Alien 3 – Lock Her Up

Alien 3 is a massive disappointment. After the insane action masterpiece that was Aliens, expectations were high for how Ellen Ripley's story would progress.

Sadly, Fox, the studio behind the beloved franchise, didn't seem to have any ideas. Multiple scripts came and went, as did directors. Ultimately, the project fell to David Fincher.

If you told that to someone now, the excitement would be palpable. But this was 1992, and Fincher had yet to direct a movie. Renowned for his music video work, the first-time director had to fight tooth and nail with the studio throughout the shoot.

With a script that was being rewritten on the fly, much of the problems that plague Alien 3 cannot be attributed to him. This is a cautionary tale about wanting to exploit a valuable IP without taking the time to make sure the ideas are worth exploring.

Literally, Alien 3 is just Alien in a different setting with a sterile cast of characters who all look and behave the same. That is the opposite of what fans expected after James Cameron blew their Xenomorph-loving minds with Aliens.

Hence, why Alien 3 suffered with critics and fell to its death at the box office. On a production budget more than triple its predecessor, it grossed $30 million less domestically. Those kind of numbers are liable to make something burst out of a greedy executive's chest.

Now, sit back, kill your mouth lice with a Cosmic Crown from Cigar City Brewing, and reanimate Bishop for some key exposition! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Chumpzilla, Capt. Cash, and Bling Blake are setting Xenomorph traps in the dank bowels of Fiorina 161!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Start running...again. The bitch is back! (00:00)
• Lingering Questions – Should this have killed the Alien franchise? (52:48)
• The "This Thing is Really Pissed Off" Trivia Challenge – The Double Turn Podcast learns about the original "Hell in a Cell," and then Chumpzilla challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (1:29:13)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We continue "Hops and Xenomorph Flops," with the odd Alien Resurrection! (1:38:57)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the Assembly Cut's superiority and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, Amazon Music, and more!