‘Aliens’: Reunion At SDCC Will Have Sigourney Weaver And Other Cast Members For 30th Anniversary Event
San Diego Comic-Con kicks off on July 21, and while panels for Marvel’s Doctor Strange and Warner Bros. Picture’s Suicide Squad are sure to steal the show during the convention, one classic sci-fi action film will bring back nostalgia among the genre. James Cameron’s Aliens will have its own spot at the convention to commemorate its 1986 release.
Thirty years ago on July 18, Aliens opened in theaters and catapulted Sigourney Weaver as one of the most memorable female action heroes in pop culture. Aliens is the sequel to the Ridley Scott-directed film, Alien, that debuted in 1979.
Entertainment Weekly got the exclusive news that SDCC plans to host an Aliens reunion on July 23 in Hall H. Cameron described the planned reunion as, “Get the usual suspects back together,” as he and Weaver are part of the special guests at the event.
Aliens producer, Gale Anne Hurd, and some of the film’s cast members are also expected to be at the Q and A. Actors Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Carrie Henn, who played the orphan, Newt, will be at SDCC.
An #Aliens 30th anniversary panel is coming to #SDCC! Details: https://t.co/KWJoGN5HtB pic.twitter.com/qKS1CDL9XF
— Nerdist (@nerdist) July 6, 2016
Weaver looks forward to having the reunion among the movie’s fans. The actress, who also starred in Cameron’s Avatar in 2009, attended an Alamo Drafthouse screening of Aliens in April, which she described as a “horrific sing-along,” but in a good way.
“One of my great moments in life, frankly, was by the time we got to that line, the whole audience yelled it with Ripley. It was so fabulous, you know? They were so ready to say that line.”
The famous and slightly NSFW line that Weaver says in the film is ordering the Alien Queen to get away from Newt.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release an Aliens 30th anniversary Digital HD and Blu-ray edition on September 13. People can do pre-orders at Fox’s Comic-Con booth. The first 250 people to pre-order the movie will receive a famous scene of Ripley battling the Alien Queen in a lithograph image.
Features of the anniversary edition include the original theatrical cut and a special edition that goes more into Ripley’s past, a commentary track, and extended and deleted movie scenes. The Blu-ray edition will have collectible art cards that showcase Cameron’s concept sketches and a Dark Horse Comics Aliens art book.
While the reunion will be a nice nostalgic way to look back at the classic movie, people might also get to ask Weaver questions about the new Aliens sequel. Weaver is teaming up with District 9 director Neil Blomkamp to work on the new sequel that will take place right after 1986 movie ends.
The new sequel will disregard the canonized events that happened during Alien 3, which was directed by David Fincher, and Alien: Resurrection, which was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Weaver described the new sequel as another direction that the Aliens franchise branches off.
Cameron does not have anything to do with the new Aliens sequel since he is busy creating Avatar’s four sequels, but he considers the 1986 action sci-fi classic as one of his favorite films.
“You know, it’s interesting. I don’t normally pursue these kind of nostalgia moments like we’re going to do down at Comic-Con, and I didn’t do it much at all for Terminator on its 30th, but there’s something about Aliens. It was a milestone for myself and Gale because the film got seven Academy Award nominations.”
The film did receive Oscar nominations for original score, art direction, editing, sound, and best actress for Weaver. Aliens won two Academy Awards for visual effects and best sound effects.
