen.
  4. When one of the explorers is searching the whaling compound and walks past a door to a building, there is a shot from within the building in which the red light from the guy's flare comes through the crack in the door to form a flat vertical beam that's picked up by the dust/snow from inside the room, just like the blue-green scanner from the salvage scene at the beginning of Aliens (1986).
  5. When Charles Bishop Weyland is sitting in his office on the ship, we can very briefly see him playing with his pen in a similar manner to the way the android Bishop (also played by Lance Henriksen) is playing with a knife in Aliens (1986).
  6. The Alien vs. Predator story crossed over virtually all forms of media before becoming a feature film. There was a successful comic book series, toy line, multiple video games, sound track (of the PC game) and even a card series.
  7. The role of Max Stafford was written specifically for Colin Salmon.
  8. Screenwriter Peter Briggs wrote his original script for Aliens vs Predator in 1991. The script sold overnight and made him the subject of numerous magazine and book "success story" articles. His version went adrift following studio politics in the wake of executive Joe Roth's departure from 20th Century Fox.
  9. Screenwriter Shane Salerno was the last writer and "closer" on Alien vs. Predator. He worked on the film for 15 months, including prior to production, through filming in Prague and all the way through post production without receiving the co-screenplay by credit that 20th Century Fox recommended him for to the WGA. Shane has a co-screenplay credit on the novelization of the film, dozens of magazine articles, and many of the original theatre posters.
  10. At one stage Peter Weller was attached to do a cameo as John Yutani, the other half of the infamous "Weyland-Yutani" Company from the Alien (1979) films.
  11. This is the first Alien film, and also the first Predator film, to get a rating other than R.
  12. The character of Verheiden was named after comic book writer Mark Verheiden, creator of the first Aliens vs Predator comic series and first story ever involving both species (except for the brief cameo of the alien skull in Predator 2).
  13. The drawings that Paul W.S. Anderson used for his original presentation to 20th Century Fox were done by Patrick Tatopoulos.
  14. First Predator movie to feature a left-handed predator.
  15. A lengthy scene set in 1904 involving the Bouvetoya Island whaling station was cut. The sequence involved a group of whalers that discover an unopened Predator-pod in the snow and bring it back to the whaling station. The Predator later emerges from the pod and massacres the unsuspecting men. In the midst of the fray, a single whaler named Karl escapes, hiding in a field of whale bones. Frostbitten and tired, he later returns to the whaling station, where there is no longer any sign of the Predator. He finds his way into one of the wooden shacks, only to discover an Alien lying in wait. Before it can attack him, the Predator reappears and smacks Karl aside, breaking his ribs. Karl then dies from his injuries and the cold as the two creatures square off in the shack.
  16. The scene in which Weyland's team discovers the sacrificial chamber inside the pyramid was originally longer than seen in the theatrical cut. After Rousseau and Thomas discuss the hole in the corpse's chest, Sebastian finds a calcified facehugger. Lex and Sebastian then theorize as to what the creature's origin could be.
  17. After the opening credits are shown, SFX designers Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis have brief cameos as technicians who discover the heat bloom coming from the pyramid.
  18. Paul W.S. Anderson rewarded hardcore Alien and Predator fans by scattering references to the individual franchises with his film. The opening shot of the movie is a silhouette of the alien queen from Aliens (1986), before being completely revealed as a Weyland Satellite.
  19. The altars where victims were placed in the Chamber of Sacrifices of the pyramid is arranged exactly the same as the hibernation pods in the original Alien (1979) movie.
  20. Weyland's satellite is shot in a way that it resembles the frontal section of the Sulaco ship, from Aliens.
  21. The black and white movie playing in the beginning of the film is another popular monster face-off, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
  22. The heroine calling an alien an "ugly mother..." is a reference to the two previous Predator films, in which both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Glover refer to the Predators as such.
  23. The first film in the Alien franchise to not feature Sigourney Weaver, who has said in interview the idea of the crossover "sounded awful".
  24. At the beginning of the film in the satellite control station, the technician has a 'drinky drinky' bird among the Tweety Pie dolls. These are the same birds that were seen on the dining room table in Alien (1979).
  25. The read out of the predator ship at the beginning of the film, is shown reflected in the visor of the predator mask, as the readouts of the Nostromo in Alien (1979) were reflected on the space helmets.
  26. The shot of the team approaching the top of the pyramid, with their flashlights, taken from inside it references the shot of the of the Nostromo's expedition team walking up to the entrance of the derelict.
  27. The design in the centre of the floor in the sacrificial chamber is almost identical to the artwork of the Alien 3 (1992) poster.
  28. A title near the beginning of the film identifies the ice cutter transporting the exploration team as "The Piper Maru". The ship's name comes from season 3, episode 15 of The X Files (1993).
  29. The words "alien" and "predator" are never said in this movie. Aliens are called "things", "creatures" and "serpents". Predators are referred to as "hunters".
  30. At a special industry screening director Paul W.S. Anderson said that the film was always planned as an R-rated movie and shot that way, but only three weeks prior to release the studio changed that by severely cutting the film for a lower PG-13 rating. This account has been heavily disputed by original AVP writer Peter Briggs.
  31. When Lex asks Sebastian how to say "scared shitless" in Italian, he replies "Non vedo l'ora di uscire da questo piramide con te, perche mi sto cagando adosso." Translated, this literally means "I can't wait to get out of this pyramid with you, because I'm shitting myself."
  32. The green glow stick dropped down the shaft contains the fluorescent liquid used by the effects departments of all the Predator movies as the Predators' blood. According to director John McTiernan, on Predator (1987) they stumbled on the effect after unconvincing attempts to make the blood look orange forced the crew to look for alternatives.
  33. Gary Busey was also approached to play John Yutani.
  34. In the official AVP theatrical trailer, there's a brief shot of the prison planet Fury 161 from Alien 3 (1992).
  35. The whale bones seen several times during the movie look like the bones the Nostromo's crew find on the ship in Alien (1979).
  36. The end credits color and style (green computer text on black) are the same as the display of "Mother," the onboard computer in "Alien," right down to the underlining of important text (in this case, the department titles).There are no opening credits, just a title.
  37. If you listen very carefully during the end-credits, you can hear the signature clicking-rasps of the Predators, and the iconic hiss of the Alien Warrior subltly interjected into the musical score.
  38. SPOILER AHEAD: This is the second movie directed by Paul W.S. Anderson in which Colin Salmon is cut into cubes.
Sources
  1. Internet Movie Database: Alien vs. Predator (2004).
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