Alien vs Predator Saved Both Franchises Whether You Like It or Not

Summary

• Alien vs. Predator
  revived both franchises by introducing a new generation of fans to the iconic sci-fi monsters.
• The PG-13 rating for
  Alien vs. Predator
  made it accessible to younger viewers, expanding the audience and attracting new fans.
• Despite mixed reviews,
  Alien vs. Predator
  set in motion the continued success of both the
  Alien
  and
  Predator
  franchises with several sequels.

August 2024 saw the release of Alien: Romulus, the latest entry in the Alien franchise. It also marked the 20th anniversary of Alien vs. Predator, which hit theaters on Friday, the 13th of August 2004. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, Alien vs. Predator, or AVP, was marketed as an epic crossover between the Alien and Predator franchises. The film was a moderate box office hit, but the critical reaction was far from kind to the movie and is only saved from being the worst-reviewed entry in either franchise thanks to the 2007 follow-up, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

While critics and fans might have looked down upon Alien vs. Predator at the time, the film had a lasting legacy that has been a net positive for both the Alien and Predator franchises, and it isn’t just because it has one of the coolest movie taglines ever “whoever wins…we lose”. Alien vs. Predator successfully revived both the Alien and Predator franchise for the 21st century, introducing both the alien species and the broader films to a new generation of fans and paving the way for both series to continue with entries like Predators, Prometheus, Prey, and now Alien: Romulus. 20 years later, Alien vs. Predator is one of the most important films in both sci-fi horror franchises, regardless of quality.

Alien vs. Predator Marked Both Franchises Return to the Big Screen

While Alien and Predator are two of the most beloved sci-fi horror franchises of all time, it is important to note where both were in the early 2000s. 1979’s Alien, 1986’s Aliens, and 1987’s Predator are classics that made their respective franchises defining hallmarks of the 1980s. However, both series saw a dip in popularity during the 1990s with disappointing entries like 1990’s Predator 2, 1992’s Alien 3, and 1997’s Alien: Ressurection. While many of those films have now been evaluated by some fans, they did put a mark on both franchises that were seen to have taken a dip in quality.

When Alien vs. Predator hit theaters in 2004, Predator had not been seen on the big screen in 14 years since 1990’s Predator 2, which teased the concept of an Alien vs. Predator movie. Predator 3 had been in development hell for years and wouldn’t get off the ground until after AVP was released. Meanwhile, it had been seven years since the release of Alien: Resurrection (the same amount of time between the release of Alien: Covenant and Alien: Romulus), and critical darlings like Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens were so far in the rearview mirror with the two latest entries being critical and financial disappointments.

Both Ridley Scott and James Cameron thought Alien vs. Predator would ruin the validity of Alien as a franchise, though Cameron would change his mind after seeing the movie. Yet the film marked the grand return of both Alien and Predator to the big screen for fans and audiences who were either too young to see the others or were born after they came out. Alien vs. Predator was more than a standard sequel; it was an event film that would draw in people just curious at the idea of seeing these two titans fight, and for the first time in a long time, Alien and Predator were a big deal once more.

The PG-13 Rating Was a Blessing Disguised as a Curse

Alien vs. Predator was made during the early boom of the 21st century when geek culture truly started to shape the types of movies Hollywood was making. The idea of mashing Alien and Predator together in an epic crossover seemed like a movie made solely for fans of the franchise, so many were confused and angry at 20th Century Fox’s decision to release the film with a PG-13 rating, as both Alien and Predator were R-rated franchises. The adult fanbase was angry. Why would they make this movie meant to appeal to fans of the franchise a watered-down version and try to appeal to younger viewers who may not have seen the other films?

Well, that appears to be the point. Making Alien vs. Predator PG-13 did make it more accessible to younger viewers, ones who would ideally be the target demographic. The concept of a crossover fight is inherently very childlike, one that kids on the playground love to imagine, so it makes sense to market a monster movie fight to that audience. The older audience will still see the movie because they were already fans of the franchise, but Alien vs. Predator needed to reach a wider audience and attract people who may not have seen the prior films, either because they were too young when the originals came out or weren’t even born then.

The idea of appealing to new franchise fans is important, as it allows a series to grow over time and not get stuck in the past. Nowadays, too many film franchises, like Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and Star Trek, have been stuck trying to appeal to the fans of the original while forgetting to make these movies accessible to new audiences who could become fans. While older fans might have been disappointed by the PG-13 rating, the young audience who saw it likely enjoyed themselves because it did not alienate them but invited them to join in.

Alien vs. Predator Is a Great Entry Point

Alien vs. Predator is looking to attract a broad audience. For some moviegoers, this was their first exposure to both sci-fi monsters. This means that AVP needed to lay out the core tenants of the creatures. It establishes the life cycle of Xenomorphs, lays out their physiology rules, like their acid blood and the fact that their skin is immune to it, and even brings in the Alien Queen. Meanwhile, it goes through the Predator’s iconic weapons and establishes their code of honor as warriors who do not harm unarmed or sick individuals. Despite often being labeled a “dumb” movie, a lot of the information about Alien and Predator is communicated through visual storytelling, where the Predator and the human protagonist, Lex, have to communicate with each other without knowing one another’s language. This is something that 2018’s The Predator would fail at, as it featured subtitles for the Predators and even a translator at one point.

While some audiences might have known this, like a good crossover film, Alien vs. Predator doesn’t expect the audience to have done any homework and explains everything newcomers need to know. Yet because it does such a solid job at laying out the basic rules of both species while also being a good entry point into the franchise, it likely got an entire generation of younger film fans into both the Alien and Predator franchise, either before the film came out to get prepared or afterward to see more of these cinematic titans. 20th Century Fox was ready as they released the Alien Quadrilogy (a word they made up to sell that box set as a four-film franchise is called a tetralogy) on DVD in 2003, one year ahead of the Alien vs. Predator release.

Not only did fans rewatch the previous films to prepare, but likely an entire section of the audience who first saw Alien vs. Predator then went back and discovered Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking tense sci-fi horror film, one of the greatest sequels ever directed by James Cameron and John McTerrnians’ action masterpiece. Alien vs. Predator was a fun monster mash crossover that acted as an advertisement for the older films in the franchise, helping make sure that a new audience could see those movies. In the same way that summer’s other big monster mash movie, Van Helsing, might not have been critically acclaimed, it did help introduce new audiences to classic pieces of cinema with the Universal Monsters and Alien vs. Predator did that with the Alien and Predator films. What might be a big dumb crossover was critical in preserving their legacies.

Alien vs. Predator Revived Both Franchises

Alien vs. Predator made $38.2 million in its opening weekend and went on to gross $80.3 million domestically and $177.4 million worldwide against a budget of $60 million. This was a better performance than the last film in either franchise, Alien: Resurrection, which grossed $47 million domestically and $161 million worldwide. Alien vs. Predator, the greatest hit of the two film series iconography, was a hit and excited fans for a sequel that would feature the Predator-Alien hybrid known as the Predalien. Sadly, that sequel, 2007’s Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, got worse reviews than its predecessor and only grossed $41 million domestically and $130 million worldwide.

Yet the success of Alien vs. Predator got both series back in the spotlight for general audiences, and following the disappointment of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, they were much quicker to act on sequels and follow-ups than ever before. The long-in-development Predator 3 by Robert Rodriguez finally saw the light of day in 2010 as Predators, with Rodriguez producing. Since then, there has also been the poorly received 2018 film Predators and the excellent Prey in 2022. Now, two Predator films are in development, including a Prey sequel and another film titled Badlands, with Elle Fanning as the lead. This means the number of Predator entries has doubled since Alien vs. Predator.

Meanwhile, for Alien, despite Ridley Scott saying he would never return to the Alien franchise if 20th Century Fox made Alien vs. Predator, they called his bluff, and in 2012, he directed the prequel, Prometheus. In many ways, Prometheus is Ridley Scott pulling a Rise of Skywalker, looking to undo all the lore developments Alien vs. Predator established about the Xenomorphs and reassert his control. Prometheus and Alien vs. Predator even feature plenty of similar scenes, including:

• A group of scientists gathered by the Weyland Corporation searching for an alien temple (a pyramid in AVP and a ship in Prometheus).
• Various cultures around the world, separated by time, feature similar patterns, which point to the Ancient Aliens’ theory that what mythology classifies as gods were early encounters with Alien lifeforms.
• An advanced race of aliens (Predators/Engineers) breeding the Xenomorphs for a specific purpose (training hunters in AVP/bioweapon in Prometheus).
• The expedition is motivated by a dying member of the Weyland family.
• Both movies feature a scene where characters debate the idea of bringing a gun on what is supposed to be a scientific trip.

Prometheus received mixed reviews from fans and critics, but excitement for it was high as it opened with $51 million, the biggest opening weekend in the franchise. Prometheus arrived eight years after AVP, meaning that a kid who saw the former at age 10 was 18 and old enough to purchase a ticket for the R-rated Prometheus. The mixed reaction to Prometheus led to Alien: Covenant in 2017 and now Alien: Romulus in 2024, which opened at number one at the box office.

Alien vs. Predator might not be the best film in either franchise (though we’d argue it’s pretty enjoyable), but its contributions to the Alien and Predator franchise’s continued longevity are hard to deny. It returned the two legendary movie monsters to the big screen and made it an event. It introduced a younger audience to the world of these creatures while also leading to more people rediscovering the original films following its release. And since its release, both franchises have been pushing the boundaries of their cinematic worlds.

These two franchises entered the 21st century at a low point, but Alien vs. Predator assured of exciting new possibilities for both series that are still running to this day. Alien and Predator are still going strong and are now franchises that are as viable today as they were in the 1980s and 1990s. All of this is thanks to Alien vs. Predator. Maybe the franchise should see a revival. Alien vs. Predator is streaming on Hulu. Alien: Romulus is in theaters now.