How 'Aliens' Overcame Development Hell to Become a Top 5 Movie of All Time
James Cameron has crafted some cinematic bangers over the course of his career. For starters, Titanic and Avatar broke their fair share of box-office records, becoming two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. He also contributed to two integral franchises in the sci-fi genre: Terminator and Alien.
While the critically acclaimed filmmaker directed and co-wrote the first two films of the former franchise, he only worked on the second film in the latter. However, that sophomore effort was recently voted one of the best movies of all time by fans in an Empire poll. That's right: 1986's Aliens sits pretty at No. 5 on the publication's list of 100 films. Last year, Empire asked readers to submit their top 20 choices "for the movies that have comforted, challenged, and entertained" them.
Aliens was a box-office smash hit, grossing between $131.1 million and $183.3 million worldwide on an $18.5 million budget. It was lauded by critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, Aliens has a 93 percent score on the Tomatometer and a 94 percent on the Popcornmeter.
While the sci-fi-action film, led fearlessly by Sigourney Weaver as the iconic Ellen Ripley, is beloved by viewers as a cult classic, it almost didn't happen. The sequel to 1979's Alien spent years in development hell. Despite its predecessor's success, 20th Century Fox was hesitant to finance Aliens. After all, sequels usually bomb at the box office. Norman Levy, the studio's president at the time, believed a sequel to Alien would be a "disaster." Levy's replacement, Joe Wizan, was more open to bringing Aliens to life.
As for Cameron's involvement, development executive Larry Wilson read the script for The Terminator, piquing his interest. However, studio executives were less than convinced after reading Cameron's 42-page treatment for Aliens. 20th Century underwent another presidential replacement in 1984. This time, its new president, Lawrence Gordon, loved Cameron's treatment.
But Cameron also wanted to direct the project, which gave the studio pause. At this point, Cameron only had one directing credit under his belt. When The Terminator proved to be a success on all fronts, Gordon changed his tune. Now officially the director, Cameron and his co-writer, Gale Anne Hurd, who was also his wife at the time, had to fight to get Weaver back as the lead. The studio thought she would be too expensive.
On top of that, the producers of Alien were in the middle of litigation with Fox "over their cut of the film." That certainly stalled production on its sequel. And once on set, tensions brewed between Cameron and the crew at Pinewood Studios. The filmmaker wasn't familiar with industry traditions in the UK, and barreled on to set with a clear, uncompromising vision of what he wanted.
It's a wonder Aliens got made at all. Thankfully, nearly 40 years later, we have this film as a staple of sci-fi/horror.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 31, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 9:13 AM.